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Overview of the SAGE Online Systems
Network Preparation
Hardware and Software Requirements
Secure Browser Installation
Text-to-Speech
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• American Institutes for Research (AIR) based
in Washington DC
• AIR systems are delivering tests in Delaware,
Oregon, Minnesota, Ohio, Hawaii, over 20
Smarter Balanced states, and soon to be
Michigan and Missouri
• All use the same basic systems that are
configured for the individual client
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• The SAGE Help Desk will be open Mondays–
Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MT
(except holidays). During Utah’s summative
testing windows the Help Desk will be open
from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. MT.
• SAGE Help Desk Contact Information
– Toll-Free Phone Support: 1-855-570-7239
– E-mail Support: SAGEHelpDesk@air.org
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Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE)
• TIDE is responsible for:
– Student registration
– Gathering of demographic data
• To be deployed: 10/1/13
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• Test Delivery System (TDS)
– TA Interface - provides the interface through
which test administrators establish and monitor
testing sessions and authenticate student users.
– Student Testing Site - is the testing system as it
appears to the student, on which students take
tests. TDS delivers tests to students, records
responses, and forwards data to downstream
systems.
• To be deployed: February 2014
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• A special build of the Mozilla (Firefox) browser
that is modified to protect the security of the
test and support certain accommodations.
• Available for download from the SAGE Portal
• Includes a diagnostic tool
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• Training Site
–TA Training Site
–Student/Guest Training Site
• Public access
• Secure access
• To be deployed: December 2013
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• Online Reporting System (ORS)
– provides a secure interface to assessment data
and associated demographic information. It
provides educators with a powerful tool to explore
the data and turn them into actionable
information.
– Test Management Center
– Score Reports
• To be deployed: February 2014
– participation reports only
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• integrates with the reporting system to provide resources
targeted to identified areas of weakness or to extend
standards-aligned topics for students who are excelling.
• provides immediate access to standards-aligned
professional development, lesson plans, and student
activities.
• Both educators and students (and their parents) can
access the system to obtain or use learning resources.
• To be Deployed – October 2013
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• Access to SAGE Systems and all things SAGE
at:
http://ut.portal.airast.org
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Classes and students are loaded from LEA student
information systems by UTREx
• Weekly or Daily (TBD) upload through January
• Daily upload February through June
No manual addition of students
If a new student enters a school, their data must be in the
local student information system, uploaded to UTREx,
which uploads to TIDE
TIDE provides the users for SAGE Formative and Summative
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Network and Internet Requirements
• A stable, high-speed (wired or wireless)
Internet connection is required for online
testing.
• The response time for each assessment
depends on the reliability and speed of your
school’s Internet network.
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Network configuration settings should include the following:
1. Content filters, firewalls, and proxy servers should be
configured to allow traffic on the protocols and to the
servers listed on the following screen.
2. Session timeouts on proxy servers and other devices should
be set to values greater than the average scheduled testing
time. If testing sessions are scheduled for 60 minutes,
consider session timeouts of 65–70 minutes. This will help
limit network interruptions during testing.
3. Data cannot be cached.
4. If your client network uses any devices that perform traffic
shaping, packet prioritization or Quality of Service, the IP
addresses to be provided should be given a high priority to
guarantee the highest level of performance.
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Allow traffic on the protocols and to the following servers:
SAGE Testing Sites
Training Sites
https://ut.tds.airast.org
https://utpt.tds.airast.org
IP Address: TBD
IP Address: TBD
Port: 443/tcp (SSL)
Port: 443/tcp (SSL)
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Common Bottlenecks
• Routing traffic to and from the Internet
• Performance dependent on several factors:
– Bandwidth
• Average test typically consumes less than 41kbps per student
• During startup, the test can peak at 60kbps
• After startup, usage drops to about 10kbps per student
– Total number of students simultaneously testing
– Size of test content
• Science simulations consume more bandwidth than the average item
– Secure browser installation
– Proxy server (if used)
– Wireless networking system (if used)
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Bandwidth
• Performance can be affected by:
– Internal network (LAN) traffic
– Internet traffic from the router
• LAN should always be analyzed to determine potential traffic
for bottlenecks:
– Schools need to factor bandwidth requirements of
testing.
– Internal bandwidth is not typically a problem. Switches
generally operate between 100 megabits per second and
1,000 megabits per second.
– Most common bottleneck for Internet networks is the
ISP’s router connection.
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• Wireless Security
– Due to the sensitivity of test-related data, the use of WPA2/AES data
encryption is highly recommended.
– Using encryption/decryption might slightly decrease overall network
speed.
– A properly configured wireless network should provide adequate
bandwidth for testing applications:
• 802.11n is the fastest and most recent IEEE wireless standard,
with a throughput of up to 300 megabits per second.
• 802.11g has a theoretical throughput of up to 54 megabits per
second.
• 802.11b has a theoretical throughput of 11 megabits per second.
• Ratio of wireless systems to wireless access points (WAPs) of no more
than 20:1.
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Operating Systems
Minimum Requirements for Current
Computers
Windows
XP (Service Pack 3 [SP3]),
Vista, 7, 8.0
Pentium 233 MHz processor
128 MB RAM
52 MB hard drive
Mac OS X
10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8
Intel x86 or PowerPC G3, G4, or G5
processor
128 MB RAM
200 MB hard drive
Linux
Fedora Core 6+ (K12LTSP 4.2+)
Ubuntu 9–12
Pentium II or AMD K6-III 233 MHz
processor
64 MB RAM
52 MB hard drive
Recommended Minimum
for New Purchases
1.3 GHz processor
2 GB RAM
80 GB hard drive
*Headphones are required for all students
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Supported Android Tablets
Supported iOS Tablets
Supported Windows Tablets
Google Nexus 10
Motorola Xoom
Motorola Xyboard
Samsung Note 10.1
Samsung Tab 2 (10.1)
iPad 2
iPad 3
iPad 4 (Retina Display)
Microsoft Surface
(At this time, a secure browser is
not available for this tablet. Use
this device for non-secure testing
or for SAGE Formative.)
*Keyboards are required for all touch screen devices
*Headphones are required for all students
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Supported Chromebooks
ChromeOS version 18 or higher
Chromebooks may be used “as is,”
provided they are running
ChromeOS version 18 or higher.
While they are intended for use
with the student testing sites, they
may be used for other sites as well.
*Headphones are required for all students
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NComputing and Terminal Services are supported on
the following platforms:
• NComputing is supported on computers running
Windows XP and Windows 7.
• Terminal Services is supported on the Windows 2003
and 2008 servers.
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Operating Systems
Supported OS Versions
Supported Devices
Secure Browser
Windows
XP (SP3), Vista, 7, 8.0
Server 2003, 2008
Desktops
Laptops
Windows Secure
Browser 6.2
Mac OS X
10.5 (PowerPC)
Desktops
Laptops
Mac Secure Browser 5.6
10.5 (Intel)
10.6, 10.7, 10.8
Desktops
Laptops
Mac Secure Browser 6.2
Linux
Fedora Core 6+ (K12LTSP
4.2+)
Ubuntu 9–12
Desktops
Laptops
Linux Secure Browser
6.2
Android
4.0–4.2
Supported tablets
Mobile Secure Browser
(AIRSecureTest app)
ChromeOS
18+
Chromebooks
N/A (secure Google
login)
iOS
iOS 6.0–6.1
Supported tablets
Mobile Secure Browser
(AIRSecureTest app)
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Supported Operating
Systems
Supported
Devices
Supported Browsers
TA Sites
Student
Training Test
SAGE Formative
TIDE
Online Reporting
System
Chrome 18+





Firefox 3.6+





Internet Explorer 6



Internet Explorer 7



Internet Explorer 8



Chrome 18+





Firefox 3.6+





Internet Explorer 7



Internet Explorer 8



Internet Explorer 9



Chrome 18+





Firefox 3.6+





Internet Explorer 8



Internet Explorer 9



Internet Explorer 10





Chrome 18+





Firefox 3.6+





Internet Explorer 10





Microsoft Surface Internet Explorer 10
tablet
Internet Explorer 10






Windows
XP (SP3)
Vista
7
8.0
8.0 Pro
8.0 RT
Desktops
Laptops
Desktops
Laptops
Desktops
Laptops
Desktops
Laptops
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Supported Operating
Systems
10.5 (PowerPC)
10.5 (Intel)
10.6
10.7
10.8
Supported
Devices
Desktops
Laptops
Desktops
Laptops
Desktops
Laptops
Desktops
Laptops
Desktops
Laptops
Supported Browsers
TA Sites
Student
Training
Test
SAGE
Formative
TIDE
Online
Reporting
System
Firefox 3.6





Safari 4.13





Safari 5





Firefox 3.6+





Safari 4.13





Safari 5





Chrome 18+





Firefox 3.6+





Safari 4.13





Safari 5





Chrome 18+





Firefox 3.6+





Safari 5





Safari 6





Chrome 18+





Firefox 3.6+





Safari 6





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Supported Operating
Systems
Supported Devices
Supported
Browsers
TA Sites
Student
Training
Test
SAGE
Formative
TIDE
Online
Reporting
System
Fedora Core 6+ (K12LTSP
4.2+)
Desktops
Laptops
Chrome 18+





Firefox 3.6+





Ubuntu 9-12
Desktops
Laptops
Chrome 18+





Firefox 3.6+





Supported tablets
Chrome 18+



Chrome-books
Chrome 18+
(secure OS
login)
Android
4.0.4–4.2
ChromeOS
18+
Chrome 18+
(non-secure
login)







iOS
6.0–6.1
Supported
Safari 6
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Microsoft Windows
Specific
Mac OS X-Specific
Multi-Platform
PRTG Traffic Grapher
Network Utility.app
Wireshark
NTttcp
TCPdump
Pathping
Ping, NSLookup, Netstat,
Traceroute
Iperf
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All communication with the Test Delivery System
takes place over the following IP port/protocol
combinations.
Port/Protocol
Purpose
80/tcp
HTTP (initial connection only)
443/tcp
HTTPS (secure connection)
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You will need to ensure that the IP addresses to be provided
are open for the online systems below.
Note: If the client network utilizes any device that performs
traffic shaping, packet prioritization, or Quality of Service, the
IP addresses should be given a high level of priority in order to
guarantee the highest level of performance.
IP Address
URL
Description
TBD
http://ut.portal.airast.org
SAGE portal/browser files
TBD
TBD
Common Login System
TBD
TBD
Training Site
TBD
TBD
Test Delivery System
TBD
TBD
Online Reporting System
TBD
TBD
Learning Point Navigator
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Schools should open their firewalls to allow
the secure browser to check the certificate
authenticity at VeriSign’s Certificate
Revocation List (CRL) at
http://crl.verisign.com/.
Alternatively, schools can open their network
to the IP addresses to be provided.
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Supported Mobile OS
Sample Handhelds
Sample Tablets
Android 2.2
HTC Thunderbolt, LG Optimus, Motorola
Droid X, Samsung Galaxy S
n/a
Android 2.3
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
n/a
Android 3.0 and above
n/a
Motorola Xoom
iOS 3 and 4
iPhone 3G, iPhone 3Gs, iPod Touch
iPad, iPad2
iOS 5
iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s
iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3
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One-by-One (Manual) Installation
• From each computer to be used for testing, access the
Internet and download and install the browser; OR
• Download and save the browser onto a media device (such
as a Flash drive), and then copy and install the files onto
each computer; OR
• Download the browser and save it to a network folder and
copy it onto each computer.
Additional instructions are available on the SAGE portal if you
need to install the secure browser on computers for which
you do not have administration or installation rights.
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There are several methods to deploy the AIR secure browser depending
on your platform.
Windows Deployment Methods
• For the Windows platform, AIR provides the secure browser in an MSI
package file. This file type enables deployment using a number of tools
including:
– Active Directory Group Policy
– Microsoft SMS
– Microsoft SCCM
– Microsoft WSUS
– Windows NT Batch
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Mac OS X Deployment Methods
• For the Mac OS X platform, AIR provides the secure browser
as a DMG package file. This file type enables deployment
using:
– Apple Remote Desktop
– Munki (http://code.google.com/p/munki/)
– Filewave (http://www.filewave.com/en/home)
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Linux Deployment Methods
• For the Linux platform, AIR provides the secure
browser in a generic TAR.bz2 package file. This file
type enables deployment using a number of tools
including:
– Shell scripts
– Puppet
http://projects.puppetlabs.com/projects/puppet
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The secure browser has a diagnostics tool available:
• Text-to-Speech Diagnostic Tools
• Network Diagnostic Tools
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Text-to-Speech is no longer an accommodation but is an
accessibility tool so it is available to all students on all tests
• Text-to-speech technology requires that voice packs be preinstalled on computers.
• For Windows and Mac operating systems, default voice
packs are generally pre-installed.
• For computers running Linux Fedora Core 6 (K12LTSP 4.2+) or
Ubuntu 9–12, voice packs may need to be downloaded and
installed.
• Text-to-speech technology is available only through the
secure browser.
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Vendor
Voice Pack
Language
Windows
Julie
English
Windows
Kate
English
Windows
Michael
English
Windows
Michelle
English
Windows
MSAnna
English
Windows
MSAnna
English
Windows
MSMary
English
Windows
MSMike
English
Windows
MSSam
English
Windows
Paul
English
NeoSpeech™ (via TIDE)
Julie
English
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“Voice Pack” Tab in TIDE
“Voice Pack” Page in TIDE
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Vendor
Mac (pre-installed)
Voice Pack
Agnes
Language
Mac (pre-installed)
Alex
English
Mac (pre-installed)
Bruce
English
Mac (pre-installed)
Callie
English
Mac (pre-installed)
David
English
Mac (pre-installed)
Fred
English
Mac (pre-installed)
Junior
English
Mac (pre-installed)
Kathy
English
Mac (pre-installed)
Princess
English
Mac (pre-installed)
Ralph
English
Mac (pre-installed)
Vicki
English
Mac (pre-installed)
Victoria
English
English
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Vendor
Voice Pack
Language
Festvox (commercial)
kal_diphone
English
Festvox (commercial)
ked_diphone
English
Festvox (commercial)
cmu_us_awb_arctic_hts
English
Festvox (commercial)
cmu_us_bdl_arctic_hts
English
Festvox (commercial)
cmu_us_jmk_arctic_hts
English
Festvox (commercial)
cmu_us_slt_arctic_hts
English
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Windows and Mac Users
• The system will default to Verdana font.
Linux Users
• The End-User License Agreement restricts the direct inclusion of the Verdana font
in Linux distributions.
• Please ensure that Verdana has been installed on all machines that will be used for
testing.
– Fedora Core 6 users: Follow the steps in the “How to Install” section of this
website: http://corefonts.sourceforge.net/ . You will need to build an rpm
package of the fonts prior to installing them.
– Ubuntu 9–12 users: In a terminal window, enter the following command to
install the msttcorefonts package: “sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts.”
• For instructions on “authorizing” Verdana use with supported Linux OS, please
refer to the Technical Specifications Manual for Online Testing document.
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• The SAGE Help Desk will be open Mondays–
Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MT
(except holidays). During Utah’s summative
testing windows the Help Desk will be open
from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. MT.
• SAGE Help Desk Contact Information
– Toll-Free Phone Support: 1-855-570-7239
– E-mail Support: SAGEHelpDesk@air.org
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