7 Miss. Code R. § 109-2-C
Storage and Access to Secure Test Materials
1. Except during actual test administration all secure test materials must be kept under lock and key, and access must be limited to individuals identified in the test security plan as responsible for their security.
2. An individual with access to the secure storage area is defined as a trained individual that physically has keys or access to the keys and the secure storage areas.
3. The School Test Coordinator, Assistant School Test Coordinator and the District Test Coordinator are the only individuals that should have access to the secure storage area.
4. The secure storage area must be an area that does not have a high volume of traffic.
5. Secure test materials should not be stored with medical supplies, cumulative folders, financial records, or materials used for special activities. The need for any of the above listed materials could occur at any time, thereby creating a need to enter the area secure storage area where testing materials are being stored.
6. Because number combinations used to unlock vaults remain the same and the personnel changes that can and have occurred in school districts vaults should not serve as an area to store secure materials.
7. Locking Fire proof cabinets can serve as the secure storage area.
8. A log tracking date, time, purpose, and names of all stakeholders that enter the secure storage area should be created and maintained.
9. Your test security plan must spell out in detail the names of all personnel with keys to the secure storage area and the location.
Additional Guidance from Appendix F for Test Storage
Except during actual test administration, secure test materials are kept under lock and key, and access to secure test materials is limited to individuals identified in the test security plan as responsible for their security. While secure test materials are in the district, anyone listed as having access to the secure storage area must be accompanied by a second person when entering the secure storage area. To ensure that security is maintained from year to year, it is the responsibility of the district each year to review the list of individuals who have access to the secure storage area and to ensure that only those individuals listed have access to the secure area by way of keys or vault combination.
1. Secure test materials are kept in locked storage before testing at both the district and school levels.
2. Access to secure test materials is limited to those individuals identified in the test security plan. Test administrators and proctors will have access as described in the district test security plan. Access to test materials means handling the materials, not reviewing and analyzing test items, unless reading accommodations are required. The superintendent or a specified designee shall designate the personnel who are authorized to have access to test materials.
3. Test materials are not to be removed from security packaging prior to the time indicated on instructions from the Office of Student Assessment.
4. Secure test materials are kept in locked storage after testing at both the district and school levels unless otherwise directed by the Office of Student Assessment. (Appendix F, Section IV, 3)
Additional Guidance from Appendix F for Test Distribution
All secure test materials are accounted for before, during, and after testing as specified in the District Test Security Plan. Test administrators and proctors will have access as described in the district test security plan. Access to test materials means handling the materials, not reviewing and analyzing test items, unless reading accommodations are required. The superintendent or a specified designee shall designate the personnel who are authorized to have access to test materials.
1. All secure test materials are accounted for before testing at the district level.
2. All secure test materials are accounted for before testing at the school level.
3. Test administrators account for all secure test materials before students are allowed to leave the testing room.
4. All secure test materials are accounted for after testing at the school level.
5. All secure test materials are accounted for after testing at the district level.
6. All secure materials are returned according to the schedule published by the Office of Student Assessment. In the event that a secure testing document has been contaminated by bodily fluids or other health-related hazards, the district test coordinator will follow procedures for disposal as outlined during District Test Coordinator training, and include these procedures in the District Test Security Plan.
7. If supplementary materials, such as scratch paper, maps, and manipulatives are provided, procedures for disposal are outlined in the District Test Security Plan and followed. (Appendix F, Section IV, 4)
In the District Plan Section C
A. Receiving and securing materials: Include specific information about where materials will be delivered and stored and the secure storage area, as well as, the process that will be used for identifying all those who will have access to the secure storage area.
B. Distributing materials to individual schools, to include the date the materials will be distributed to schools.
C. Retrieving materials from individual schools.
D. Verifying all materials are accounted for as they are packed for return to the test vendor.
In the School Security Plan Section C
A. Procedure for distributing materials to each test administrator.
B. Outline the procedure to distribute materials to students and to account for materials before students leave the testing area.
C. Procedure for returning materials to the school test administrator.
D. Security measures, if applicable, for allowing teachers to review Braille test materials, to transfer answers for large print/Braille, and to read tests that are allowed under the Accommodations Manual to students with IEP'S, etc.
E. List of all individuals who have access to the secure storage area.
F. List or schedule of test administrators, proctors, hall monitors, and relief personnel who will be involved in each test administration. (Please note that the test administrators must be licensed in compliance with Appendix F. (See Section IV, 5a.)).
7 Miss. Code. R. § 109-2-C