CAL User Answers

1. How do I prepare students for computerized testing?
   • There are many tools available to help properly prepare students to test with the CAL test delivery engine.  A good guide to using these tools is listed in recommended order.
     1. Review the Test Administration Manual which can be downloaded from the Documentation section.
     2. Observe and interact with the tutorial (students and teachers) for your grade and subject area.
     3. Complete a Practice Test for your grade and subject (students and teachers) to practice using the testing software.
     4. Review as necessary.
   
   
2. How do I enroll my students for computerized testing?
   • Please read the administration manuals from the Documentation section for a detailed description of the student enrollment process.  Districts are responsible for adding/updating all student demographic information via the Management Tools.  These additions/updates can be made by working directly in Student Editor or by uploading a new Student Enrollment File (SEF).  Once the student information is in the Student Editor, students are eligible to participate in the computerized tests.
   • CAL utilizes a "Test Session Ticket" system that allows students to login to take a test.  School administrators are provided with Management Tools in which they will be able to login and print Test Session Tickets that need to be handed out to students before the test session begins.
   • Each student will be assigned a unique Test Session Ticket (username, password, and session id) for each test he/she is to take.  This ticket is valid for one login and once a student uses it he/she will not be able to login again (unless an administrator "reactivates" the ticket to allow the student to login again).
   
   
3. Is there an audio version of the online test?
   • No, audio tests are not being offered.
   
   
4. Why is it taking so long for my student to log into the online test?
   • This situation is not unusual if local bandwidth is limited.
   • When a student logs in, the entire test is downloaded to the local computer.  Some of the tests are relatively large (due to the many illustrations and charts) and it will take longer to download these tests.  To decrease the amount of time to login, stagger your students by a few seconds (i.e., have 10 students login, then direct another 10 students to login after 20 seconds, etc.).  This will help speed things along.  Once students start taking the test, they should not experience further delays.
   
   
5. Why am I getting an error message when my students try to log into the online test?
   • "Unable to connect to the central server.  Please check your Internet connection.  Contact your teacher or test administrator."
   • "Your internet connection has been lost.  Contact your teacher or test administrator to reactivate your password for this part of the test."
   • "A system error has occurred.  Contact your teacher or test administrator."
   • "A system error has occurred.  Contact your teacher or test administrator to reactivate your password for this part of the test."
   • There could be multiple reasons for these errors to occur;  the primary one being the loss of Internet connectivity.  To test your Internet connectivity, try to access a site such as Google.  If your connection is good, try to access a Practice Test.  If you have the same results, contact your Technology Coordinator to assist in determining if your CAL software is installed properly. 
   
   
6. Why am I experiencing visual display problems with the test?
   • Some text seems to be cut off
   • Text seems to be missing
   • The text seems to run off the screen (word wrap)
   • The tools or the screen seems to blur
   • Typos wherein words appear joined (e.g., "appearjoined")
   • One or more of the tools do not work or stop working
   • The computer will not take an answer when selected
   • These issues have been observed with some old Windows 98 platforms and some older Macs.  These problems are most likely related to old video cards and/or not enough memory in the computer.  If you see any of these problems:
     1. Have your student log off the test, reboot the machine, reactivate the student login, and have your student log back into the test;  if this is not successful, then
     2. Have your student log off the test, and increase the color resolution on your monitor before continuing.
     These actions usually correct the problems listed above.
   
   
7. What happens when Internet interruptions or any other system failure occurs and students are forced out of the test?
   • Check the Test Administration Manual available in the Documentation section for details on the reactivation process.