Administering Placement and Benchmark tests in Imagine Español

If your students are brand-new to Imagine Español (IE), they will take the Placement assessment and the Benchmark assessment as they begin using the program. If your students are returning students who have already begun their IE tenure in previous school years, they will take only the Benchmark assessment (during an active testing window). In cases where you have a mix of new and returning students in the same class, IE will deliver the appropriate test to the applicable students at the applicable time.

Since the IE assessments are automatically scheduled, this article provides guidance for Teachers and Administrators to prepare students, monitor testing status, and review the test results. It includes what to do before students log in to IE, how to introduce students to the tests, and how to monitor students during the test. If you run into problems during an assessment, check the Troubleshooting section for help.

The Placement test is always available to brand-new IE students, while the Benchmark tests are administered during the 3 testing windows throughout the year.  Students who are brand-new to Imagine Español receive both assessments as outlined here.

Once students begin a Benchmark, they have 28 days to complete it, even if they begin the test on the last day of the test window. If a student does not finish a Benchmark within 28 days after starting it, the test's status changes to Expired. If the student logs back in while the window is still active, they will be prompted to restart the assessment. Otherwise, the test remains expired and the student will not receive a score for that test window.

There are no testing windows or time limitations with the Placement tests, and Placement tests do not expire.

Follow the tips below for a smooth test administration with your students.

Before students log in to Imagine Español

1. Prepare your device or laptop hardware. Students using Imagine Español will need headphones to complete the test, but a microphone will not be needed. For more information, see Imagine Español System Requirements.
2. Change students' support language, if necessary. By default, students hear the test in Spanish. If you need to, you can change the support language so that a student hears instructions for the test in English.
   
   • This applies to the Placement test only, and not the Benchmark.
   • To change a student's support language, edit their product settings.

Introducing students to the tests

1. Show students how to log in. For students who log in to the app or via login.imaginelearing.com: Use a projector or smartboard to show students the Imagine Español login screen and how to enter their username and password. Show students how to use the Show () icon above the Password field to see their password as they type it. Allow extra time to assist students who need help logging in.

   

   Once students log in, confirm that they can hear the audio. 

2. Explain to students why they need to complete the test. The sample script may be useful and can be adapted to suit your specific situation.

   The next time you log in to Imagine Español, you'll see a test. It will help me see how much you know. Keep your eyes on your own screen. If you don’t know the answer to a question, just try your best and go on to the next question. If you need help with the program buttons, raise your hand quietly and I will come to help you.

3. Show students how to pause the test if they need to.
   • If students need to close the Placement test before the session ends, show them how to use the Pause button in the lower left corner of the screen to exit the test. 
     
   • If Grade K–2 students need to pause the Benchmark test, they should click the X in the top right corner of the screen. 
     
   • If Grade 3–5 students need to pause the Benchmark test, they should click Guardar Y Salir in the bottom right corner of the screen.
     
   For both types of assessments, if students are still working on the test, they'll pick up where they left off, without losing any work, the next time they log in.

During the tests

1. Allow adequate time for students to complete the test. Students may take anywhere from 10–60 minutes to complete the test, depending on their skill level. We recommend dividing the tests into 20–minute segments to reduce testing fatigue.
2. Monitor students as they take the test. Encourage students to stay on task, and watch for students who are clicking through test questions without reading them. Encourage these students to read each item carefully and provide their best guess on a question even if they do not know the answer. Ensure that students do not receive help answering test questions.
   
   • As you walk around the room, you'll be able to tell that students are working on the Placement test due to the Testing in Progress message in the bottom left corner of each student's screen. 
     
   • You'll be able to tell when students are working on the Benchmark test by the Benchmark test banner in the top left corner of each student's screen. There are 3 versions of the Benchmark test for each grade level—Azul, Verde, and Naranja. By the end of the year, each student will have taken each version of the test. 
     Grades K–2 example:
      
     Grades 3–5 example:
     
     
     

    Note

   Neither educators nor families who are monitoring students at home should help their students during testing. Students who receive help on the Placement test may be placed incorrectly in the Imagine Español curriculum; students who receive help on a Benchmark test may show inflated scores and inflated growth results. 

3. Check student testing status. As students take the test, you can check student completion status to see which students are done, in progress, or not started.
4. Allow students to continue their session once they finish a test. Some students may finish the test before their session is over. Allow these students to continue using Imagine Español until they are automatically logged out when their session ends. 
5. Check the test results. The Placement test scores are used to place students in their appropriate starting point in the IE curriculum, but do not display in the IE educator dashboard. However, after students complete a Benchmark test, you can view their scores in the Growth report.

Troubleshooting

Here are some solutions to problems that you might encounter when administering a test.