During the Assessment

This section gives instructions on how to administer, invigilate and manage the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics.

If your school is using lockdown access, ensure you have the SEB or Kiosk password before starting the assessment. This password can be found in the school administrator’s Technical Readiness Checklist. The school administrator must provide this password to all teachers. You will need to enter this password on each device before completing the steps below.

Summary of Steps During the Assessment

• Log in to your account and access your class.
• Set up devices and logins for students.
• Provide the alternative version of the assessment to students who have been registered to receive it.
• Unlock the lockdown browser on each device using the SEB or Kiosk password for those students who are using the lockdown access.
• Have students log into the e-assessment platform using their OEN and the access code for the class.
• Read the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics script.
• Unlock Session A for students. If students are absent, ensure their sessions stay locked.
• Ensure students complete all questions in each stage before they click the Submit button.
• Repeat the steps above for Session B.
• Transcribe any student responses on the e-assessment platform where necessary.
• If necessary, click the Report an Issue button on the invigilation page and record any issues.
• Have students complete the questionnaire after they have completed both sessions of the assessment.
• Click Submit student responses to EQAO on the invigilation page to close the assessment for all students.

Supports for Students During the Assessment

Refer to the Supports for Students during the Assessment section for information on the types of supports permitted.

Assessment Script

Please read aloud the script for Session A and Session B to your class before you unlock each session and begin the assessment.

The sessions must be completed in the order in which they are presented, and each session must be completed in one continuous sitting.

Refer to Assessment Design and Duration of Assessment Sessions for information on the duration of the assessment.

Note: An assessment session must be completed in one continuous sitting and may include supervised breaks (water, stretch and washroom) if needed.

Administering the Assessment

Each session must be completed in one continuous sitting and may include supervised breaks (water, stretch and washroom) if needed.

Note: To start an assessment, it needs to have been scheduled in the e-assessment system. Refer to the Scheduling the Operational Assessment section for more information.

Follow the steps below to start an assessment session.

1. Log in to your teacher account.
2. Click Select Class to open your class.

3. On the Assessments page under ACTIVE ASSESSMENT click the Grade 9 Assessment you have previously scheduled.

4. Once the operational assessment has opened, you will be redirected to the invigilation page. Here you will see the details of the assessment, including the assessment date, the class access code, the two sessions and questionnaire, the names of the students in your class, as well as other important information and buttons for invigilating the assessment.

For more detailed instructions on how to invigilate the operational assessment refer to the section on Invigilating Assessment Sessions.

5. There are two methods to provide students access to the assessment on the e-assessment platform.

a) If your school is using the Lockdown Access method, the SEB or Kiosk application will need to be started and the password will need to be entered for each device. School administrators will provide the password to you. After entering the password, a page will open where students can log in to the assessment using the class access code and their OEN. The access code and the student OEN can be found on the invigilation page. Once logged in, students will have to enter their last name to access the landing page of the assessment.

b) If your students are using the Direct Access method, have students log in directly from the EQAO website. First, students must select the Login button on the top right corner and then select the Login button in the student section. A page will open for students to enter their class access code and OEN. The class access code and the student OEN can be found on the invigilation page. The access code will be in the pink box in the upper-right corner, and the OEN can be found by clicking Show OEN beside each student.

Refer to Accessing the E-Assessment System and Platform for more information.

6. Once students have completed the assessment, the assessment session must be closed. On the invigilator page, click the Submit student responses to EQAO button found at the top of the page to begin the process of closing the assessment session. Refer to the section Submitting Student Responses for more information.

Invigilating Assessment Sessions

Each session must be completed in one continuous sitting and may include supervised breaks (water, stretch and washroom) if needed.

The invigilation page is where you will monitor and manage your students’ progress through the assessment session. The image below shows a sample invigilation page. The descriptions beneath the image correspond to the numbers in the image.

1. Access Code for Class: Each class will have an access code for the assessment session that students will need to enter each time they login to complete Session A or B.
2. List of Students: This is a list of all students currently enrolled in your class for the assessment session. Beside each student name is the student’s OEN which can be seen by clicking Show OEN. During the assessment, you can see which students are currently logged in and which are not by their login status.
3. Unlocking Sessions: A session must be unlocked by the teacher for students to start it. To unlock a session for the entire class, click the lock icon associated with the session you would like students to complete. Ensure the session is unlocked only for the students who are present in your class.
4. Locking a Session (for an individual student): If you need to lock a session for an individual student (for example, the student requires a supervised break or the student is absent), click the lock icon beside the student’s name. When the student returns you will click the lock icon again to unlock the session.
5. Pausing a Session (for the entire class): If you need to pause a session for all students, click Pause Session. The button will change to Resume Session. When you are ready to start the session again, click Resume Session. Refer to Pausing and Resuming the Assessment section for more information. You may also use the lock icon to lock a session for an entire class.
6. Reporting Issues: Refer to the Reporting Issues section for further instructions on how to report an issue to EQAO.
7. Submitting Class Results: Once all of your students have completed both sessions, click the Submit student responses to EQAO button found at the top of the page. Clicking this button will close and end the entire assessment for all students. Refer to the Submitting Student Responses section for more information.
8. Show Unsubmit Session Button: If you need to unsubmit a submitted session for a student, click the Show Unsubmit Session Button found at the top of the page. Clicking this button will allow teachers to re-open a session for a student that was submitted in error. Refer to the Unsubmitting a Session section for more information.

Locking/Unlocking a Session of the Assessment

Each session must only be unlocked for students who are currently being supervised. As soon as the continuous sitting is completed, the session must be locked.  Students who are absent from class must be locked individually so that they are not able to access the assessment. Refer to the section Pausing for Absent Students for more detailed instructions.

In order for students to access a session, it will need to be unlocked. Click the lock icon associated with the particular session you would like to unlock for students.

At the end of any continuous sitting or any time during the assessment session when all students need to have their access withdrawn (e.g., a fire alarm), click the unlocked icon for the particular session.

Pausing and Resuming the Assessment

Once you have started a session, you will have access to various features for invigilating your students. You can pause or resume the assessment for either an individual student or the entire class at any point (e.g., for a supervised break, absent student, fire alarm). This will allow the student(s) to return to the assessment later.

Pausing for an Individual Student to take a Supervised Break

Whenever a student needs to take a supervised break (e.g., washroom, water, stretch) during the assessment, click the unlocked icon associated with the individual student, for the session you want to pause. This will lock the session while the student is away from the assessment. 

When the student returns from their break and needs to continue with the assessment, you may unlock the session for the student. To do this, click the lock icon associated with the individual student. The student will return to the question that was open when the session was locked.

Note: If the student submitted the session before you locked it, you will not be able to unlock it. Refer to the Unsubmitting a Session section for instructions on how to unsubmit a session if a student accidentally submitted prior to completing it.

Pausing for Absent Student(s)

When one or more students are absent for a session, their session will need to be locked.

After you unlock a session for a class, (refer to the Locking/Unlocking a Session of the Assessment section) you will need to click the unlocked icon associated with each student that is absent to relock their session so they cannot access it while they are not being supervised. 

When the student who was absent returns to complete the missed session, you can unlock it for that student. If you unlock the next session for the class, any student that has not yet completed the previous session will not unlock.  You will need to individually click the lock icon for the session you would like that student to complete. 

Pausing an Entire Class

When issues arise during the assessment (e.g., fire alarms) or a supervised break is required, the assessment can be paused in two ways.

Option 1: Click the Pause Session button found at the top of the invigilation page. This will pause the assessment for the entire class.

When the entire class is ready to resume the assessment, click the Resume Session button to continue.

Option 2: Click the unlock icon associated with the particular session you would like paused for the entire class.

When the entire class is ready to resume the assessment, click the lock icon for the particular session you would like to unlock. You will need to lock the session for those students that are absent. 

Unsubmitting a Session

Students are required to complete each session in one continuous sitting. In some cases, students may need to go back to complete questions in a session. Teachers are permitted to unsubmit a session for a student to complete part or all of the assessment, if the situation follows the guidelines described below or if EQAO has given the teacher approval.

Guidelines for Unsubmitting a Session

A teacher is permitted to unsubmit a session only if unsubmitting the assessment aligns with the Professional Responsibilities and does not affect the validity and reliability of results, and:

• The student is in the same continuous sitting and submitted the session or stage accidentally before completing all the questions in the one or both stages.

OR

• The student unexpectedly stopped during the assessment (e.g., illness or technical issue) and the student is not in the same continuous sitting, but the student will continue from the point in the assessment they stopped and only answer questions they did not access in the previous sitting. The teacher must supervise that the student does not review or change responses to previously reviewed or completed questions.

OR

• The student used the alternative version and responses are needed to be entered on behalf of the student and their session was submitted in error prior to completing this.

NOTE: Unsubmitting a session will not clear student responses for the questions they have already completed. For the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics, if the student is in the same continuous sitting and the student reviews, changes or completes responses in Stage 1 or Stage 3, then they may be routed to a different set of questions in Stage 2 or Stage 4, respectively. If this is the case, the questions in Stage 2 or Stage 4 will be different and the student will need to complete those stages again. Any responses to questions that were common to the original routed stage and newly routed stage will be saved if the student completed those questions.

Other Requests: If the situation is not outlined by these scenarios, then the teacher is not permitted to unsubmit the student’s responses unless they receive approval from EQAO. To make a request to EQAO, report your issue as “other”. Unsubmit requests that fall under the “other” reason category will be reviewed by EQAO. Your unsubmission request will not take effect immediately. Requests where the unsubmission affects the reliability and validity of the assessment or that do not align with the Professional Responsibilities will not be approved.

A session can only be unsubmitted if the student responses have yet to be submitted by the teacher. If you have already clicked Submit student responses to EQAO, a new assessment will need to be scheduled and started before a student’s session can be unsubmitted. Refer to Scheduling the Operational Assessment for further instructions.

Steps to Unsubmitting a Session

1. Before you unsubmit a session, have the student log out of the website or Kiosk or close the browser in which they are logged into. You will be able to verify if a student is logged out by looking at the student’s status which should indicate offline.

2. Click the Show Unsubmit Session Button at the top of the page.

Note: If a student is not logged out of the e-assessment platform, a pop-up message will appear at the top of the invigilator page which will not allow you to unsubmit the session. If this happens, please verify that the student has logged out of the system completely.

3. Once you have clicked the blue Show Unsubmit Session button, the title on the button will change to Hide Unsubmit Session button and an unsubmit icon (a rectangle with an x) will appear next to each student’s submitted session. Click on the unsubmit icon for the session that you would like to unsubmit. Unsubmit only if the scenario is one of the ones outlined above. If the scenario is not, you must receive approval from EQAO prior to unsubmitting.

Note: It is recommended to unsubmit one session for one student at a time.

4. After clicking on the unsubmit icon, a pop-up will appear asking you if want to unsubmit a student’s session.

Note:  As the assessment is adaptive, if you unsubmit a session and a student edits or completes questions in Stage 1 or Stage 3, they must review their questions in Stage 2 or Stage 4 as well in case they receive a different set of questions.

Once you click Continue, a second pop-up will appear asking you for a reason for unsubmitting a session. Select a reason from the options provided or chose “Other” and type a reason in the text box. Once complete, confirm the action to unsubmit a session for a particular student by typing “yes” in the input box and clicking OK to continue the unsubmit process.

Note:  If you selected Other, you must wait for EQAO’s approval to unsubmit the session. This will not be done immediately and will take approximately one day to receive approval.

5. After unsubmitting a session for the student, the session you unsubmitted will now show a lock icon on the invigilator page and it will indicate Not Started. To allow a student to re-access the session, click on the lock icon. If a student completed a session or stage after the one you have unlocked, the checkmark beside the student’s name will no longer appear.

Note: Unsubmitting a session will not clear student responses and student progress will remain saved. If a student edits answers or responds to additional questions in Stage 1 or 3, they may be routed to a different Stage 2 or 4, respectively.  If this is the case, Stage 2 or 4 will have different questions and therefore students will need to complete the unanswered questions in this new routed stage.

6. When the icon has changed to an unlocked icon, students will then be able to restart the unsubmitted session.

Reporting Issues

School administrators and teachers must report issues to EQAO that may affect the security, validity or reliability of the assessment. All issues should be reported through the teacher invigilation page.

Issues Requiring Immediate Technical Support

If the issue requires support to allow the student to start or continue the assessment, please report it on the teacher invigilation page using the Report an Issue button. Select the Technical Support category or phone 1-888-327-7377 for assistance. Issues reported in the Technical Support category will automatically be forwarded to the technical support team for immediate follow-up.

Issues NOT Requiring Immediate Technical Support

If the issue does not require immediate technical support (e.g., the student has already completed the assessment or can continue despite the issue) but may affect the student’s results or the security of the assessment, please report it using the Report an Issue button. Issues that are not time-sensitive will be reviewed by EQAO at the end of the administration dates. EQAO will investigate and consider these issues before student results are released.

Issues That Do NOT Require Reporting to EQAO

Issues that have been resolved and do not affect the validity and reliability of a student’s results or the security of the assessment, do not need to be reported to EQAO.  

Issues that do not need to be reported to EQAO:

• The Internet stops working during the assessment, but the students are supervised during this time. When the Internet issue is resolved, the students are able to go back into the assessment and continue with the assessment.
• A student appears to be offline but is actually completing the assessment online.
• The device a student is working on stops working, but the teacher is able to provide the student with another device and the student continues with the assessment.
• A student takes out a phone for personal reasons, and the teacher is satisfied the phone has not been used to assist with answers to the assessment.
• A student uses the device or site they regularly use to access manipulatives, and the teacher supervises this use.
• A student is absent and does not complete all or parts of the assessment.
• A student response appears not to be saved. (Note: Student responses are automatically saved in the system. At times there will be a delay between the teacher invigilation page and the student’s progress.)

How to Report an Issue

Once you click the Report an Issue button, you will select the category that best applies to the issue. Below are the three categories and their descriptions:

1.Technical Support: Any system issue that affects the ability of the student to continue the assessment. These issues are automatically forwarded to the technical support team for immediate support.

Examples:

• The teacher encounters a technical issue that prevents the students from continuing.
• A student encounters a technical issue and cannot log in to the assessment.
• A student is in an assessment session and unable to proceed with the next question.
• A student is not able to access assistive technology and needs support to continue the assessment.
• A student is unable to submit the current session.

2. Student Response Issue: Any issue that impacts a student’s ability to respond to a question but does not prevent the student from proceeding with the assessment.

Example:

• A student reports a glitch in the system associated with a specific question.

3. Administration Anomaly or Academic Dishonesty: Any issue that affects the validity and reliability of the student’s results must be reported to EQAO. These issues may not be investigated by EQAO until the end of the administration dates.

Examples:

• A student copies answers from others or from outside sources.
• A student accesses the assessment in an unsupervised setting.
• A student logs in and completes the assessment with the wrong OEN.

Ensure you provide all the details of the issue (e.g., topic; if applicable, the number of the question and session or stage).

Select the student or students affected by the issue.

Steps to report an issue:

1. 1. To report an issue which may affect the validity or reliability of a student’s results, click the Report an Issue button at the top of the invigilation screen.

1. 2. A pop-up will open with an explanation of the types of issues that can be reported. Click OK to report an issue.

3. A second pop-up will open allowing you to identify the issue that is affecting a student’s ability to complete a question or questions or that may affect the validity of a student’s results. Select the category that best identifies the issue.

4. After the Reported Issue Category (1) is selected, clearly describe the issue in the Report Issue text box (2). Ensure you provide as much detail as possible when describing the issue. It is important to identify the affected session and section number as well as question number to aid in the investigation of the issue.

5. It is important to select the affected student(s) name from the list (3) that appears below the Report Issue text box. Then click Report (4). If no students are selected, the issue will be associated with the entire class.

Note: Once you have reported an issue, the details are recorded in the system. It is not necessary to follow-up with EQAO or technical support to ensure your request has been received. If you require immediate assistance, report it here or call 1-888-327-7377.

Submitting Student Responses

Once all students have completed both assessment sessions (Session A and Session B), including the questionnaire (Session Q), the assessment session can be ended. If a teacher would like to end an assessment session, the teacher should select the Submit student responses to EQAO tab on the Assessment page. This should only be done if there are no active students in the assessment or questionnaire.

A pop-up will appear which will allow you to verify that your submission is accurate. You will be asked to confirm if you would like to close the assessment for all students in the class.  

Note: When you click OK, any student that is still in a session will be locked out of it.

Clicking on OK will return you back to the Assessments Page. There you will notice that the previously administered assessment session no longer appears under ACTIVE ASSESSMENT but instead has moved to under COMPLETED ASSESSMENT(S).

Students Completing the Operational Assessment After a Scheduled Assessment Session

If there are students who were unable to complete the operational assessment, they can still complete the assessment provided it is still within the EQAO administration dates.

If the teacher has not closed the operational assessment by submitting student responses to EQAO, the active assessment can still be administered and accessed by the students who have not completed the assessment. 

If the teacher has closed the operational assessment by submitting student responses to EQAO, a new assessment will need to be scheduled. Refer to Scheduling the Operational Assessment section for more information on how to schedule and open a new session.

Have students complete only the sessions that were not completed in the previous operational assessment session. Refer to the Administering the Assessment section for more information.

When all students have completed both sessions of the assessment, close the operational assessment again by clicking the Submit student responses to EQAO button. Refer to the Submitting Student Responses section for more information on how to close the operational assessment.

The teacher must close the assessment by submitting student responses before they can access the Individual Student Reports (ISR).