Digital In-School Testing Checklist

This checklist includes all of the approaching milestones as you begin planning for test day, along with a recommended timeline for staff to complete their assigned activities. Please note that if your school is testing on multiple days, all steps should be completed by the first day of testing.

NOTE: If you plan to request any testing accommodations for your students, you can submit those requests through SSD Online at any time before the accommodations deadline—whether or not your school has selected an intended start date for testing. We recommend submitting those requests as early as possible so your students will be ready to test. Starting this year, students must have College Board approval to test with accommodations for both PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 8/9, and students may have significant testing delays or may not be able to test at all if this deadline is missed. Once your school's start date has been selected, any approved accommodations will apply.

Staff Roles

The tasks on this checklist are itemized by role. Descriptions of each role can be found under Staff Responsibilities and Recruitment.

5 WEEKS BEFORE TEST DAY
Milestone Action Items
Complete your order
  • Select your intended start date in the SAT Suite Ordering and Registration (SSOR) site.
  • Set anticipated test counts.
  • Identify your staff.
 SAT Suite Ordering and Registration Access Manager
  • Enable access to SSOR for the purchaser, data coordinator, test coordinator, and SSD coordinator by assigning them SSOR roles. Visit our Help Center for more information on assigning roles. Note: Before you can login and complete required SSOR Registration activities, your school must have a Data Coordinator and SAT Suite Registration role assigned in the Managing Access Tool. The Access Manager must grant access to these roles in the Managing Access Tool. If you're unsure who your access manager is, follow up with your institution's test coordinator or principal.
Test Coordinator
  • Reach out to technology coordinator to confirm they’ll manage Bluebook™ installation on managed devices and check local network capabilities for testing.
  • Schedule your digital readiness check for 1–2 weeks before test day to help students familiarize themselves with Bluebook and to check the readiness of testing devices for test day.
  • Identify your testing rooms.
  • Recruit test day staff.
Technology Coordinator Purchaser
  • Confirm your order details in SSOR.
    • IMPORTANT: Place your initial order 5 weeks ahead of when you intend to start testing. Orders may be updated as needed until registration activities begin.
Data Coordinator
  • View the file upload data specifications and download the SSOR registration file template.
  • Work with the test coordinator to pull all of the students in each grade level testing.
SSD Coordinator
  • Confirm that all accommodations are accurate in SSD Online.
  • If your school decides to host a full-length practice session during the digital readiness check, order paper practice materials for any students who need them.
    • IMPORTANT: If a student has approved accommodations to test with paper materials, please note that shipments will be processed upon completed registration. Work with your test coordinator to plan appropriate test dates.

    Reminder: All accommodations must be requested by 7 weeks before test day.
4–3 WEEKS BEFORE TEST DAY
Milestone Action Item
Initial Registration

IMPORTANT: Plan to upload data when the enrollment data has settled for the majority of testers. Schools or districts with a high degree of student mobility may want to wait until after the first few days of school to upload. 		Data Coordinator
  • Submit initial registration file in SSOR. Your district may also submit this file on behalf of your school. Once you've completed the submission, email your Test Coordinator and SSD Coordinator letting them know it's ready for validation.
Test Coordinator
  • Download and share the Student Guide with your students so they can start preparing for test day. These are located on the PSAT 8/9 and PSAT/NMSQT Resource pages.
3–2 WEEKS BEFORE TEST DAY
Milestone Action Items
Review, validate, and register students for testing
The school's test coordinator should confirm all students who intend to test have accurate records in the registration roster, and the SSD coordinator should confirm student records match their College Board accommodations. Be sure to include all "away" students who do not typically attend the school but requested to test there.

IMPORTANT: Carefully check the accuracy of student data prior to registration. After registration, student records will be locked for testing. Any changes will need to managed by deleting the record and re-adding the corrected record manually. 		Test Coordinator
  • Validate your roster for each event in SSOR and register students.
  • Use the email we'll send you to access Test Day Toolkit and create testing rooms.
  • Review your roster, add staff, and assign students to rooms in Test Day Toolkit.
  • Work with technology coordinator to prepare for the digital readiness check.
    • IMPORTANT: Students who appear on your roster in SSOR still need to be registered for the test. To do so, click "Register Students" from your registration roster in SSOR and follow the instructions. You can register 1 student at a time or multiple students at once by clicking the checkboxes next to their names.
SSD Coordinator
  • Validate the registration data in SSOR for SSD students.
  • Confirm the accommodations in SSD Online match the accommodations in SSOR.
Technology Coordinator
  • Install Bluebook on managed devices.
  • Ensure shared devices will be available for the digital readiness check.
  • Continue preparing your network.
All Staff
  • Begin required training and reading test day guides.
2–1 WEEKS BEFORE TEST DAY
Milestone Action Items
Digital readiness check
Orient students for digital testing and check for any technology issues. 		Test Coordinator
  • If you need to add or delete any individual students from your registration roster, do so in SSOR. Updates may take up to 2 business days to appear in Test Day Toolkit. Sign-in tickets should not be printed until the updates appear.
  • Print sign-in test tickets.
  • Prepare staff and students for digital readiness check.
  • Distribute the Digital Readiness Check Guide to your testing staff and conduct the digital readiness check.
    • IMPORTANT: Remember to register any new students in SSOR once they have been added to your registration roster.
SSD Coordinator
  • Review pending accommodations requests in SSD Online.
  • Ensure students with accommodations are prepared for digital readiness check.
All Staff
  • Complete required training and read test day guides.
  • Conduct digital readiness check.
1 WEEK BEFORE TEST DAY
Milestone Action Items
Test readiness
Fix any issues found in digital readiness check as you prepare for test day. 		Test Coordinator
  • Set up testing room supplies.
  • Begin reprinting sign-in tickets as necessary.
  • If applicable, connect to Wi-Fi on a personal device in a testing room to make sure the network is set up for guest access.
  • If applicable, receive and securely store paper test materials.
Technology Coordinator
  • If students are testing on personal devices, remind them to download Bluebook, charge their devices, and bring them on test day.
  • If students are testing on school-managed devices assigned to them one-to-one, remind them to charge their devices and bring them on test day.
  • Check school-managed devices to make sure Bluebook was installed properly.
  • Make sure shared devices are fully charged.
    • NOTE: Any student testing on a device (personal or school-managed) that does not allow automatic updates should confirm they have the most current version of Bluebook installed.
THE DAY BEFORE TEST DAY
Milestone Action Items
Final preparation Test Coordinator
  • Ensure all staff have completed training.
  • Confirm you have a sign-in ticket printed for all students (reprint if necessary).
  • Make any final announcements.
  • Assemble test kits containing Wi-Fi information, sign-in tickets, scratch paper, extension cords, sticky notes, and bags for prohibited devices.
Technology Coordinator
  • Verify your network is configured to allow necessary traffic.
TEST DAY
Milestone Action Items
Administer the test Test Coordinator
  • Follow the steps in the Test Coordinator Test Day Guide.
  • If you need to request a retest, you can do so once testing has concluded.
  • Confirm student answer submission for each of the testing rooms in Test Day Toolkit.
  • Review and submit any irregularity reports immediately after testing.
Technology Monitor
  • Stay in the help room and use the tips in the Technical Troubleshooting Guide to assist students.
Proctors and Hall/Room Monitors
  • Follow the steps in the Proctor and Hall Monitor Test Day Guide.
  • Confirm all student answers are submitted before dismissing them.
AFTER TEST DAY
Milestone Action Items
Score release and invoicing Purchaser
  • Plan for your payment.
  • Visit SSOR to review invoice information when available.
District/School Coordinator
  • Access scores in the online K–12 Reporting Portal and review prior to student score release.
Counselors
  • Prepare for student score release.
All Staff
  • Notify students that scores are available. Please note that students that did not opt in to BigFuture® School will not be alerted by College Board once scores are available. You can notify students in one of the following ways:
    • Download score PDFs in the online K–12 Reporting Portal and share with students.
    • Remind students who opted in to BigFuture School (U.S. students only) to access their scores on the mobile app.
    • Remind students that scores can be accessed through their College Board account, if they have one.

Resources

Download

In-School Digital Testing Checklist

Download a version of this same checklist to help track your progress as you complete tasks leading up to test day.

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