M-STEP Test Administration 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which action by a test administrator would constitute a testing irregularity that MUST be reported?
- Reading the standardized script verbatim
- Providing a student with an approved calculator
- Allowing a student to use their personal dictionary
- Displaying instructional anchor charts during the test (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Displaying instructional anchor charts during the test
Displaying instructional materials such as anchor charts during testing is a testing irregularity because they provide unauthorized assistance.
Question 2: A student asks to use the restroom during an online M-STEP ELA session. What is the correct procedure?
- Deny the request until a natural break in the test
- Allow the student to go with a hall pass after pausing their test session (Correct answer)
- Allow the student to go without pausing their test
- End the student's test session before allowing them to leave
Correct answer: Allow the student to go with a hall pass after pausing their test session
Students may use the restroom if needed, but the test session should be paused and the student should be monitored per school policy.
Question 3: What is the purpose of the M-STEP standardized administration script?
- To give administrators flexibility in explaining directions
- To ensure all students receive identical verbal instructions (Correct answer)
- To allow administrators to customize directions for different grade levels
- To provide administrators with suggested motivational phrases
Correct answer: To ensure all students receive identical verbal instructions
The standardized script ensures all students receive identical instructions, maintaining test validity and fairness across all testing sites.
Question 4: On which of the following can a student write during the M-STEP mathematics session?
- The test booklet margins
- The answer document
- Approved scratch paper provided by the administrator (Correct answer)
- A personal notebook they brought from home
Correct answer: Approved scratch paper provided by the administrator
Students may only write on scratch paper officially provided by the test administrator; personal materials are not permitted.
Question 5: A building test coordinator discovers that a test administrator read test questions aloud to a general education class that had no read-aloud accommodations. What is the likely outcome?
- The test results are automatically boosted by 10%
- The incident must be reported as an irregularity and scores may be invalidated (Correct answer)
- No action is needed if students still followed the time limit
- The administrator must retrain students on the questions the following day
Correct answer: The incident must be reported as an irregularity and scores may be invalidated
Providing an unauthorized accommodation is a testing irregularity that must be reported and may result in score invalidation.
Question 6: When must the M-STEP test administrator break the seal on test materials?
- The evening before testing for preparation
- Only in the presence of students on the day of testing
- As soon as materials are received from the district
- After students have been seated and the room is secured (Correct answer)
Correct answer: After students have been seated and the room is secured
Test materials should only be unsealed after students are seated and the room is secured on the day of testing, just before distribution.
Question 7: Which of the following BEST describes the test administrator's responsibility regarding students' pacing during M-STEP?
- Encourage students to work quickly to finish early
- Post time warnings at regular intervals as required by the script (Correct answer)
- Allow unlimited time since M-STEP is untimed
- Check student progress every 10 minutes and prompt slow students
Correct answer: Post time warnings at regular intervals as required by the script
Administrators must give time notifications as specified in the standardized script, neither rushing nor coaching students on pacing.
M-STEP Test Administration 3
Which action by a test administrator would constitute a testing irregularity that MUST be reported?