Create a test event

Note: Only users with the DataManager roles of Account Holder or Administrator can create and manage test events.

To create a Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®), Iowa Assessments™, Logramos®, or IowaFlex™ test event:

1. Click the Assessments heading, then select Test Events.

Assessments: Test Events submenu

The Test Events Overview page opens to the All Test Events table, which defaults to events that are currently open. Typically, your district will have 0-2 open test events at a time, one per assessment type, one season or quarter at a time.

IMPORTANT: Test events constitute the broadest grouping of test assessments, incorporating locations, grades/levels, batteries/domains, and students. Create one only per assessment type and testing period, and select the broadest possible participant group and roster. If you see an open event with the same assessment type as you are about to create, use that existing event rather than creating a new one for the same testing period. An exception to this is when setting up a Virtual Remote Proctor (VRP) test event in which some students do not test remotely.

Tip: Use a naming convention used across your institution that is easily recognizable when running reports. For example: test family/form/season/year (or, "Iowa G Fall 2020" or "CogAT 8 Spring 2021").

4. In the TEST EVENT ASSESSMENT TYPE, select the test that students will be taking.

Note: Options vary according to which assessment types your system or district has purchased. The image below shows all options (listed in alphabetical order).

Test event assessment type selections

The selection you make in this field determines, in part, which fields are available in the rows below it. For the IowaFlex options, the normative fields and Online Testing Details sections are removed, and the modal is resized.

Create an IowaFlex test event

5. In the TEST EVENT PARTICIPANT LIST, click Select Participants to display the location hierarchy. The list shows only those locations at or below your location level.

IMPORTANT: In most cases, you should retain the highest-level setting (the default) so you do not inadvertently exclude a classroom or building of students from appearing as options when you set up test assignments and sessions. Use the below lettered steps only if you are certain that there are groups you do not want to include in this event.

a. Click the right-facing arrows to expand nodes in the hierarchy, the down-facing arrows to collapse them.

b. Click one or more check boxes to select the participant list. Typically, this selection consists of one district. If, however, you have a subset of schools or classes participating in testing, select only those buildings or classrooms. Groups that are not selected will not be able to participate in the newly created test event or any related assignments or sessions.

6. In the TEST EVENT ROSTER field, select a student roster to apply to the test event. Note the following regarding test events and rosters:

– Once the test event is created, you cannot change the roster used for this test event. However, students can be added or removed from the current roster. See Adding a Student to a Roster for instructions.

– See Building Rosters from OMR Scanning for information about building a roster using the optical mark recognition (OMR) option. This is a unique designation for OMR scanning when students and locations are not loaded into DataManager in advance of testing.

7. In the Test Event Date box, type or use the drop-down calendar to enter the date of testing. The date should occur midpoint between your start and end date, with a maximum window of 60 days. See

test event details for more information.

Test administration dates

For instructions specific to IowaFlex, see Test administration dates for IowaFlex testing (below).

For CogAT, Iowa, and Logramos assessments, your test event date should reflect the midpoint in your test administration window. If you administer tests from September 1 to September 30, then select September 15 as your test event date.

You can begin testing up to 30 days prior to and 30 days after the test event date. During this time, you can administer tests to multiple schools within a school system and multiple grades within a school. Test events automatically expire 30 days from your test event date so that your estimated administrations can be reconciled against the number of students that actually took the test.

While not recommended, it is possible to extend the test event window beyond 30 days. (A common reason for reopening a test event is to process makeup sessions that occur after the majority of students have been tested.) If you want the testing window to exceed five weeks, consider setting up monthly test events. Limiting the duration of your test events will ensure the most valid and reliable data possible in your score reports. To that effort, if testing is completed in less than 30 days, you may close a test event prior to its 30-day expiration so that scores can be aggregated and reports produced.

If you are administering a two-part CogAT test, screening and post-screener, set up the post-screener event immediately after you have set up and saved the screening, and ensure that the post-screener occurs within 30 days of the screening.

You can back-date a test event up to 60 days prior to the current date. This allows you to account for test administrations that have already occurred but have not yet been scanned and scored. Setting a test event in the past allows you to have your data scored using a midpoint date in the past. In these cases, the test event automatically expires 30 days from the date you enter the event into DataManager.

Test administration dates for IowaFlex testing

For IowaFlex, enter start and end test dates in two separate designated fields. The start date defaults to today's date, but you can select a date up to 60 days in the past. The end date defaults to 30 days from today's date. You can change the dates from the default values the first time you set up a test event. You can edit the test event end date one additional time after the initial setup.

Note: For IowaFlex assessments, select a TEST EVENT START DATE and a TEST EVENT END DATE rather than a single midpoint date.

8. For IowaFlex test events, keep or change the default value for SUPPRESS PROGRAM LABEL(S), then click Save to finish setting up the test event.

10. Select a season or quartermonth for the NORMATIVE PERIOD. (Options are based on the test event date you entered.)

12. Click to select or clear any of the Online Testing Details that appear on the page. Selections vary according to your previous specifications.

– Allow Calculator Use (Iowa Assessments and Logramos only) specifies whether a calculator will be available during online test administration.

– Allow Audio Test Administration specifies whether online testing with audio will be available during this test event. Audio for Iowa Assessments is in English, for Logramos in Spanish, and, for CogAT, in English, Spanish, or, if enabled during system administration setup, in one of six additional languages (see CogAT additional audio languages).

– Allow Draw Screen provides the creator of a test session the option of allowing students to doodle on a blank screen while they wait either for a test to begin or for other students to complete a test. If you select it, the test session creator can allow or prevent students access to a doodle page. If you select Do not allow Draw Screen, the test session creator does not see the option for a doodle page. In this case, students will see a static screen with their name on it and no drawing tools. For more information, see Create a Test Session.

– Allow Remote Proctoring allows you to engage one of the remote proctoring solutions adopted by Riverside Insights®.

13. Click Save. A message confirms that the test event has been created, and the Create a New Test Event modal closes. The Test Events Overview page shows the newly created event in the All Test Events table.

Note: DataManager prevents you from accidentally creating multiple, overlapping test events, which can cause problems with reporting, by checking for other open and/or closed test events in a specific normative period. See these guidelines for options on working with multiple test events within a given normative period.

Option	Action
Achievement scores (used for Iowa Assessments and Logramos only, ignore for CogAT)	In the Achievement Scores list, select the achievement scores you want to be included on reports. Common scores such as National Percentile Ranks, Grade Equivalents, Stanines, and Scaled Scores are automatically provided with your order. Local and private school percentiles (PRIV) may also be available for scoring and reporting. The scores included in this list are optional, and no scores need be selected if you do not want them as a part of your testing program.
Ability scores (used for CogAT only, ignore for Iowa Assessments)	In the Ability Scores field, select the ability scores you want to be included on reports. A number of common ability scores are automatically provided with your order. The scores included in this list are optional.
Program label suppression	For SUPPRESS PROGRAM LABEL(S), leave the default selection of Yes if you do not want information about students' participation in sensitive district-wide or school-based programs to appear on class-level reports (for example, Free or Reduced-Price Lunch).