PearsonAccess next Overview In this Document This document contains the following information: managing participation managing contacts creating and managing user accounts Understanding System Basics To learn more about navigating the PearsonAccess next system, refer to the System Basics guide found on your program s web page. The guide covers how to access PearsonAccess next, staff roles, the definition of a contact vs. a user, and basic navigation methods. Viewing Other Organizations Data Users have the ability to view and edit data for all organizations in your jurisdiction. Use the table below to determine the type of accesses you have. If you are this type of user State District School Then you can access data for all districts and schools in your state all schools in your district only your school Schools and Districts Responsibilities Schools take an active role in the school participation process by selecting their materials receipt date, and by confirming that contact information is correct (if the contact information is incorrect, consult with your district test coordinator promptly). Schools testing online also need to assign a technical coordinator and room supervisors. Districts also take an active role in the school participation process by ensuring schools submit their information in a timely manner, or by completing some of the participation information for them. Important! Making School Test Coordinator Changes Throughout the year, district test coordinators are responsible for making any updates needed to school test coordinator information or creating new test coordinator user accounts. School test coordinators cannot create a new school test coordinator, nor update their contact information. If any information about the school test coordinator is incorrect, he or she must contact their district test coordinator to make the change. Programs Testing with both ACT and ACT WorkKeys If your program is administering both the ACT and the ACT WorkKeys tests, you need to manage participation and contacts in both of those administrations. Refer to the System Basics guide for instruction on how to navigate between the two administrations. Terms and Conditions When a user logs into PearsonAccess next for the first time, they will see ACT s terms and conditions, to which they must agree to before starting to use the site. 2017 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. JA10006.OPS2001 Version: 2017.04.27
Part I: Managing Participation In this Section In this section, you ll find the following information: purpose of completing participation participation process how to submit participation data how to verify test coordinators and physical addresses how to view or edit participation data what to do if your school is taking the ACT online PearsonAccess nexttm Purpose of Completing a School s Participation Submitting participation information is important because it verifies the following information for your school: the delivery date for the initial shipment the date for the test administration the test coordinator contact details the address to which materials are shipped a reason if your school is not participating The Participation Process The table below describes the participation process. Stage Who Does What 1 ACT Creates the following user accounts in PearsonAccess next : state test coordinator district test coordinator school test coordinator Note: If you have a pre-existing user account, ACT will not create a new one for you. However, you ll receive email notification of being added to the new test administration. This notification will state you ve been granted additional access to PearsonAccess next ; if you log in, you ll see verification of the new administration. 2 PearsonAccess next Sends account setup email to the state, district, and school test coordinators. 3 State, district, and school users 4 School or district test coordinator 5 District test coordinator Set up their accounts. Completes participation information for their school(s) by logging into the system and: submitting participation data for the school verifying the test coordinator and physical address for the school verifying the shipping contact/address if your school is taking the ACT online, creating an account for the technical coordinator Updates the school test coordinator, if necessary. Verifies contact/address information if your testing program includes district shipping. 2 of 8
Participation, Part 1: How to Submit Participation Data To submit participation data for a school, take the following steps. PearsonAccess nexttm In PearsonAccess next, confirm that you are in the correct administration and organization in the upper right hand corner. See the System Basics document for instructions if needed. Select the Setup icon, and choose Organizations. The Organizations screen appears. Select the dropdown list on the Search button, and check the box next to Show all results. A list of all organizations appears. Check the box next to the organization you wish to update. Select the dropdown list on the Start button, and choose All Tasks. The Tasks for Organizations screen appears. Select the Manage Participation tab if it s not already selected. The school appears on the left. 3 of 8
Use the table below to determine your next step. If the school is Then Participating on the initial test date Participating but not on the initial test date PearsonAccess nexttm Complete the Participating section by: o selecting a Materials Receipt Date from the dropdown list (the week in which you can receive materials for the initial test date) o checking the box for Submit Participation Details at the top of the screen Complete the Participating section by: o checking the box for Not Testing on the Initial Test Date o selecting a Materials Receipt Date from the dropdown list (the week in which you can receive nonsecure materials) o checking the box for Submit Participation Details at the top of the screen Not participating Complete the Not Participating section by: o selecting a Reason Not Participating from the dropdown list o if selecting Other, completing Other Reason Not Participating o checking the box for Submit Participation Details at the top of the screen Note: Do not remove the checkmark from the ACT Use Only box. Select the Save button. A Success Changes saved message appears. Participation, Part 2: How to Verify Test Coordinators and Physical Addresses To verify test coordinator information and physical addresses, take the following steps. If you did not use the Exit Tasks button in the previous section, select the Manage Contacts tab (if you did use the Exit Tasks button, follow steps 1-5 above first). Review the following information on the screen: Under Contacts, select Test Coordinator from the left side of your screen. If you are a district user, select the Test Coordinator that you want to review under the school name. If your testing program includes district shipping, select Shipping Contact/Address. Update this information if necessary. Note: If your school will receive shipments, ACT will ship to the test coordinator s contact address. Use the following table to determine your next step. If you are at a And if the school contact information Then School is up to date Go to step 13. You do not need to do anything else. needs updating Go to step 13 and contact your district test coordinator to make the change. District is up to date Go to step 13. You do not need to do anything else. needs updating See the Creating and Managing User Accounts section in this guide. 4 of 8
PearsonAccess nexttm Notes: If you entered a new test coordinator, enter only the first and last name in the First and Last Name field, separated by a single space. Do not enter titles or suffixes. You ll also need to create a user account for the new test coordinator (see the How to Create a User Account section). If you need to change a school s or the district s physical address, use the Address Change Request Form. If you made changes to any information on the Tasks for Organizations screen, select the Save button. A Success Changes saved message appears. Select the Exit Tasks button. How to View or Edit Participation Data To view or edit already-submitted data, take the appropriate steps in the Participation, Part 1: How to Submit Participation Data section of this guide. If Your School is Taking the ACT Online If your school chooses to administer the ACT online, the test coordinator will appoint a technical coordinator and room supervisors in PearsonAccess next by creating user accounts. One technical coordinator must be appointed to configure computers for testing. When you create test sessions, one room supervisor should be appointed to manage examinees in each online test session. 5 of 8
PearsonAccess nexttm Part II: Creating and Managing User Accounts In this Section In this section, you ll find the following information: who manages contacts and user accounts how to change a school test coordinator how to create a user account how to delete a user account how to edit the data of an existing user how to contact ACT Who Manages Contact and User Accounts Use the table below to determine the accounts you can manage. If you are a user Then you can manage these staff accounts at this level State District test coordinator contact and user account School test coordinator contact and user account Technical coordinator account(s) Room supervisor user accounts District Only staff at schools within your district, to include: Test coordinator contact and user account Technical coordinator user account(s) Room supervisor user accounts School Only staff at your school, to include: Technical coordinator user account(s) Room supervisor user accounts Note: Set up technical coordinator and room supervisor accounts only if your school will be testing the ACT online. How to Change a School Test Coordinator If you need to change a test coordinator at a school, the district test coordinator must do three things: Update the contact in the Manage Contacts tab (see the Participation, Part 2: How to Verify Test Coordinators and Physical Addresses section). Create the new test coordinator s user account (see the How to Create a User Account section). Delete the previous test coordinator s user account (see the How to Delete a User Account section). 6 of 8
How to Create a User Account To create a user account, take the following steps. PearsonAccess nexttm In PearsonAccess next, confirm that you are in the correct administration and organization in the upper right hand corner. See the System Basics document for instructions if needed. Select the Setup icon, and choose Users. The Users screen appears. Select the dropdown list on the Start button, and select Create / Edit Users. The Create / Edit Users screen appears. Select the Organization Name. Important! When creating a user account for someone at an organization beneath you in the hierarchy (e.g., if you are at a district and you are creating a school user account), be careful about the organization you assign them to. If you inadvertently assign them to your own organization, they will be able to see and possibly edit your information as well as the information for every organization that reports to you. Select the Role (Test Coordinator, Technical Coordinator, or Room Supervisor) for the new user. Leave the Account as Enabled. Enter the person s email address. The email address will automatically populate in the Username field. Keep the email address as the username. Enter the user s first name and last name. Leave the Active Begin Date and Active End Date fields blank. Select the Create button. A Success Changes saved message appears. Note: The new user will receive a new account email from PearsonAccess next (NoReplyTestAdmin@act.org). The user will need to follow the instructions in that email to finish creating their account. Select the Exit Tasks button. How to Delete a User Account To delete a user account, take the following steps. Select the Setup icon, and choose Users. The Users screen appears. Select the dropdown list on the Search button, and check the box next to Show all results. A list of users appears. Optional: On the left, use the Filters feature to narrow the list of results. Check the box next to the account you want to delete. 7 of 8
PearsonAccess nexttm Select the dropdown list on the Start button, and select Delete / Restore Users. The Delete / Restore Users screen appears. The user you selected appears. Check the box next to the account you wish to delete, and then select the Delete / Restore button. A Success Changes saved message appears. The user s name will now have a red X next to it. Select the Exit Tasks button. How to Edit the Data of an Existing User To edit the data of an existing user, take the following steps. In PearsonAccess next, confirm that you are in the correct administration and organization in the upper right hand corner. See the System Basics document for instructions if needed. Select the Setup icon, and choose Users. The Users screen appears. Select the dropdown list on the Search button, and check the box next to Show all results. A list of users appears. Optional: On the left, use the Filters feature to narrow the list of results. Check the box next to the account you want to edit. Select the dropdown list on the Start button, and select Create / Edit Users. The Create/ Edit Users screen appears. The user appears on the left. Select the user s name. Update fields with the new information and then select the Save button. A Success Changes saved message appears. Select the Exit Tasks button. How to Contact ACT If you have questions, you may: Contact us electronically via the Contact Us webpage at: www.act.org/stateanddistrict/contactus Call us at 800.553.6244, ext. 2800 8 of 8