Specifications include, but are not limited to: A. Assessment Instrument for Mastery of Digital Skills 1. The Contractor shall make available to all school districts an assessment that meets the following requirements: a. Assessment must include at least one written exam that assesses student mastery in one or more of the following digital skills: word processing; spreadsheets; presentations, including sound, motion, and color presentations; digital arts; cybersecurity; and coding. b. Exam must be available to school districts for the 2019-20 academic year and no later than August 2019. c. Exam may only be administered in a proctored environment. d. Information about the exam should be published on a publicly available website which includes the following: an overview of the skills assessed by the exam or test blueprint, sample test questions, the number of questions, exam time/duration, available exam versions, details about how to access accommodations for individuals with disabilities, test proctoring requirements, retake policy, and the process for becoming a testing center for the assessment. e. Assessment must result in the issuance of a certificate to candidates based upon demonstration of mastery of the content area(s). f. Assessment must not require enrollment in a specific course or purchase of specific instructional or course material in order for the student to take the written exam(s). 2. The Contractor shall provide information on the content validity and reliability of any written exams that are part of the assessment. Content validity refers to the extent to which a tool reflects the possible skills or behaviors that make up the domain or construct being assessed. Reliability is a term that describes whether a tool produces consistent information across different circumstances. 3. The Contractor should notify the Department of Education regarding any substantive changes to the certifications including but not limited to the following: issuance of new exam versions, changes to passing scores that denote student mastery of skills, and any other significant update to the exam. 4. The Contractor shall have a process for providing accommodations to individuals with documented disabilities
