Everyone involved in the orchestration of standardized testing — from government leaders, the partner companies who deliver the tests, school administrators, tech directors, and teachers — all put in significant effort each year to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible. Below are recommendations to help you have a great testing experience with iPad and Mac.
Verify Supported Operating Systems and Devices for Testing
Testing vendors post hardware requirements and supported operating system versions in their System Requirements. For example, here’s where you can find this information for DRC Insight. As you can see in this documentation, Apple’s current operating systems (26.x) are listed as “fully supported.” However, keep in mind the DRC Insight app will show a warning when running on dot-releases until 30 days after they ship, noting that this version is in the process of being certified by DRC. It’s still possible to press “Continue” and test.
Another thing to note is the oldest version your testing vendor supports, which is important to keep in mind for future planning if you have older hardware that cannot update to the current operating system.
Defer Software Updates
Once you have your devices on a supported operating system, it’s generally a good idea to defer software updates during the testing season. IT Admins can defer software updates up to 90 days, so this can be timed to cover the testing window for your school.
Ensure Interoperability with Content Filters
Standardized testing apps can be sensitive to packet inspection, and testing vendors will usually publish lists of domains that need to be excluded from running through content filters. An example is this documentation from the College Board, which explains how important it is that their servers have an open path to their app. If you’re not sure how to fully exclude the domains that the testing developer has listed, reach out to your content filter vendor’s Help Desk. They are usually very accustomed to helping with this issue.
Install and Test Your Apps
Assessment Mode for iPad and Mac are entitlement-based features that enable the testing app to lock the device to itself in a form of Single App Mode. Assessment Mode automatically restricts features that should not be present in a secure testing environment, as described in our documentation. This means that no device management features are required to achieve a secure testing device, beyond installing the app on all devices.
After you install the testing app, it’s a good idea to test it before your testing window opens. Many of these apps will have “practice test” or “device check” features that will enable you to make sure that your content filter policies are not blocking assessment app traffic. Some of these testing features even offer the ability to assess whether your school network will be able to handle the simultaneous load of hundreds of students testing at once. So, have a look at your testing app and see what tools it makes available to IT.
In addition to helping school IT staff be ready, these “practice test” features can also be helpful for students. It’s a good idea to expose students to the user interface, and particularly to the helpful tools (embedded calculators, rulers, masking and marking tools) available in the testing app, so they’re not encountering them for the first time on testing day, when their time and their minds should be devoted to answering questions.
Questions? Please Reach Out!
We’ve covered the main considerations for school IT admins as testing season approaches, but if you have additional questions please feel free to reach out to your local Apple Education team. We work closely with testing providers throughout the year, and we’re always happy to help.
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