College Board Professional Account: Features and Benefits
The College Board plays a vital role in connecting students to opportunities, supporting over 7 million students annually as they transition from high school to college and careers. A key component of this support system is the College Board professional account, which provides educators and administrators with access to a range of tools and resources designed to enhance student success. This article explores the features and benefits of a College Board professional account, focusing on its utility in assessment reporting, training, and test administration.
Accessing Assessment Reporting Data
One of the primary benefits of a College Board professional account is the access it grants to assessment reporting data. This data is crucial for institutions aiming to improve their programs and support their students effectively. The College Board provides different roles to manage access to this data, ensuring that the right individuals have the appropriate level of information.
- Access Manager: The designated Access Manager is the key to granting colleagues access to the reporting portal. The first time the designated Access Manager uses the Manage Access application, they need an access code. Access codes are not required for later sign-ins. The Manage Access role allows for coverage if the primary Access Manager is unavailable or is leaving the organization. Using the Manage Access Tool, the Access Manager can assign multiple roles to any user; in fact, complete access to the reporting portal requires both the data files management role and the reporting detail role.
- Assessment Reporting Data Files Management: This role provides access to score data and essay batch files in the Downloads tab. This role is usually given to individuals in charge of uploading results into local data systems. Users with this role may be IT vendors hired by institutions, institution technology staff, or other institution staff.
- Assessment Reporting Summary: This role provides access to the SAT Trend Report tab. Additionally, provides access to the Exec. Summary tab provided the institution has purchased the EPS product and assigned access to that product as well. This role is limited to summary data only, with no access to individual student information. Summary reporting should be given to staff who don’t need student-level information but may need aggregate reporting.
- Assessment Reporting Detail: This role provides access to the Find a Student and Trend Report tabs. Additionally, provides access to the Exec. Summary tab provided the institution has purchased the EPS product and assigned access to that product as well. This also includes the ability to drill down to individual student score data and other personally identifying information. Detail reporting should be given to staff who benefit from seeing student-level results, such as admissions staff.
Each role is independent, allowing institutions to tailor access according to the specific needs of their staff. For example, an institution may assign data files access separately, or in conjunction with summary or detail reporting.
Setting up Access
To gain access to these reporting tools, individuals need to create a College Board professional account. It's crucial to ensure that they enter your institution in the “Where do you work?” field on the professional account form. To invite users without College Board accounts, or users who did not indicate your institution as their employer (i.e., a vendor), to access your reports or data files. Once they click one of the links, they have up to three minutes to complete the invite process outlined below.
Training and Test Administration
In addition to assessment reporting, College Board professional accounts are essential for training and test administration. Test coordinators and proctors rely on these accounts to access training materials, administer digital tests, and ensure test security.
Read also: Comprehensive Ranking: Women's College Basketball
Test Coordinator Training
Test coordinators play a critical role in the successful administration of College Board assessments. They must complete the Test Coordinator Planning section of their training as soon as they can after training opens, which is about 4-6 weeks before the testing window opens. The course duration will vary by role and whether you've previously delivered a digital assessment in the SAT Suite. The course will ask about digital testing experience and will present some topics as optional. Your progress will be saved so you don't have to complete the training in one sitting.
Coordinators can monitor and track the training completion status of their staff. They'll only see the status for staff who have signed in to the training platform and associated themselves with the coordinator's testing location and assessment. On their first sign-in, coordinators can access their staff's status by clicking Training Status Dashboard on the training launch page. Once you've passed the knowledge check at the end of the course, your status will be marked as complete. Your coordinator will be able to see your status on their Training Status Dashboard.
Digital Testing Environment
The College Board professional account is also crucial for administering digital tests. On test day, the proctor starts by signing in to Test Day Toolkit with their College Board professional account. During Bluebook check-in, students follow instructions and clear their desks. Students enter the start code and begin testing. Bluebook times each student individually, so if student start times are slightly different, their break and end times will be too.
When the first section ends, students are shown a break screen and told they can leave the room. The proctor doesn't time the test or dismiss students at break. Once testing starts, they can concentrate on maintaining test security and monitoring student progress on the Test Day Toolkit dashboard. Students with certain accommodations may have different timing for sections and breaks. When time runs out, Bluebook ends the test and submits answers automatically. Students must remain seated-and quiet-until their test is over. When a student's time is up, the proctor will make sure their answers were submitted, collect their scratch paper, return any items they collected, and dismiss the student.
Troubleshooting
To ensure a smooth experience, it's important to use a College Board-supported browser, like Edge, Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari, and ensure pop-ups are enabled. If you're supporting additional tests, such as SAT Weekend, you can add this training by clicking Training Status Dashboard on the training launch page.
Read also: Phoenix Suns' New Center
Student Access to Scores
Students also benefit from the College Board's online platform. They must use their College Board account in order to access their AP scores online at apscore.org. They should sign in with the same account they used to register and enroll in AP class sections. To avoid a delay in viewing scores, encourage students to confirm that they remember their login credentials by signing in before scores are released in July. Students shouldn’t create a new account if they already have one. Scores will be released to students in July. Some scores take longer to process due to later testing or other circumstances (e.g., late arrival of testing materials or extra time needed to match records). If students don’t receive them by Aug.
Additional Benefits
Beyond assessment reporting and test administration, the College Board offers a range of additional benefits to institutions and students. These include:
- Placement Tools and Assessments: Maximize student success with College Board's proven placement tools and assessments.
- Connecting with Students: College Board has an unrivaled ability to connect you with students destined to thrive at your school.
- Financial Aid: Financial aid is at the heart of student access to higher education.
Read also: About Grossmont Community College
tags: #college #board #professional #account #features #benefits
