General Information
Will rosters be listed by their classroom teacher/homeroom teacher or by the ELL/LEP teacher?
ELPA21 District Coordinators or ELPA21 Building Coordinators can create rosters in any way that works for a school or district.
How can I get immediate access to a Cambium Assessment, Inc. (CAI) technical contact in order to communicate hardware specification issues?
For information about technical specifications, please consult the technical resources on the Iowa ELPA21 portal. For additional assistance, please contact the Iowa ELPA21 Help Desk at iowaelpa21helpdesk@cambiumassessment.com or 1-855-873-5710.
I am the only ELL instructor in my building. Am I a building coordinator?
Please access the "User Roles and Access to Iowa ELPA21 Systems" document in the “User Guides” folders on the resources page of the Iowa ELPA21 portal for assistance with user roles.
Can there be more than one District Coordinator? Are the roles of the District Test Coordinator the same as the Building Test Coordinator? Can I have access in just one account?
Every TIDE account has a role, and that role has certain permissions. For instance, the ELPA21 District Coordinator role has permission to retrieve student records, add students, view and edit students, retrieve user accounts, and view user details. The ELPA21 Test Administrator role can only retrieve student records, add students, and view/edit student information. In addition to limiting tasks, permissions limit scope. A district-level user can work with data pertaining to that district, and a school-level user can work with data pertaining to that school. Since the ELPA21 District Coordinator role has more permissions than a Building Test Coordinator, there is no need to have both roles.
What are the testing window dates?
These dates can be found on the Important Dates page of the Iowa ELPA21 portal.
Where can I download the secure browser?
You can download the secure browser on the Secure Browser page of the Iowa ELPA21 portal.
What is an SSID?
SSID is an abbreviation for State Student Identification. This number is unique to each student and is assigned by the Iowa Department of Education (DOE).
What is the portal?
There are two sites referred to as "portals:" the Iowa Department of Education's portal (known as EdPortal or IDOE Portal) and the Iowa ELPA21 portal.
The EdPortal is the site where users must go to create an A&A account. This account will provide access to the CAI systems hosted on the Iowa ELPA21 portal.
The Iowa ELPA21 portal acts as the gateway to all your Iowa ELPA21 assessment information and CAI systems. The portal provides links and resources to help students and educators take full advantage of CAI systems and understand the Iowa ELPA21 assessment.
Will the ELPA21 be one test with 4 sections or 4 separate tests?
The ELPA21 summative assessment will be delivered as four separate tests, one for each of the domain subjects of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Are all students, Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade required to be computer proficient when they take the test?
Yes, all students will need to have basic navigations skills such as clicking, drag-and-dropping, and scrolling. Practice tests are available on this portal and allow students to practice those skills on sample items that mirror those on the actual test.