GOLDEN HORSESHOE

2014-2015 Golden Horseshoe Testing Schedule

UPCOMING DATES

Golden Horseshoe Information

Preparing for the Golden Horseshoe Essay and Multiple Choice Online Test

Essay Test: Sample Essays from 2012-2013. Other practice essays can be found at the end of the page under Forms.

Essay Test Lines: PDF

Golden Horseshoe Preparation Page: http://www.wvculture.org/history/goldenhorseshoeprep.html

• Quick Quizzes:  http://www.wvculture.org/history/trivia/quizindex.aspx
• Daily Trivia:  http://www.wvculture.org/history/trivia/trivia.aspx
• On This Day in WV History:  http://www.wvculture.org/history/thisdayinwvhistory/thisday.html
• Released and Practice Test Items
  • Practice Test 2
  • Answer Key Practice Test 2
  • Newly Released Questions from the 2012 Golden Horseshoe Test
  • Answer Key

Registering your county’s students to take the Golden Horseshoe Test

Any 8th grade student can take the Golden Horseshoe Test one time.  We use the Acuity system for administering the actual online Golden Horseshoe Test.  For those students who have not used Acuity before, we provide practice tests so that students can become familiar with the site before the actual test date.  We request that all students test their usernames and passwords by FEBRUARY 23.

Both home and private school students are eligible to take the test.  All students must be registered using the Golden Horseshoe Registration form by MARCH 3.  The form must be filled out completely and correctly.  If the form is not completely correct, the form will be returned and the student(s) will not be registered.

Registration Process

Public school students do not need to be registered.  The Office of Assessment does a batch enrollment from the WVEIS system.  The students’ usernames are their student ID numbers.

Once correctly completed registrations have been received by the WVDE Office of Secondary Learning, the registration forms are submitted to the Office of Assessment and Accountability once a week for a batch enrollment.  It takes about a week to a week-and-a-half to get the students enrolled.  If you have not heard from Veronica Barron 2 weeks after submitting the registration form please send an e-mail to vbarron@k12.wv.us.

Home-School Students

Home-school students will need to be registered to take the test.  The registration form can only be completed by a teacher, counselor or a school/county administrator were the student would normally have attend public school.  We do not permit parents to submit the registration form because the county/school needs to know that the student is planning on participating.  Once the student has been enrolled, we will e-mail the person who submitted the registration with the students information and instructions.  NOTE:  Home-school students are required to go the school that they would normally have attended to take the Essay Test and the Online Golden Horseshoe Test.

Private School Students

Private schools can participate as long as they have a school code and complete the registration form.  The school code and county code can be obtained from the Master School Code website at http://jo.my/countyschoolcode, by selecting the county the school is located in and then scrolling through the list of schools.  NOTE:  Private schools must take the essay test and online Golden Horseshoe test on the same day as the rest of the county.  Private schools should notify the county Golden Horseshoe County Contact that they are participating so that information can be distributed to the school.

Golden Horseshoe Registration Form 

Take the Test

Where to Log Into Acuity?

acuity.north.k12.wv.us		acuity.south.k12.wv.us		Other Servers
Berkeley Doddridge Grant Hampshire Hancock Hardy Lewis Marion Marshall Mineral Monongalia Morgan	Ohio Pendleton Preston Randolph Taylor Tucker Tyler Upshur Wetzel Wirt WVSDB	Barbour Boone Braxton Calhoun Clay Fayette Gilmer Jackson Lincoln Logan Mason Mingo Monroe	McDowell Nicholas Pleasants Pocahontas Putnam Raleigh Ritchie Roane Summers Wayne Webster Wyoming Institutional Ed. Programs	Private Schools – acuityathome.comBrooke – acuity.brook.k12.wv.usCabell – acuity.cabe.k12.wv.us Greenbrier – acuity.gree.k12.wv.us Harrison – acuity.harr.k12.wv.us Jefferson – acuity.jeff.k12.wv.us Kanawha – acuity.kana.k12.wv.us Mercer – acuity.merc.k12.wv.us Wood – acuity.wood.k12.wv.us FAYETTE-  acuity.south.k12.wv.us

Essay Test

The essay test is not required and if a student chooses not to complete the essay it does NOT disqualify them from taking the online Golden Horseshoe Test.  The essay test is used to break a tie between scores for the online test.

The essay test is scheduled for February 10.  Two weeks prior to the test we will e-mail the essay question to the Golden Horseshoe County Contact.  We ask that the Golden Horseshoe County Contact distribute the essay test to their schools, pick the essay test back-up and send the entire county’s essay test back to the WVDE in one envelope.  In case your county is spread out, the individual schools can return the essay tests directly back to the WVDE Office of Secondary Learning.  We recommend that you send the tests back with sometime of tracking number in case the package is misplaced by the Post Office.

• The essay test CAN be administered by the regular WV studies teacher in a regular 40-45 minute class period.
• The teacher/test administrator will be asked to complete a confidentiality agreement and an absentee roster.  The absentee roster should include students who are absent the day of the essay test and any student who chooses NOT to take the essay test

Incase of a snow day, please contact the WVDE Office of Secondary Learning at 304-558-5325 and ask for Joey Wiseman or Veronica Barron.  Otherwise, there are NO MAKEUP DAYS for the essay test.  If a student is absent the day of the essay test, he/she may NOT make it up.

Essay Test Forms

Absentee Roster       PDF       Word

Essay Test Confidentiality Agreement         PDF

Online Golden Horseshoe Test  March 4- Fayette County

The online test is a 50 multiple choice question test that can be completed in 40-45 minutes.

Test proctor/Moderator

• The test proctor/moderator/administrator MUST NOT be the regular classroom teacher for the online Golden Horseshoe Test.
• The test will be turned on at 7 AM each morning and off at 3:45 PM each afternoon.
• The test is timed by the proctors/moderators and students should be allowed 40-45 minutes to take the test.  The Acuity site will NOT shut the test down after 40-45 minutes.
• If a student has an IEP that requires classroom accommodations, please provide those accommodations.  For example, if a student requires extra time, please give that student extra time.  If a student requires someone to read to them, please arrange for someone to read the test to the studen

The regular WV Studies teacher may NOT administer the Online Golden Horseshoe Test to the students.  The WVDE requires an online confidentiality agreement stating that the test administrator is NOT the regular WV Studies teacher and will keep all information regarding the Golden Horseshoe test confidential.  This confidentiality agreement must be signed 3 days prior to the county’s scheduled test day.  We recommend that you have all the teachers and test administrators complete the confidentiality agreement on an ISE day to make sure all teachers and test administrators are familiar with the test’s regulations.

Internet Usage Tips on Test Day

• We suggest that you ask all other computer users to refrain from downloading or tying up the broadband.
• If there is an internet slow down, please allow the students sufficient time to make the test fair.
• If a student is kicked off the Internet, just have them log back in.  As long as the student has not submitted the test he/she can reenter the test

During the month of March, please notify use of any new or transfer students.  We will need to make sure that he/she has an Acuity account and the account reflects the correct county they are testing in.

After the testing is complete, all absentee rosters will need to be e-mailed/faxed to the WVDE Office of Secondary Learning.  We will check to make sure that the county’s winners are not on the absentee list before declaring them actual winners.

Online Test Forms

Test Day Tips          PDF

Absentee Roster       PDF      Word

Online Test Confidentiality Agreement   Word      Multiple Signatures Word

• Three Days prior to the test
  • FAX to 304-558-1834E-mail a scanned copy to rjwisema@k12.wv.us
  • Mail to WVDE, ATTN: Robert “Joey” Wiseman, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Building 6 Rm 603, Charleston, WV  25305

Test Day Tips    PDF

Winners

The number of winners is determined by population but every county is given a minimum of two winners.  The bigger the county is the more winners they will have.  The Golden Horseshoe test is a competition within a county NOT within the state.  We do not have average scores for the state or counties.

As we begin getting the winners, we will send the list of winners to the superintendent and the county contact.  Please stress to your teachers we will not be sending the scores to the counties until the middle of May.

We will send information directly to the students and their families about the Ceremony.  If a teacher/test administrator would like to attend, we have extra seating in the lobby area where a closed circuit TV is set up or they can participate behind the scenes by being an escort.

Honorary Nominations

Each year it is customary to honor selected educators or individuals who have made an outstanding contribute to West Virginia, West Virginia Studies and/or Golden Horseshoe program by naming them as Honorary Knights or Ladies of the Golden Horseshoe.  An individual is nominated by the county superintendent only .  Each county superintendent may nominate only one person per year.  Only 10 persons a year may receive the award.  In the event more than 10 nominations are received, a committee will review all nominations and select the ten most deserving nominees.  To nominate an individual , please complete the online form at.Golden Horseshoe Online Honorary Nomination Form

Forms

Absentee Roster  Word   PDF

Confidentiality Agreement Essay Test  PDF

Confidentiality Agreement Online Test Word   Multiple Signatures Word 

Essay Lines  PDF

Golden Horseshoe Registration Form  Excel 

Practice Essays  PDF

Practice Multiple Choice Questions  PDF 

Practice Answer Key   PDF 

Test Day Tips    PDF

Archives

2012-2013 Golden Horseshoe Ceremony Video 

2012-2013 Golden Horseshoe Program

2013-2014 Golden Horseshoe Ceremony Video

2013-2014 Golden Horseshoe Program

West Virginia Golden Horseshoe Winner Database 

If you have like to replace a Golden horseshoe pin, please visit the Lost Pin Replace page 

Contact Information

Social Studies Coordinator, Robert “Joey” Wiseman (rjwisema@k12.wv.us)

Assistant, Veronica Barron (vbarron@k12.wv.us)

Office of Secondary Learning

Phone:  304-558-5325                 FAX:  304-558-1834

1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Building 6 Room 603, Charleston, WV  25305

Above Courtesy:  WVDE     http://wvde.state.wv.us/socialstudies/goldenhorseshoe.html

If a private school does not have a school code, one can be obtained by contacting the Office of Information Systems at 304-558-8869.

Golden Horseshoe Registration Form