On Behalf of
Joey Wiseman, Assistant Director
Office of Secondary Learning
Online Portion of the Golden Horseshoe Test – Username and Password
The West Virginia Department of Education has created a platform to host the Golden Horseshoe Test online. We hope to have it fully functional mid-to-late month. To begin preparations for online testing, all students will need to be able log into WebTop to access the test. WebTop accounts for all students are automatically generated. Login and passwords are accessible by designated individuals within the RESAs and counties. This information can be exported in a CSV format using the WebTop admin app. If you need help accessing this information please contact Chris Casto at chris.casto@k12.wv.us or Robert McCoy atrmccoy@k12.wv.us.
Home-school and private-school registration has not changed. The registration form is accessible online at http://wvde.state.wv.us/socialstudies/goldenhorseshoe.html. Because of the changes in the platform, we would prefer if all home-school and private-school registration be submitted by January 30, 2015.
Practice Essays Questions and Practice Multiple Choice Test Items
Practice essay questions are located on the WVDE Social Studies website’s Golden Horseshoe webpage, http://wvde.state.wv.us/socialstudies/goldenhorseshoe.html. Practice multiple choice tests are already available for students on the Acuity Platform. As in the past, students are the only individuals who have access to the online multiple choice practice tests. There is a printable practice multiple choice test that can be found on the Golden Horseshoe webpage (link above).
Essay Portion of the Golden Horseshoe Test
Each year the Golden Horseshoe test includes an essay question. For the sake of the time required to read the essays, the essay portion of the test must be given on February 10, 2015. The essay test question will be sent to the county contacts two weeks prior to February 10. County coordinators are responsible for distributing the essay question to all of the students in their county including private schools.
Remember that home-school students will be coming to their home public school to take both portions of the test. Make sure they are made aware of the time they need to report. The essay tests will be gathered by county coordinators and returned to the Office of Secondary Learning by February 20, 2015. Please remember that there is no make-up day for either portion of the test and students are not required to complete the essay portion in order to take the online multiple-choice portion.
Online Portion of the Golden Horseshoe Test
The multiple-choice portion of the test will be delivered online to your students on your assigned test date. These dates are posted on the Golden Horseshoe Page each year prior to the beginning of the school year. If there is a snow day or delay please contact us to reschedule if necessary. If there are technical or internet issues please have the school contact us directly as soon as possible. All students in a given county must take the online portion on the same day because all counties do not take the same exam.
Confidentiality Agreement
Confidentiality agreements for both the essay and online test can be found on the WVDE Social Studies website’s Golden Horseshoe webpage (listed above). Anyone who administers any portion of the Golden Horseshoe Test must complete the appropriate confidentiality agreement and return it to the Office of Secondary Learning to be filed along with the absentee rosters. The confidentiality agreement for the Golden Horseshoe Essay Test portion may be returned to the WVDE with the essays. The confidentiality agreement for the Golden Horseshoe Online Multiple Choice Test portion will need to be completed and sent to the WVDE via fax, email attachment or hard copy a minimum of three days before the county is scheduled to test. 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 testing regulations.
Absentee Rosters
Absentee rosters must also be completed each time either the essay or online test is given. The roster must list the names of all the students who were absent from testing or choose not to take the test. If all students are present, please write no absences or none on the absentee roster. Absentee rosters may be returned via fax (304-558-1834) or email (vbarron@k12.wv.us). Any student whose name is on an absentee roster is ineligible for the Golden Horseshoe Award.
Upcoming Dates
| January | 3
Mid-Month |
Deadline to request Braille Test
Deadline to submit county WV Studies teachers’ names and email addresses.
Practice test on Acuity become available for students. (Practice tests are posted once a week on Fridays.) |
| February | 10
20
23
24-26 |
Golden Horseshoe Essay Test portion for ALL counties. This is for breaking ties and students are not required to take the essay to take the online multiple choice portion.
Essay tests must be in the WVDE, Office of Secondary Learning.
Private & Home-school students’ registrations are due to the WVDE, Office of Secondary Learning. All students must have logged into Acuity to test their usernames and passwords.
Golden Horseshoe Online Multiple Choice Test |
| March | 3-6
6 |
Golden Horseshoe Online Multiple Choice Tests
Deadline to nominate an Honorary Golden Horseshoe recipient |
| April | 3
15 |
Golden Horseshoe winners will be sent to counties and winner/honorary packets will be mailed to winners and selected honoraries.
Deadline for name corrections for the program, certificate and name badges |
| May | 1
Mid-month |
Golden Horseshoe Ceremony, Capitol Complex
Golden Horseshoe Online Multiple Choice test scores will be emailed to the county superintendent and county Golden Horseshoe coordinator. Website to enter nomination: http://tinyurl.com/ghhonorarynom |
| June | Middle to End of the month | Golden Horseshoe winner and honorary memorabilia packets will be mailed. |
Contact
Additional information can be found on the Golden Horseshoe webpage at http://wvde.state.wv.us/socialstudies/goldenhorseshoe.html. Please call Joey Wiseman or Veronica Barron at 304-558-5325 or by email at rjwisema@k12.wv.us or vbarron@k12.wv.us.
If you have any questions regarding this email, please contact me at vbarron@k12.wv.us or 304-558-5325. Thank you and have a great day!
Respectfully,
Veronica
Veronica Barron
Secretary III-A
WVDE Office of Secondary Learning
GH Calendar 14-15 estim Timeline
golden horseshoe participants-emailghnotes
__________________________________________________
Golden Horseshoe Notes
2014 – 2015
Please find below a review of important information for the Golden Horseshoe Exams.
- Be sure that the 8th grade WV History class roster is correctly entered into WVEIS. The state will be periodically pulling the class roster. No paper copies of class rosters should be sent to Joey Wiseman. All rosters need to be electronic.
- All 8th grade students should be afforded the opportunity to take the Golden Horseshoe test, however, taking the Golden Horseshoe test is optional. Students should not be forced to take the test nor should they be denied from taking the test.
- The WV History teacher cannot administer the Golden Horseshoe online test on March 4, 2015. Therefore, you will need to assign another test proxy. This could be a counselor, another content area teacher, etc. Please remember the test proxy will need to be trained in the administration of the Golden Horseshoe online test. Please do not wait until the day of the test to train the test proxy. The WV History teacher may administer the essay portion of the test on February 10, 2015.
- There is a confidentiality agreement for each test. The confidentiality agreement must be completed by each test administrator (for the essay and the online test) and these need to be sent to me no later than February 13, 2015. Remember the essay test is on February 10, 2015. If the teacher is absent and a substitute is required on the day of the test, the substitute must complete a confidentiality agreement.
- The WVEIS identification number is both the username and password. This identification number will allow the student access to the practice test and to the actual online test.
- Please make sure the student information is correctly entered into WVEIS. The state will use this information to send packets to the winners. May 1, 2015 is the Golden Horseshoe Ceremony in Charleston. I will also be recognizing the winners during one of our county board meetings. More information on that will be forthcoming.
- It is the responsibility of the parents of home-schooled students to contact the school if they wish to have their child participate. Principals will need to email an electronic spreadsheet to Joey Wiseman with the information on the home-schooled student because you will not have that information in WVEIS due to the fact these students are not enrolled in your school. Do not put homeschooled student into WVEIS. Once a home-schooled student declares interest in the test, the principal will inform the parent of the dates of the tests and will make accommodations for the student to come to school to take the test. The home-schooled student must take the online test and the essay test on the assigned dates at your school.
- Private schools must email Joey Wiseman student information electronically on a spreadsheet. It is my understanding that Joey will send usernames and passwords to you. So don’t delay in getting your student information to Joey so that your students may begin studying/practicing for the test.
- Please be reminded that if you have students who have an IEP or a LEP with accommodations listed, you must honor those accommodations. If you have students who need large print or braille, please let me know no later than January 3, 2015.
- If your contact information should change please let me know immediately so that you and your school will not miss out on important information.
- If you should have any technology difficulties on the day of the online test, please contact Bob Hollandsworth immediately. If the problem is not resolved I need to know immediately to let the state know. The state is the only one who can reschedule the online test. Chances are the next day back to school the test will be given. If there should be a snow day the state is the only one to reschedule the online test.
- If we should have a snow day on the day of the essay then the essay will be given the next day back to school. If you have a 2 hour delay, the essay test will still be administered. The essay is used for the tie breaker. The essay can only be one page in length. The essay is disqualified if it is more than one page.
- There are no makeup days for either test. Please let your students be aware of this.
- Absentee rosters need to be used for those students who are absent on the day of each test. The absentee roster needs to be submitted to the state.
- Don’t send confidentiality agreements, essays, or absentee rosters by way of van. They can either be dropped off or mailed to my attention. I should have both confidentiality agreements, essays, and the essay absentee roster no later than February 13, 2015 so that I can mail them to WVDE.
- If you should have any questions please feel free to contact me mafreema@k12.wv.us or George Sumner gsumner@k12.wv.us.
Remember to check your WV History WVEIS roster for accuracy.
Thank you and Good Luck!
Mary Ann Freeman
Director of Federal programs
Fayette County Board of Education
111 Fayette Avenue
Fayetteville, WV 25840-1219
GOLDEN HORSESHOE CALENDAR 2014 – 2015
Estimated Timeline
| DECEMBER 2 | WVDE Office of Technology creates the database of necessary information for the purpose of automatic online test registration for all 8th grade students. Registration will be based on WVEIS class information. The state will update this information one week prior to the test to accommodate those students who may have moved during the school year. Teachers should ensure that their enrollment rosters are accurate. |
| JANUARY 3 | Deadline to request a Braille test – to Mary Ann Freeman |
| Mid-JANUARY | Online Golden Horseshoe Test practice quiz is available for all students to begin practicing for the 2015 Golden Horseshoe test. |
| FEBRUARY 10 | West Virginia History Teachers administer Essay Test in West Virginia History classes. This test may be administered by the regular West Virginia History teacher. All 8th grade students are eligible to take this test if they choose to do so. This test is designed to be completed in one class period. |
| FEBRUARY 13 | Essays, rosters, and confidentiality agreement are due back to Mary Ann Freeman. |
| FEBRUARY 23 | By this date or sooner all 8th grade students who intend to take the Golden Horseshoe online test should have logged onto the sample test and checked to ensure that their assigned username and password are working properly and that they understand how to use the online tools to take the test. Students can practice with the online practice quizzes from any computer once they have ensured that their usernames and password are working properly. |
| FEBRUARY 23 | All home and private school registration are due to WVDE |
| MARCH 4 | Fayette County administers online testing. This test must be administered by a certified educator other than the regular West Virginia History teacher. All 8th grade students are eligible to take this test if they choose to do so. This test is designed to be completed in one class period. |
| MAY/JUNE | County recognition of winners |
| MAY 1 | Golden Horseshoe Ceremony in Charleston |
Social Studies Resources 