UPCOMING DATES
GHTestingScheduleAllcounties.pdf
 |
GOLDEN HORSESHOE |
2015-2016 Golden Horseshoe Testing Schedule
UPCOMING DATES
| August – September |
Updating Golden Horseshoe county contacts. |
| October |
1
28 |
Golden Horseshoe Online Multiple Choice Test Day schedule is finalized.
Student Programs Webinar |
| December |
1 |
Private and Home-School student registration for Golden Horseshoe testing begins. (See Golden Horseshoe Registration Form blow under the headings Registering Your County’s Students to Take the Golden Horseshoe Test and Forms.) |
| January |
4
15
Week of 25 |
Deadline to request Braille Test
Deadline to submit county WV Studies teachers’ names and e-mail addresses.
Practice test on WVDE built platform become available for students. (Practice tests are posted once a week on Fridays.)
Golden Horseshoe Written Essay Test for ALL counties will be sent to the county contacts |
| February |
10
19
22
23-25 |
Golden Horseshoe Written Essay Test for ALL counties.
Essay test must be in the WVDE Office of Secondary Learning.
All home- and private-school registrations to are due to the WVDE Office of Secondary Learning.
All students must have logged into the WVDE built platform to test their usernames and passwords.
All Practice tests are turned off.
Golden Horseshoe Online Multiple Choice Testing (County test schedule is above). |
| March |
1-3
4
TBA |
Golden Horseshoe Online Multiple Choice Testing. (County test schedule is above.)
Deadline to nominate an Honorary Golden Horseshoe recipient.
Golden Horseshoe winners will be sent to counties and Winner and Honorary Packets will be mailed. |
| April |
15 |
Deadline for name corrections for the program, certificate and name badges. |
| May |
6
Mid-Month |
Golden Horseshoe Ceremony, Capitol Complex.
Golden Horseshoe Online Multiple Choice Test scores are e-mailed to the county superintendent. |
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
Registering your county’s students to take the Golden Horseshoe Test
Any 8th grade student can take the Golden Horseshoe Test one time. We will be using a new WVDE built platform to house the Golden Horseshoe Online Multiple Choice Test. For any students who is not familiar with this platform, will have an opportunity to become familiar with using the platform by taking the weekly practice test. We request that all students test their usernames and passwords by January 30, 2016.
Both home and private school students are eligible to take the test. All students must be registered using the Golden Horseshoe Registration form by January 30, 2016. 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. However, the students’ username and password for the WebTop can be obtained by designated individuals within the RESAS and counties. Please contact your building principal and/or county technology specialist for assistance in obtaining the WebTop logins. If your County technology specialist needs help obtaining this information, please have them contact Chris Casto at chris.casto@k12.wv.us or Robert McCoy at rmccoy@k12.wv.us.
Once correctly completed private/home school 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 Allegra Kazemzadeh two weeks after submitting the registration form please send an e-mail to akazemzadeh@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.
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
Take the Test
Public school students will access the WVDE built platform via their WebTop. Home and private-school students will have an external link to access the practice and online test.
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 Middle/Secondary Learning at 304-558-5325 and ask for Allegra Kazemzadeh. 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
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 test 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
After the testing is complete, all absentee rosters will need to be e-mailed/faxed to the WVDE Office of Middle/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 PDF Multiple Signatures PDF
- Three Days prior to the test
- FAX to 304-558-1834E-mail a scanned copy to akazemzadeh@k12.wv.us
- Mail to WVDE, ATTN: Allegra Kazemzadeh, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Building 6 Rm 603, Charleston, WV 25305
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 PDF Multiple Signatures PDF
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
2014-2015 Golden Horseshoe Ceremony Video
2014-2015 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
County Level Contacts:-
Mary Ann Freeman- mafreema@k12.wv.u
George Sumner- gsumner@k12.wv.us
WVDE Coordinator, Allegra Kazemzadeh (akazemzadeh@k12.wv.us)
Office of Middle/Secondary Learning
Phone: 304-558-5325 FAX: 304-558-1834
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Building 6 Room 603, Charleston, WV 25305
Social Studies Resources 
You must be logged in to post a comment.