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Independent Study High School • University of Nebraska–LincolnDistance Education Since 1929

proctor guide

Independent Study High School900 N 22nd St., Lincoln, NE 68588-8400Toll-free (866) 700-4747 • Local or International (402) 472-2175 • nebraskahs.unl.edu

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As a proctor for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Independent Study High School (ISHS), you play a vital role in the suc-cess of your student. You will be asked to administer closed-book progress tests to students taking ISHS courses. Tests will be downloaded online from the course management system, WayCool. It is important that you protect the security of these tests and guard against cheating during test-taking. Beyond these duties, an ISHS proctor can also act as mentor to your student. By monitoring student progress and reviewing ISHS teacher grades and feedback, proctors can be a positive motivating force in helping the student successfully complete an ISHS course.

About independent Study HigH ScHool courSeS

ISHS courses are self-contained and structured for the independent learner. Directions, readings, evaluations, and self-check activities are provided to guide the student through the content and help them get the most out of their course. All courses feature objective evaluations, self-check activities and tests. Some courses also feature written projects and worksheets.

Evaluations

Open-book, proctor need not be presentISHS courses include open-book, graded evaluations which students submit on their own through our online course man-agement system, WayCool. These assignments are objective in nature, typically true/false, matching and selection ques-tions. The assignment is graded as soon as it is submitted, giving the student immediate access to results and feedback.

Self-Check Activities

Open-book, proctor need not be presentSelf-check activities are non-graded activities that help students asses their understanding on important concepts.

Tests

Closed-book, proctor must be presentProgress tests are closed-book, graded tests that count toward the student’s final grade. Students must be supervised by their proctor while taking progress tests. For students enrolled in courses without projects (see below), it is crucial that they pass all tests in order to pass a course. Students may not preview test questions prior to taking the test, nor may they keep the test or the test results.

Course Grading Options: Projects or No Projects

Open-book, proctor need not be presentWhen available, students may choose whether or not written projects are included as part of their final course grade*. The option to include projects as part of a final grade is a good option for college-bound students, students who have difficulty testing or any student who wishes to further develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills. These courses contain the same activities as the courses WITHOUT projects, plus between two and six additional written projects that must be submitted for grading. These projects are teacher graded and subjective in nature, typically essay, creative writing or reading critiques. Students submit projects on their own either online through WayCool or by mail, depending on the nature of the project. For example, essays are submitted online while Fourth Year Spanish worksheets are mailed.

*Selection of grading options with or without projects must be made at the time of enrollment. Courses WITH projects are NCAA approved.

©2008 University of Nebraska Board of Regents. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln does not discriminate based on gender, age, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, veteran’s status, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.

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WHo cAn be A proctor?

The most acceptable choice for a proctor is a person currently employed as an educator at any level (elementary, secondary or post-secondary). The person could be a teacher, counselor, administrator or extension educator. Other acceptable choices include head librarians or local clergy.

Parents may not serve as proctors for their children unless approved by ISHS administration, and then only in an extraordi-nary circumstance. If you feel your circumstance is extraordinary, you will need to secure approval from ISHS administration prior to enrolling in the course. You may contact Lisa Bourlier at lbourlier2@unl.edu or by calling (402) 472-4338.

Military families may use base education officers, chaplains and superior commissioned officers. Families living overseas may use embassy or consulate officials or other approved non-family members. For ISHS diploma students, all proctors must be approved by the Independent Study High School. For students transferring credit to a local school, proctors must be ap-proved by the local school district. Local school approval forms are available online at nebraskahs.unl.edu.

WHAt doeS A proctor do?

A proctor is someone in the student’s local area who will be expected to: • Access and download tests from WayCool.**

• Administer tests to the student.

• Monitor the test-taking environment.

• Follow the ISHS guidelines relating to test management (below). The student may not preview the test prior to taking it, and may not keep the test or test results. (We recommend the proctor maintain a hard copy file of the original test and the test results, that can be destroyed after the course completion notification is received by postal mail.)

• Provide the student an opportunity to view test results.

**If the proctor is unable to download tests from WayCool, the student is to select Mail Processing and pay the $15 mail processing fee at the time of the enrollment. By selecting this, tests are mailed to the proctor and scan cards, lesson wrappers and addressed envelopes are mailed to the student.

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to AdminiSter teStS & log-in to WayCool

1. Visit nebraskahs.unl.edu and click on ‘WayCool Login’ to access the course management system.

click here

2. Enter your username and password (they are case sensitive.)

If you’ve misplaced or forgot Your Username and a New Password

Under the login fields, there is an option to, ‘Click here if you don’t know your username or password’. Click on the word ‘here’. You will then be asked to enter your e-mail address. A new password will be sent to your e-mail account. If you receive an error message, please contact the Independent Study High School.

teSt mAnAgement guidelineS

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3. You are now in your WayCool homepage. Click on ‘View Courses’ for the student you wish to access a test.

click here

4. Click on ‘View Gradebook’ for the course you wish to access.

click here

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5. Click on ‘Get Test’.

click here

6. You will see the test instruction sheet. Toward the bottom of the page is the proctor code for the test. This code is different for each test and will expire within 24 hours. Carefully write down or print the proctor code as you will need to enter it exactly to submit the student’s answers. Click on the word ‘here’ within the sentence ‘You can get a copy of the test by clicking here.’

click here

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7. Print the test and administer it to the student.

Student: Submitting teSt AnSWerS

1. The student will log on to their WayCool homepage. The student will click on ‘My Work’ for the course they are submitting test answers.

click here

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2. The student will click on ‘Start’ for the test they wish to submit answers.

click here

3. The student will transfer their answers from their paper test to the online answer sheet.

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4. When the student is finished transferring their answers, you (the proctor) will enter the proctor code at the bottom of the screen and click ‘Submit’. If you experience problems submitting the answers, verify the proctor code and ensure all questions contain an answer.

enter proctor code,click Submit

Results of the test are immediate (refer to instructions on the following page to obtain test results). We recommend the proctor maintain a hard copy file of the original test and the test results, that can be destroyed after the course completion notification is received by mail. Course completion notices will be sent by postal mail to the proctor (sample below).

** FINAL GRADE AND COURSE COMPLETION NOTICE **

Student Name: Joe Student Student ID Number: Z12345678

Course: Advanced Algebra 2 Course No: MTHH040056 Hours Credit: 5 Letter Grade: A Percent: 97% Date Completed: 8/15/08

5 Credit Hours equals ½ Carnegie Unit

The Independent Study High School uses a standard four-point grading scale. The letter grade and percent scale equivalents are given below:

Letter Grade Percent Scale Grade Points A+ 98-100 4.0 A 93-97 4.0 B+ 90-92 3.5 B 85-89 3.0 C+ 82-84 2.5 C 77-81 2.0 D+ 74-76 1.5 D 70-73 1.0 F (no credit) 69 or below 0.0

Independent Study High School

900 N 22nd Street / P.O. Box 888400 / Lincoln, NE 68588-8400 Phone: (402) 472-2175 or Toll-free (866) 700-4747 / FAX: (402) 472-1901 / E-Mail: extservice@unl.edu

nebraskahs.unl.edu

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to VieW Student grAdeS And Submitted teStS

1. Logon to your WayCool homepage. Click on ‘View Courses’ for the student you wish to see grades.

click here

2. Click on ‘View Gradebook’ for the course you wish to see grades.

click here

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3. Click on the letter grade to view instructional feedback for a specific assignment.

click here

4. Click on the word ‘here’ in the sentence ‘Click here to view your work,’ to see the work the student submitted (to protect the integrity of tests, only proctors have access to a student’s submitted work).

click here

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dos, don’ts and trouble SHooting

dos

• Do have students’ complete tests in one sitting, uninterrupted.

• Do have students’ double check their answers before the test is submitted for grading. For mail processing, double check scan cards before they are mailed, to ensure each question is answered.

• Do keep original test answer sheets and other materials for future reference or until you have received the course completion notification.

• Do contact the ISHS for any irregularities – technical difficulties, the student got sick during the test, the student was cheating, etc. There are make-up/alternative tests, but only in certain situations with the approval of the ISHS instructional service staff.

• Do carefully copy or print the proctor code to avoid mistakes when entering the code to submit test answers.

don’ts

• Don’t give students, parents or tutors the tests.

• Don’t let students keep the original test.

• Don’t allow books, notes or other materials during the test, unless specifically mentioned.

• If using mail processing – scan cards are not interchangeable between courses. The bar code at the top will enter the answers for the course associated with that course, no matter what you write on the card.

trouble SHooting

Problem: I did not receive my username and password.Solution: Your username and password are sent to the e-mail address you provided, check your e-mail*.

Note: your e-mail spam blocker may have routed the message to your trash or junk file. Add *.unl.edu to your safe list for e-mail.

Problem: I did not receive the tests.Solution: Unless your student(s) has selected mail processing, all tests are downloaded from WayCool. If your

student selected mail processing, tests will be mailed to you, the proctor.

Problem: My proctor code doesn’t work.Solution: The proctor code is time sensitive and will expire within 24 hours. You may have entered the wrong characters, for example zeros and Os look alike. Verify the code.

Problem: I can’t download the test, nothing happens when I click on “here.”Solution: Make sure Adobe Acrobat is correctly loaded on the computer you are using to access the test. To

download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat, visit http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Problem: I can’t login to WayCool.Solution: There may be a pop-up blocker or ad blocker in place. Enable pop-ups through virus software (if using) or

on your Internet browser’s tool bar. a) Set your Internet browser to accept cookies from *.unl.edu.

b) Make sure to have Java Script enabled.

need AdditionAl ASSiStAnce? contAct uS:

University of Nebraska–Lincoln • Independent Study High School 900 N 22nd Street • Lincoln, NE 68588-8400 Phone: (402) 472-2175, Toll-free in the U.S. and Canada: (866) 700-4747 • Fax: (402) 472-1901 E-mail: ishsteach@unl.edu • Web: nebraskahs.unl.edu