Ohio’s Alternate Assessment for Students with Significant
Cognitive Disabilities (AASCD)
Second Rater Guidance
The purpose of this document is to
• define second raters;
• provide answers to commonly asked questions on second raters;
• give instructions on how to identify students who were selected to receive a second rating using the
TIDE system.
Second Raters
Due to the design of the AASCD, the state of Ohio requires that approximately 10 percent of students in the
statewide AASCD-tested population have another trained test administrator, referred to as the second rater,
observe the administration and independently score the student’s responses in all tested content areas. The
second rater’s scores will be compared with the test administrator’s scores to obtain a diagnostic measure of
scoring consistency. Neither the second rater’s scores nor the scoring consistency information will be reported
to the district. The student’s responses submitted by the test administrator will be the official scoring record for
reporting student scores. The TA and second rater may not consult with each other on the student’s
responses.
Commonly Asked Questions on Second Raters
1. What credentials are required for a second rater?
A second rater must have a certificate/license/permit issued by the ODE and be trained to administer the
AASCD.
2. Who identifies the second raters?
District and building test coordinators are responsible for identifying and ensuring second raters are trained.
3. Can test administrators also serve as second raters?
Yes, trained test administrators may serve as second raters for administrations where they are not serving
as the TA. Test administrators do not need to have a separate second rater account to perform this task (see
question six). However, second raters may not necessarily be test administrators. (Test administrators are
required to be employees of the district and should be involved in the student’s daily instruction.)
4. Can building administrators, substitute teachers or classroom aides act as second raters?
Yes, anyone who meets the requirements stated in question one can serve as a second rater.
5. Can districts and schools share second raters?
Yes. Districts and schools may share second raters.
6. Does a second rater need to be identified in TIDE and other online systems?
Yes. DTCs need to create accounts for test administrators and second raters in TIDE. Doing so will provide
these users an appropriate level of access to the Data Entry Interface (DEI) and the Online Reporting System
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(ORS). Test administrators do not need to have a separate second rater account to serve as a second rater.
Any user that is given access to the DEI will have access to the test forms designated for second raters.
User roles and access limitations can be found in the User Role Matrix document located on the Ohio
Alternate Assessment portal on the Test Coordinator Resources page. Instructions for creating users can be
found in the TIDE User Management Guidance document as well as the AASCD Spring 2013 TIDE User Guide.
7. How are students selected to have a second rater?
Students will be selected at random for a second rater, but selection will be evenly distributed across the
state. This random selection process will attempt to ensure that all districts implementing the AASCD will be
required to have at least one student whose assessment is scored by a second rater.
8. Can there be multiple second raters for a student?
It is highly recommended that the same person serve as the second rater for a student across all content
areas. Test coordinators and test administrators should first consider what is best for the student in these
decisions. However, it is possible to have a different second rater for each content area.
9. Will second raters be required every year?
Yes. Second raters will be required every year. The students required to have a second rater will be selected
at random each year.
10. Where does the second rater submit the student’s scores?
When using the Data Entry Interface, the second rater will need to select the test designated for the second
rater (and not the test designated for primary score entry). If the scores are entered in the wrong test, the
DTC will need to reset the test. More information will be provided in the Data Entry Interface (DEI) User
Guide, which will be published in mid-February.
After logging into the Data Entry Interface, second raters will have to select the appropriate assessment
designated for the second rater, such as “Start Ohio AASCD-ELA-G35 (Second Rater).”
Sample Test Selection Page
After selecting the appropriate assessment, second raters will be prompted to select the test form for the
student. The form number can be found on the front of the test booklet.
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Sample Form Selection Page
11. How will districts know which students have been selected for a second rater?
Students selected to have a second rater will be identified in TIDE in January. Authorized district and school
users will use the View/Edit Students task in TIDE to identify which students will need a second rater
(directions are provided in the next section). An email blast will be sent to DTCs when the second rater
information is available in TIDE.
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How to Find Students Selected for a Second Rater in TIDE
After logging into TIDE for the AASCD via the portal (http://oh.portal.airast.org), click the [View/Edit Students]
button on the Home page. From the drop-down lists, select a specific school or “All schools” and “All grades.”
Keep the text fields blank. Click [Search].
Only district-level users will be able to view results for more than one school. School-level users
will only be able to view students associated with their school.
The search results will produce every student pre-identified in the specified school (or all schools in the district).
The last column of student data indicates whether the student has been selected to have a second rater.
Important: This column will display “No” until the second rater assignments have been released in
January. Until the second rater selection is announced, disregard this column. After the second rater
information is released, the field will contain either “Yes” or “No.”
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To easily identify those students who will have a second rater, four options are available:
1. Click the Second Rater column header. The column will sort in descending order (Z–A), which means that
students with a “Yes” value will be listed first. Students with a “Yes” value are those required to have a
second rater.
2. Individually select those students that have been assigned a second rater and click [Selected Data] to
export a list of those students.
3. Click [Excel] or [CSV] to export the complete table into a Microsoft Excel-friendly spreadsheet.
4. Filter your search results by displaying only students who have been selected for a second rater.
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Click the [Filter] button.
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Select “Yes” from the Second Rater drop-down list, and then click [Search]. The search
results will display only those students assigned a second rater. This list can then be
exported by clicking either the [Excel] or the [CSV] button.
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