Frequently Asked Questions about TIDE
Can Principals, Test Coordinators, Test Administrators and Teachers use the same passwords for 2023-2024 that they used for 2022-2023?
No. In order to preserve assessment security and student privacy, all passwords for the online Hawaii Statewide Assessment Program (HSAP) systems must be reset each year. Previous users remain active in the system, but they will need to obtain new passwords. To obtain a new password, users should go to the TIDE homepage and click the “Request a new one for this school year” link below the username and password login boxes. An email (from DoNotReply@Cambiumassessment.com) which contains a link to reset the password will be sent to the email address associated with the account. This link must be accessed within 15 minutes. (It may take up to 10 minutes to receive the new email.) The email will contain a link to the HSAP TIDE system, where users may set up their password to reactivate their account.
A password must be at least eight (8) characters in length and must contain three (3) of the following:
- One (1) lowercase alphabet character
- One (1) uppercase alphabet character
- One (1) number
- One (1) special character
The new password cannot be the same as your current or previous password.
Note: All users will need to reactivate their account in TIDE for the 2023-2024 test administration by creating a new password before they can log into other online HSAP systems. All users must understand that using another person’s username and password is prohibited, unless the user is given explicit permission to do so to resolve a reported problem. The user is responsible for keeping their username and password for all electronic applications confidential. Other users are not allowed to enter a user’s active test sessions other than to resolve specific problems. Sharing or transferring this information to any other person is not allowed.
What is my username?
Your username is the email address associated with your TIDE account. For most public school staff members, the username is their employee ID Gmail email address: employeeID# @ k12.hi.us. Public charter school staff members who do not use the Department of Education’s Gmail email system will need to enter their unique email addresses as their usernames in TIDE. If you are unsure which email address your Principal or Test Coordinator used to create your TIDE account, please contact your Principal or Test Coordinator, as applicable.
What should I do if I have forgotten my password?
If a user forgets his or her password, the user must go to the TIDE homepage, click the “Forgot Password” link, and enter their email address on the subsequent screen. If that email address exists in TIDE, they will then receive an email with a secure web link that the user must click in order to change their password. The link will expire in 15 minutes. (It may take up to 10 minutes to receive the new email.) A password must be at least eight (8) characters in length and must contain three (3) of the following:
- One (1) lowercase alphabet character
- One (1) uppercase alphabet character
- One (1) number
- One (1) special character
The new password cannot be the same as your current or previous password.
If a user does not receive the email with the secure web link, the user must contact the HSAP Help Desk at 1-866-648-3712 or hsaphelpdesk@cambiumassessment.com for further assistance.
Can a Principal enter more than one Test Coordinator for their school in TIDE?
Yes, a Principal may enter more than one Test Coordinator for their school in TIDE. However, a Principal will need to verify or update only one Test Coordinator who will receive printed materials for the school for the Smarter Balanced, HSA Science, HSA-Alt, or EOC Exam administrations on the “Contact Information Report” page. This Test Coordinator will need to distribute any printed materials that are needed for each assessment or exam to the appropriate Test Coordinator and/or Test Administrator. A Principal must also enter that the primary Test Coordinator, and any additional Test Coordinators for the school, using the “Add Users” feature in the “Manage Users” tab. All Test Coordinators who are entered using the “Add Users” feature in the “Manage Users” tab will receive email communications about the online systems from Cambium Assessment. The Department of Education’s Assessment Section will use its school contact file to send email communications to all Test Coordinators about HSAP testing information.
What is the role of a Teacher versus the role of a Test Administrator? How does a Test Coordinator give a staff member dual roles?
The Test Administrator (TA) role allows users access to the TA Live Site for administering assessments. In TIDE, TAs will have access to “Plan and Manage Testing” under the “Monitoring Test Progress” dropdown, which allows users to generate customized reports in order to monitor their students’ activity and progress in the online assessment system. However, TAs do not have access to score reports. Teachers (TEs), on the other hand, cannot administer assessments but have access to their students’ score reports.
To assign a staff member both the TA and the TE roles, Test Coordinators (TCs) will need to enter that person in the TIDE system twice; first with one role, then with the second role. The “Upload Users” task, which allows TCs to upload a spreadsheet, may be helpful for uploading multiple users who need multiple role associations. Please refer to the Upload Users section in the HSAP TIDE User Guide for more detailed information on how to upload the users spreadsheet to TIDE.
Can a long-term substitute teacher be added in TIDE as a Test Administrator?
The “Personnel Who May Serve as Test Administrators” table in the HSA-Alt Summative Test Administration Manual identifies the school-level personnel who may administer the HSA-Alt Assessments. If a long-term substitute Teacher (TE) meets the specified requirements for serving as a Test Administrator (TA), then the Test Coordinator (TC) may add them to TIDE with the TA designation, using the “Add User” or “Upload Users” feature in the “Manage Users” tab in TIDE. Long term substitute teachers who do not use the Department of Education’s Gmail system will need to have their unique email addresses entered as their usernames in TIDE by the Test Coordinator.
What is the eight-digit employee ID number that is needed when entering Teacher users in TIDE? Why is this needed?
This number can be found on an employee’s HIDOE ID badge or in the employee’s detailed Gmail information. This number is needed to associate the class roster(s) assigned to each teacher in Infinite Campus by their office clerk or registrar that is included in the nightly upload to TIDE with these same teachers whose roles as TEs have been created by the Test Coordinator in TIDE. These TEs will then have access to the student score reports for their associated class rosters in the Centralized Reporting System.
What should a Test Coordinator do if they enter incorrect information (name, phone number, email address, employee ID) for a Test Administrator or Teacher in TIDE?
If a Test Coordinator enters an incorrect email address for a Test Administrator or Teacher in TIDE, the Test Coordinator should delete the Test Administrator’s or Teacher’s record from TIDE and add the record again with the correct email address.
However, the Test Coordinator may edit a Test Administrator’s or Teacher’s name, phone number, employee ID, or role if it has changed since it was initially entered correctly by selecting the “View/Edit User” function and editing the information in the appropriate field(s); the Test Coordinator does not have to delete and then re-add the Test Administrator or Teacher to TIDE again to edit this information.
How does student information get into the online HSAP system? Does a Test Coordinator need to enter it?
Student information is uploaded nightly from the Hawaii Department of Education’s electronic Student Information System (Infinite Campus) and Electronic Comprehensive Student Support System (eCSSS) into the online HSAP system. Test Coordinators and Test Administrators do not need to enter any student information.
Student information will appear in TIDE about 48–72 hours after it has been entered by the identified school staff members in Infinite Campus and eCSSS.
If, during an assessment, a Test Administrator or Test Coordinator notices that student information is incorrect, they will need to ask the office clerk (for elementary schools) or registrar (for secondary schools) to make the change in Infinite Campus; the updated information will then be uploaded in the TIDE system within 48–72 hours after it has been corrected in Infinite Campus.
A student who transfers from one Hawaii public or public charter school to another Hawaii public or public charter school will appear in TIDE about 48–72 hours after their information is updated in Infinite Campus, if the student has been removed from the previous school’s Infinite Campus file. The student must be removed from the previous school’s Infinite Campus file and their information must be associated with the new school’s Infinite Campus file before the student will appear in TIDE and can be tested at their new school.
A home-schooled student’s enrolled grade level appears in TIDE as “00,” and the student is unable to be courtesy tested. How can the Test Coordinator change the student’s grade level in TIDE?
By default, courtesy-tested students are assigned an enrolled grade of “00.” These students cannot take the grade 5 or 8 online HSA Science (NGSS) Assessment or the grades 3-8 and 11 Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy and Mathematics Assessments or grades 3-8 and 11 HSA-Alt Assessments until they are assigned a valid tested grade. The tested grade for each courtesy-tested student must be set in TIDE by HIDOE’s Assessment Section. Test Coordinators must submit the courtesy testing request form, found by clicking the “Test Administration Forms” quick link on each assessment portal home page or in the HSA-Alt Summative Test Administration Manual, to the Assessment Section to request that a student’s grade level be entered in TIDE. A home-schooled student should not report to the school to be tested until an Assessment Section staff member informs the Test Coordinator that the student can access the appropriate statewide assessments that the parents have requested.
Can a Test Coordinator or Test Administrator set a non-embedded designated support or accommodation for a student after the student has begun a test opportunity?
Yes. To set a non-embedded designated support or accommodation for a student, the Test Administration (TA) should have the student pause their test. The Test Coordinator (TC) or Test Administrator (TA) may set the non-embedded designated support or accommodation in TIDE, and the revised non-embedded designated support or accommodation will be in effect the next time the student logs back in to the test session.
Currently there is one designated support, Translated Test, that is available for the HSA-Alt assessment. The Translated Test designated support allows a translator to provide the word-for-word translation of all parts of the mathematics and science alternate tests. Translators are required to follow the specific guidelines found in the HSA-Alt Test Administration Manual. The Translated Test designated support also requires the submittal and approval of the Paper/Pencil request for a student.
Accommodations for the HSA-Alt no longer require the submittal of an HSA-Alt Accommodation Verification Form. Test Coordinators (TCs) and/or Test Administrators (TAs) are able to set the accommodations that their students need directly in TIDE with one exception: the Paper/Pencil Form test kit. The Paper/Pencil Form test kit will continue to be controlled and set by the Assessment Section in TIDE after receiving the Paper/Pencil Test Kit Request and verifying student need in the IEP.
Please see the HSA-Alt Summative Test Administration Manual for more information about HSA-Alt designated supports, accommodations, and submitting the Paper/Pencil Test Kit Request Form.
Can a Test Coordinator or Test Administrator set a universal tool for a student after the student has begun a test opportunity?
Yes, a universal tool may be set for a student after they have already begun a test opportunity. To set a universal tool, Test Administrator (TA) should have the student pause their test. The TA may set the universal tool in the TA Live Site when the student logs back in to their test session. The universal tool will be in effect once the student logs back into the session. Alternatively, the Test Coordinator (TC) or Test Administrator (TA) may set the universal tool in TIDE, and the revised universal tool setting will be in effect the next time the student logs back in to the test session.
How can a student’s score be suppressed in TIDE?
By default, a student sees their test score when the student completes and submits their HSA-Alt Assessment for scoring. Test Coordinators have the ability to suppress a student’s score from being displayed on their screen when a test is completed, if the staff members who provide services for the student think that displaying the score will be upsetting.
Only Test Coordinators may suppress a student’s score by changing the “Suppress Score” attribute in a student’s record using the “View/Edit Students” task in TIDE. Test Administrators cannot change this setting during testing. A Test Coordinator should inform a Test Administrator in advance if a student’s score will be suppressed for any of their test opportunities. This feature must be edited for each individual student record.
How do I submit a testing incident request for a student?
The Test Coordinator is the only user able to submit a testing incident request in TIDE. The HSAP TIDE User Guide lists the various types of requests that may be submitted via the “Testing Incident” task tab in TIDE.
Using the “Create Testing Incident” task in TIDE, a Test Coordinator can submit a testing incident request for one student at a time. Test Coordinators can submit each request based on the student’s SSID, result ID, or test session ID and they must enter a reason for the testing incident request for each student in the “Reason” field.
A Test Coordinator can use the “Upload Testing Incident” task to submit testing incident requests for more than one student at a time. Please refer to the HSAP TIDE User Guide for instructions on how to upload a testing incident file in TIDE. As with the “Create Testing Incident” task, Test Coordinators will need to provide the student’s SSID, result ID, or test session ID, along with a reason for the request, in the file to be uploaded.
The Assessment Section will review each request and decide the action that will be taken for each testing incident request submitted. Every effort will be made to review each request in a timely manner. Once the Assessment Section has taken action on a request, a TIDE notification email is sent to the Test Coordinator who submitted the request. The Test Coordinator can then view the Assessment Section’s action on the request using the “View Testing Incident” tab in TIDE.
Students for whom testing incident requests have been submitted should NOT resume testing until the Test Coordinator has received the Assessment Section’s decision regarding each request.
Please contact the HSAP Help Desk at 1-866-648-3712 or hsaphelpdesk@cambiumassessment.com for further assistance with submitting or viewing testing incident requests.