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From time to time you may have an external accommodation that is sent from the vendor that does not have a specific match in TestHound. If this happens you may need to create a local accommodation. This will allow you to match the incoming external accommodation to a locally created TestHound accommodation.

Clickon the Accommodations tab in your District Management Menu. Then select New.

Next, select the desired subject(s).

Select the Type of accommodation.

Then you will need to type what the accommodation is in the Title box. Then click submit.

The locally created accommodation will then show in the main accommodations list.

Click on the Auto Pilot link to navigate back to Auto Pilot and the local accommodation will show in the Test Accommodations list to be selected for mapping.

*Best practice is to use the TestHound accommodations that are initially created in the system, and utilize AP notes to add any additional information. However, on rare occasion there may be times when you need to create a local accommodation using the steps above.

• NEW! TELPAS Accommodations (TX) have been added in Auto Pilot. Districts can now map any incoming TELPAS accommodations from their vendors to TestHound. This may require deleting previously null/voided accommodations and remapping them to the new accommodations. If your vendor sends accommodations for TELPAS, you may need to adjust your map to associate these with the new TELPAS accommodations in TestHound.

• The DTC will see a Last Published Date on the AP landing page beside each map name

• Ability to export the mapping table to an Excel file

• Add accommodations to students from multiple vendors

• Lockdown accommodations for students updated via Auto Pilot

• The ability to turn off vendor notes

• Being able to search the map for external accommodations or TestHound mappings

• Mapping more than one external accommodation to one TestHound accommodation simultaneously.

• Downloading the vendor file to aid in researching errors.

• Mapping partial data from the vendor file and publishing that to campuses while waiting to map the other data.

• Auto Pilot Email notification for district users who elect to receive an email alert when there is a Mapping Error

Can I have more than one map?

Yes, you can have more than one mapping profile.  Most often this is done when a district is using one system for SPED and 504, and a separate system for LEP.

How do I edit the map name?

To modify the name of your map, click Edit icon next to the map name.  Once you have modified the name of your mapping click Submit.

You will be returned to the Accommodation Mapping table. Next, select the Auto Pilot mapping title that you have created to begin associating subjects and accommodations from your accommodation vendor to what is in TestHound.

I am changing accommodations vendors. What should I do?

Below are a few Best Practice tips to use when changing accommodations vendor(s):

• When you are ready to stop receiving files from your previous vendor, at the district level be sure all accommodations have been mapped and published. Then Download the accommodations file(s) so that you have a copy for your records.

• Next, have the Campus Testing Coordinators accept all Auto Pilot Alerts at the campus level for each campus.

• Campuses that have a “Removed from Auto Pilot alert” may leave the Alert unaccepted for students who the campus coordinator is unable to verify should no longer receive accommodations.

• Campuses that have students in the “Removed from Auto Pilot” where the campus coordinator can verify the student should no longer receive accommodations or have verified students in the alert are no longer on campus may accept the alert, which will remove the student's previous accommodations from TestHound.

• When you are ready for the new vendor to send accommodations and to stop receiving accommodations from the previous vendor, after all, campus alerts have been accepted, navigate to your District Management Menu, click on Auto Pilot, Click on Map Settings, and turn the map settings from the vendor name to manual, change all settings to off and submit.

• Create a map name for your new vendor(s). Next, navigate to the map setting, select your new vendor from the dropdown, then turn all settings for the new vendor on so that your new Auto Pilot file can come in.

• Once the file has come in, you can map your Auto Pilot subjects to the TestHound subjects and then map the external accommodations to the TestHound accommodations. After mapping, you can publish your map.As new accommodations replace the old ones, they will come in through the Auto Pilot alerts at the campus level.

• Throughout the school year (as new meetings occur) accommodations will transition from the old vendor to the new vendor. This process will take the school year fully to complete.

What are some tips for cleaning up my accommodations?

If you want to clear out your map and remap everything to be sure you have it all mapped the correct way, you can delete the subject mappings in the SUBJ tab and then remap them. Doing this will undo all of the accommodation mappings and then those can be remapped in the ALL Acc tab. This will clear the map but won’t change any student accommodations unless you change how accommodations are mapped. Once you are finished mapping, hit the evaluate button and then publish to push out any changes to the campuses.

I would like to use Auto Pilot, but I would only like to do it for a few campuses or certain grade levels. Can I do this?

The best practice for the Auto Pilot toolkit is an "all-in" or "all-out" approach.   Including only specific campuses or specific grade levels makes usage of the toolkit difficult to implement and opens a district to the possibility of incorrect accommodations information. 

My district tracks special ed in one piece of software and 504 and ESL in another. Will there be additional charges for me to use uploads from multiple accommodations warehouses?

There is no additional charge from TestHound for you to upload files from separate accommodations warehouses.

If I upload files from multiple vendors, will one accommodation mapping apply to all of the mappings?

If you are uploading files from separate accommodations software, you will need to complete the mapping for each of the separate files, unless it is possible for you to combine them into one file. 

How do I handle having accommodations in the drop-down menu that should not exist for a subject or subjects?

This is a situation of errant data being entered by someone in the district into the 3^rd party accommodations software.  While it is cause for concern, the Auto Pilot toolkit has helped you identify the problem so that it can be resolved. 

The first step is to reach out to someone in your district that oversees the sub-populations and ensure that data is corrected.  Obtain a copy of your most recent accommodations data upload and sort by the incorrect data to discern which groups of students have the incorrect information and get those departments to correct the data in your 3^rd party accommodations software. 

The best practice is to correct the issue in the software and then either do a manual upload or wait for a fresh data feed from the nightly automated upload (if it is established) to correct the bad data before continuing with the mapping process.  However, if time is of the essence, you can go to the subject tab of the incorrect data in the map and map it to [Null-Void] and it will not affect any of the students for whom it exists.  It will go ahead and map the correct subjects and you can now complete your mapping.

How do I handle data alerts/errors once I try to evaluate my data?

The most common data alerts are due to students that are not marked correctly for the population in your Student Information System (SIS), or because they do not exist in TestHound. 

If a student is not marked correctly, compare the information from the alert to what is in your SIS and have the corrections made.  Once this is complete, you can evaluate and publish the data again to apply their accommodations to their campus.

If a student does not exist in TestHound, they may not yet have appeared in the nightly upload file, or they may have withdrawn from your district.  If the student does not exist in TestHound after 3 work days, reach out to support for assistance.

An accommodation I mapped will not disappear from the drop-down menu. What should I do?This is a case where the accommodation exists in your 3^rd party accommodations software for a subject or subjects but does not exist for the same subject or subjects in TestHound.  In order to map the accommodations and clear them out, you will need to return to the regular Accommodations screen and add the missing accommodations for the subject(s) needed.   Once this is accomplished, the accommodations can be mapped successfully and they will disappear from the drop-down menu.

What are the different types of accommodation "notes" ?

TestHound utilizes three types of accommodation notes:

1. Manually entered notes: Notes are manually added to a student on a subject-by-subject basis, typically by a campus admin or specialist. Navigate to a student, click the accommodation triangle, and add the accommodations. (Manual accommodations should not be added for students in the Auto Pilot file).

2. Auto Pilot notes: Notes created by a district admin during the process of building the st gets that specific accommodation. While mapping, click in the notes box before you submit the mpecific map. The note is associated with an individual association and is applied to every student thaapping to add specific information for campuses. Campuses can include those notes when they run accommodation reports.

3. Vendor notes: Notes that are included in the vendor Auto Pilot file, are assigned to a specific student on a per-subject basis. Not all vendors sent notes in their Auto Pilot file. There are two types of vendor notes.

   1. The vendor can send a student note on a per-accommodation basis. In this case, each accommodation note for a specific subject is concatenated into a single string and assigned to the student on a per-subject basis.

   2. The vendor can send a single note for a student on a per-subject basis. In this case, the record in the file will contain DistrictID, CampusID, StudentID, Subject, and the Note. The Accommodation field will be left blank. You will not map vendor notes, nor will you see them unless you pull the file or navigate to a student page that has them.

How do I elect to receive Auto Pilot email notifications when I have a mapping error?

Clicking My Account in the Home bar will allow you to update your account profile, manage settings, and make changes to your security questions and answers. 

If you would like to receive an email to alert you when there is a mapping error, click Settings, and be sure to select the box under Auto Pilot.