Device Conversation Guide
Work with the school or district staff who manage school devices if:
- You’re planning to allow or require students to take an AP Exam, SAT School Day, or a PSAT-related assessment on a school-managed device.
- Students who attend your school want to take SAT Weekend on a school-managed device.
- You’re an SAT Weekend test coordinator and want to provide backup devices in case students need them.
Note: Students who take SAT Weekend are responsible for bringing a prepared device to your test center and you must allow them to use it.
What IT Needs to Know and Do
Technology staff who manage devices need to assess them against Bluebook requirements, install Bluebook, and make sure device settings meet requirements. If your students will test on Chromebooks, make sure they configure devices for students who test with accommodations. Complete technical specifications and instructions are available at Device Readiness.
Share some basic information about your upcoming test administration:
- Which test you’re administering
- When testing starts
- If you’re planning any practice or readiness sessions before test day
- Which groups of students you’re testing (all 11th graders, for example)
- If any students have accommodations requiring non-embedded assistive technology
- If you’re planning any off-campus administrations
- If any attending students want to take SAT Weekend somewhere other than your school
Complete our form and we’ll email IT staff for you.
What to Ask IT
- Will our school-managed devices support Bluebook testing?
- What should our device policy be? For example, should we require students to use school-managed devices? Can they use shared devices (e.g., laptop carts) or devices assigned to them 1:1?
- When can Bluebook be installed on school-managed devices?
- Can our devices connect to networks outside our school?
Device Concepts
Device requirements: Bluebook can be used only on devices that meet hardware and software requirements, including memory, storage, and operating system.
Device management: Schools typically use software to manage the devices they provide to students, restricting and monitoring their use and enforcing security policies. Chromebooks, for example, are managed using the Google Admin console.
Device settings: Some device settings limit how the device is used, leading to issues on test day. For example, parents might set screen time limits on personal devices and your district might prevent devices from connecting to public networks off campus.
Chromebook kiosk mode: Bluebook works on Chromebook as a kiosk app only and must be installed on school-managed devices using the Google Admin console. Kiosk mode prevents test takers from using their devices or the internet to do anything else.
Assistive technology: Bluebook’s embedded text-to-speech feature meets the needs of most students with an approved accommodation for assistive technology and doesn’t require configuration. However, device administrators must take special steps to enable accessibility features in Chromebook kiosk mode for students who require screen readers or other non-embedded technology.