Assessment Center Tips and FAQs

There are two equated forms available of the End of Curriculum™ exam. If a student fails on his or her first attempt and the PA program would like the student to retake the End of Curriculum exam, they may do so only once and no earlier than 60 days after their initial administration. This ensures that the student and program have adequate time to develop and implement an individualized remediation plan.

*Note: Following the transition to the new assessment platform on March 16, 2026, PAEA will reduce this waiting period to 42 days, or six weeks after the initial administration.

Students can take all available forms (three Family Medicine forms, two for all others) for the first time in accordance with program policy. The first form is randomly assigned to all students, and when taking it a second or third time they are assigned a form they have not seen before.

After all forms have been given once, programs must wait 21 days after the last administration to allow for remediation before the student will be eligible for additional resits. During this 21 day period the student will not be available for selection when scheduling that type of exam. The student will become available to schedule for the exam once again when selecting a date 21 days after the last administration.

• PACKRAT – three 75-question sections, two 10-minute breaks
  • Standard Time: 75 minutes per section
  • Time and a Half: 113 minutes per section
  • Double Time: 150 minutes per section
• End of Rotation – two 60-question sections, one 10-minute break
  • Standard Time: 60 minutes per section
  • Time and a Half: 90 minutes per section
  • Double Time: 120 minutes per section
• End of Curriculum
  • Standard Time: five 60-question sections, 60 minutes per section, four 10-minute breaks
  • Time and a Half: Two days, five 30-question sections each day, 45 minutes per section, four 10-minute breaks each day
  • Double Time: Two days, five 30-question sections each day, 60 minutes per section, four 10-minute breaks each day

The Program Director or PAEA account manager is responsible for granting Assessment Center permissions, and not everyone will have the same access. If you are missing access to complete a task, please check with your PD or account manager.

Below are the available roles for the Assessment Hub, and one of three may be assigned:

• Assessment Hub: Users with this role have access to the entire Assessment Hub and can manage the program’s student roster, schedule exams, proctor exams, and view score reports.
• Proctor: Users with this role have permission to proctor exams within the Assessment Hub, but do not have access to other areas for editing students, exam schedules, or accessing score reports. This role is not for remote proctoring services.
• Score Reports: Users with this role have permission to view the Score Reports menu in the Assessment Hub, but do not have access to other areas for editing students, scheduling exams, or proctoring. Ideal for faculty or staff who need to look at score reports for the purposes of student advising, or programmatic data analysis.

Ordering Agent: Users with this role have permission to use the PAEA Assessment Shop to order exams. This access is in addition to one of the Assessment Hub roles.

Your program’s exam security efforts help maintain fair and reliable assessments for all PA students nationwide. Together, we ensure every student’s scores reflect their true abilities and knowledge.  

When a student at your program engages in inappropriate behavior, PAEA is here to support your investigation process. PAEA’s policy on investigations and violations, on page 16 of the PAEA Assessment Exam Policies document, outlines how we’ll work together to examine all perspectives of a case, determine the impact on PAEA’s exam data, and prevent similar incidents in the future.  

Here’s how to report an incident:  

1. Use our confidential reporting tool, EthicsPoint, to submit incident details. Program faculty, staff, and students, or testing center staff, can use the tool to communicate securely with PAEA investigators.  
2. Receive a Report Key for case follow-up.  
3. PAEA will use this portal to acknowledge the report within one business day and ask follow-up questions to understand the allegation and aid in the investigation. 
4. Work with our investigation team to resolve the situation.  

PAEA strongly recommends programs to consider retesting on the new blueprint, even if the first attempt was on the previous blueprint. The underlying scale remains consistent, meaning scores on the new and retired blueprint are comparable and equitable.

From a psychometric perspective, there is also a strong rationale for using the new blueprint, as it more closely reflects the knowledge and competencies emphasized in current PA curricula.

Development of the new blueprint began in 2024 and was designed to align with the curriculum delivered by PA programs. Additions include the Task Area of Professional Practice and the Setting of Rehabilitation.These items have been pretested and placed on the same scoring scale, and students taking current forms have seen them as unscored items.

If your program must administer a retest using the retired blueprint due to internal policy, please reach out to PAEA at exams@PAEAonline.org.

No. Secure Browser operates reliably across operating systems, and the requirement will be reinstated in the new system.

By default, no. Secure Browser blocks the use of virtual machines and remote desktops, as these environments are commonly used to evade lockdown browsers and allow someone else to take a student’s exam.

If your program uses this type of setup, you may request a downloadable version configured with security exceptions specific to your testing environment. To do so:

• Email exams@PAEAonline.org and copy your IT contact so we can verify the request
• Include information about your devices, including the operating system (Mac or Windows) and whether virtual machines or remote desktop configurations are used

We do not currently maintain a distribution list specific to IT teams. However, you amay add IT staff to your program’s roster as an Exams Only user, such as a Proctor role, so they receive this email and future updates.

We may evaluate creating a dedicated IT distribution list in the future, but do not have that capability at this time.

PAEA will use the March 7-15 downtime to transfer all assessment data from the current system to the new one. This includes all student information, exams scheduled to take place on or after March 17, and score reports.

Score reports will be available in the new system in the same format. If you can browse for a report in our current dashboards, you will do the same in the new system – rather than receive a large set of PDFs, as occurred during the previous transition.

We do not recommend adding new students to the Assessment Hub unless they will be taking exams before March 6. Students will need to set a new password in the new system.

In the new system, accommodation timing (time-and-a-half and double-time) is stored in the student profile rather than tied to an individual exam event. This information will carry over for students already in the current system. For new students who have not yet taken an exam, accommodation details will not be prepopulated – faculty and staff will either need to update student profiles after the transition or wait to add students directly in the new system with all information included.

We will provide upload templates before the transition so you can prepare to add these students on March 16, when the system opens to faculty and staff.

The updated Master License Agreement includes new provisions related to the assessment platform, a simplified termination section, formatting updates. These changes require a new agreement rather than an amendment. The revised Modifications section will allow future updates without requiring a full new agreement.

• We will introduce End of Rotation exams aligned to the new blueprint in July.
• A one-year crossover period will allow programs to complete an in-progress cohort on the same blueprint, similar to the General Surgery to Surgery End of Rotation transition.
• PACKRAT v31® will be released with the new blueprint in November. There will be no crossover for automated form assignment, though the previous two versions will remain available for retesting.

PAEA cannot offer paper exams to programs with exams scheduled during the March 7-16 closure period due to security and fairness considerations.

No – this is just for filtering on the faculty/staff side

PAEA will transfer all current students, all scheduled exams, and all previous exam scores and score reports from Surpass to ITS. This information will be in the system when programs log into the new Assessment Hub on March 16th. Please Note: if students will not take an exam in the current system, we recommend programs wait until after transition to add them and schedule their exam.

Programs will be able to upload both a cohort and individual students. However, if there are any errors in the cohort import file, students will not be added until the errors are corrected.

Exams can be scheduled as far in advance as you’d like, and up until the start time of the exam. Students will receive email reminders 7 days and 1 day before their exam, and for Unproctored and Remote Proctored exams, 7 days, 3 days, and 1 day before the end of their testing window.

Yes, they will receive an email confirming exam cancellation or modification.

Yes, you should create a different session for each room or location.

You can schedule two EORs for the same day as long as the time does not overlap (for example, tests taken at 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. will be fine). You cannot schedule two of the same exam on the same day, so if the student is taking two Family Medicine exams, the second will have to be scheduled after the first is completed.

Yes.

You do not need to schedule separately if they are taking the same exam at the same start time. However, you should create separate proctoring sessions on the Proctoring page if they are testing in different rooms.

There is a Time-Based Accommodations field on the Student Profile where you specify if they have standard time, time and a half, or double time. Students will receive the applicable amount of time for each exam based on that field in their profile.

The timing of exams for standard-time students is, at maximum:
-10 minutes for the optional tutorial
-10 minutes for each break (one for EOR, two for PACKRAT, four for EOC)
-EOR – 60 minutes per section in two sections
-PACKRAT – 75 minutes per section in three sections
-EOC – 60 minutes per section in five sections
Students can complete sooner based on their test-taking pace.

Yes. Students testing in the same room will use the same session number. If students with accommodations start at a different test time than the rest of the cohort, but in the same room, explicit instruction in the confirmation email needs to be provided to ensure students show up at the right time. Ideally, students with accommodations would be set up in a different location with a different start time and session number; however PAEA acknowledges that this is not always possible.

1.0, 1.5, and 2.0

They will use the same session number unless they’ve been assigned to another session because they were moved to another test room.

If they are taking their exams in the same room, you can add those exams to the same proctoring session and everyone will use the same session number.

Session codes for in-person exams are created the day of the exam. Students taking Unproctored exams receive their Registration Codes in advance via email. Students taking remote proctored exams will be given their Registration Codes by their proctor, but they are created at time of scheduling to be given to the remote proctoring service.

Yes, we will be moving all exams scheduled in the current Assessment Hub by March 6 over to the new system. Faculty and staff must review these exams on March 16, on faculty launch day. You will get a checklist of things to do the first time you sign in, and checking that schedule is one of those tasks.

If your exam is taking place after the first week, we recommend you wait to schedule those to gain experience and ensure accurate data.

Remote Proctored and Unproctored exam registration codes can be downloaded in the Scheduling screen. Students taking Unproctored exams also get their registration code by email.

The In-Person exam Session Code is a 6-digit number, and PAEA recommends that you share this with students in the test room either orally, or on a board or sreen in the room.

A proctoring session must be created on the day of the exam.

Students can re-enter the session code, email, and their last name to come up for approval again.

Yes, the student can see it or hide it in their exam. And the proctor can see it for each individual student.

The third-party remote proctoring service may offer recordings to review any issues as part of their service. PAEA does not offer such a service at this time, so please reach out to your preferred provider.

Proctors will have access to all the same information, including sessions that another proctor initially created.

Yes – any user with access to the Proctor screen can view and use a session. Additionally, the proctor can be different from the person who schedules the proctoring session.

No. PAEA does not have plans to offer or promote a remote proctoring service at this time.

Students in In-Person exams will only be able to start their exam in Secure Browser.

They are welcome to register, dates and registration can be found here:
https://paeaonline.org/assessment/assessment-center-resources

We will also be posting recordings from this session and creating a user guide and other resources that can be shared with proctors.

Yes, you can approve all students that are waiting in your session or approve them one at a time.

Yes, the proctor will need to approve each student to begin their test. They can approve all students waiting at once, or approve them individually.

Yes. All clicks – time and responses – are sent to the server in real time, allowing students to switch devices if needed. The device will first attempt to reconnect, but progress is saved as of the last recorded action.

We have a recommended script that includes key components of the examinee agreement, but the specific requirements are at the discretion of the program.

We recommend programs discuss this with the testing center team. You can set up as many users as Assessment Only Proctor users as you need, or you can establish a single account with shared credentials if they have a password vault or storage solution like 1Password.

All of their exam details are in their exam confirmation and reminder emails, so be sure that students are receiving those messages and reviewing their contents.

Exam types are assigned at the time of scheduling by faculty as has always been the case.

Our recommendation for students using a second screen is to use the In-Person delivery type so that they take the exam in a lockdown browser. If you utilize the computer’s webcam and/or screenshare, you will need to use the Remote Proctored delivery type.

If you are scheduling an exam for the same day, you will be able to create the proctoring session that day as well. If scheduling the exam in advance, you will not be able to create a proctoring session until the date of the exam. But the session can be created in advance on the same day – you don’t have to wait until the exact start time.

Emails and schedules will be in the time zones scheduled. They default to the program’s local time zone but can be changed as needed.

You can schedule the exam as far in advance as you need. Students will receive reminders 7 days and 1 day before their exam. It’s just proctor sessions that are created day-of.

Not exactly – students are not able to access anything other than the exam in Secure Browser. If they exit Secure Browser, you will need to readmit them to the exam.

The student’s exact location in the test will be in the Proctoring screen. The states are as follows:
-Welcome
-NDA/Examinee Agreement
-Tutorial
-1: and the question – section 1 plus the question number
-Break
-2: and the question – section 2 plus the question number
-End
-Complete

No, responses are uploaded in real time. They will not need to upload their responses at the end.

The answer is this depends. Many third-party remote proctoring services use their own lock down browsers and tools that interfere with Secure Browser. If you have questions about a specific remote exam administration process please email exams@PAEAonline.org.

The vast majority of our programs have students using their own computers, that is perfectly fine. Students will get the email asking them to check for compatibility, and they are able to use their computer assuming compatibility requirements are met.

Yes, students must have a continuous connection – bandwidth checks are available on the device setup page.

No, it is only avaialble as CSV to allow for flexibility across software solutions.

Students will receive their score reports after they are released to them by faculty. Students will also have access to score reports that were released to them in the current Assessment Hub on launch day.

Once the new Assessment Hub is launched it can be found there! It is not live yet.

No, only the current faculty/staff user will see the inputs and outputs of the GradEOR app.

Yes, the app is currently set up to handle any of the EOR exams, one at a time. Future enhancements may include the ability to process more than one EOR at a time.

Programs should use their own scale points based on their program’s policies and expectations of students. Default values are present in the app, but these are simply placeholders.

The app will be available as soon as the new system is launched on March 16.

The app is currently setup to handle one EOR exam at a time. Depending on the EOR exam you are converting, you can set the grade points appropriate to that exam at your program.

The app is currently setup to handle one EOR exam at a time. Depending on the EOR exam you are converting, you can set the grade points appropriate to that exam at your program.

These are not standardized numbers. Acknowledging that many programs use a 0-100 scale and grades of A, B, C, …, the app is setup to allow programs to enter their points that constitute each grade level.

These scale points are expected to be program-specific, based on the policies and expectations of each program. PAEA will be putting out more guidance on how to set these scale points. In the interim, programs are encouraged to consider historical EOR performance and alignment with other measures of student performance (e.g., preceptor evaluations to set the scores necessary to achieve each grade level.

Yes, your university can set any relationship between the scale and grade points that is appropriate for your uses.

If your grading scale is pass/fail, then you likely will not have a need for the GradEOR app, as any score above the line is a pass and any below is a fail.

At this time, they will not save and we recommend documenting these values externally. Future enhancements may allow for storing such values.

The scale-to-raw score tables will no longer be produced for EOR forms. EOR scores have been reported as scale scores, rather than raw scores, since 2018. The new app allows for the conversion of the 300-500 score scale to a 0-100 score scale, while maintaining the equating done during the scaling process.

If programs have established relationships between the 300-500 score scale and a 0-100 scale they are welcome to use those values in the app.

The current app is only setup for EOR exams. A version or settings for EOC exam scores is a possibility of future versions of the app.

The mean and standard deviations shown in the app are based on the same national data displayed in the Assessment Hub. Each EOR exam has its own mean and standard deviation and can be used to help determine the relationship programs use between the 300-500 scale and the 0-100 scale.

That is correct, in the current setup you must download the composite report and upload it to the GradEOR app. The potential to use the app more directly is the focus of future work.

The converted grades are calculated using a piecewise linear regression between each scale point you provide. A z-score method can be used to determine the scale points used in the app.

Consistent with the current and past iterations of the Assessment Hub, only the 300-500 scale scores are releasable through the Hub.

Ordering exams has never been easier! A great feature in the Assessment Center is the option to upload your purchase order (PO) online. Doing so removes the requirement to email PAEA a copy of your purchase order, as was the normal procedure when ExamDriver was in use. The PO can be uploaded in one of three different areas while navigating through the Shop:

1. When entering your payment information, just before clicking the button to Place Order.
2. On the confirmation page, immediately after the exam order is placed.
3. When viewing previously submitted orders. From the Shop home page click View Previous Orders, then View Details for the relevant order.

• This option is great for programs whose policies require submitting the exam order first, then providing an invoice to their finance department to receive a purchase order and payment.

In each area the button will be labeled “Upload Files”. Once a PO is uploaded into the Shop with an exam order, PAEA Finance receives an automated notification to review the information for accuracy and subsequently release the exams to your program. Keep in mind the Finance review process and releasing of exams may take two business days following the PO upload, and the PO only needs to be uploaded in one of the three places. Although emailing the PO is no longer required, you may still send a copy to exams@paeaonline.org for assistance if there is an issue uploading it online, or if the exams need to be urgently released.

For reference, uploading a PO is detailed starting on page 8 of the Assessment Center User Guide, which is available to download on the Assessment Center Resources page.  We also have an instructional video available HERE outlining the complete ordering process from start to finish.

A quote can be generated in the Shop by program users with Ordering Agent assessment permissions.

1. Log into the PAEA Member Community, select the Assessment Center tab, then clickAssessment Shop.
2. From the next page click Order Exams or scroll down further and click the button for the exam you need to order.
3. Adjust your quantity and click Add to Cart. Next, choose to Continue Shopping or View Cart if you have all the exams needed.
4. On the next page to the right, click Next under Request a Quote – Exams.
5. Review the order for accuracy, click Next again, and a .pdf file will be generated with your quote information.

Note: A quote is not an invoice and does not represent an order submission. After obtaining the quote, please return to your cart and finish submitting the order until a confirmation message is received.

Invoices are generated in the Assessment Shop after an exam order is submitted. There are several ways you can access an order invoice for completion of payment.

• You can download an invoice after your order is placed by clicking ‘View PDF’ on the confirmation page at the end of the process.
• You can also access this PDF by clicking the link in your order confirmation email.
• You can download an invoice at a later date by viewing your order history. Begin by logging into the Member Community. Click the Assessment Center in the navigation bar to enter the Assessment Shop. Near the lower half of the shop’s home page is the “View Previous Orders” button, which will take you to a list of your program’s orders. Locate the order you need and click ‘View Details’.  On the next screen you can click ‘View PDF’ to generate the invoice.

As you’re uploading the students in your latest cohort, here are some recommendations for making it easy to get the responses you need to help students successfully activate the password-protected access they’ll need while in your program.

Students will not need to set their Assessment Hub passwords until their first score report is released. Their first email will be a scheduling confirmation message for their first exam, which includes instructions for setting up their device for test day.

Their score report notification email will include instructions for establishing their password, and it is entirely self-serve:

1. Navigate to assessmenthub.paeaonline.org
2. Select First-Time Login
3. Enter their email
4. They will be sent an email with a link to set their password. That password must contain at least:
   • Eight characters
   • One capital letter
   • One lowercase letter
   • One number
   • One special character
5. Agree to the Student Terms of Use

In the event a student’s password creation link expires, students simply need to repeat these instructions. PAEA also has resources for communicating with students about the Assessment Hub, including templates about the message flow, on the Student Resources page.

1. Student Group Mismatch: The Student Group entered in column D of your CSV must match the student group name created in the Hub. This includes spacing, capitalization, and punctuation.
2. Blank Spaces: The program should ensure when copying and pasting information that the student’s email address does have an extra blank space at the end of the email address. You will be able to upload these extra spaces, but students will not receive emails as expected.
3. Accommodations: You must enter numbers in Column G as follows – 1 for Standard Time, 1.5 for Time-and-a-Half, and 2 for Double Time. Other numbers will not be accepted.

Information for previously uploaded students can be updated from the Students page in the Hub.

1. Search for the student(s) you wish to edit
2. Select the number in the CandidateID column
3. Select Edit and update information as needed
4. Select Save

NOTES:

1. Student profiles cannot be deleted. If a student leaves the program, faculty or staff should update the student’s Enrollment Status to Inactive. This will immediately close their account.
2. The Graduated state will be set automatically when on the student’s graduation date. This will remove them from the Scheduling module and allow them to access their accounts for 120 days after the established graduation date.

PAEA has three options for exam delivery:

• • In-Person exams are scheduled for a set time, with in-person faculty or staff actively proctoring in the testing space. These exams may be scheduled until the time they are set to begin. Secure Browser is required for these exams. Students log in with the Proctoring Session provided by the proctor on test day, and their Last Name and Email.
  • Unproctored exams are taken remotely without a live proctor present, and administered in Secure Browser. These exams have a start time and end time that may be on different days to allow for flexibility of when the student takes the exam. Students log in with a Registration Code sent in their exam confirmation email and their last name.
  • Remote Proctored exams are are scheduled for a date range with a Registration Code provided to the student by the proctor. They are taken off campus with a third-party remote proctoring service, or proctored by faculty or staff using video conferencing to monitor exams (Zoom, Teams).
    • Requirements Using Third-Party Monitoring Service: Third-party monitoring service using their screen share and lockdown tools is most ideal
      • Secure Browser is not required
    • Requirements Using Faculty or Staff to Remote Proctor:
      • For remote proctoring by faculty, programs can decide between two options for connecting with the student to monitor behavior:
        • Use their web camera and screen sharing — Secure Browser cannot be used
        • Use a second device (phone or iPad) to the side of their work station to monitor their environment, including a view of their screen — Secure Browser is recommended via the In Person delivery type

In the Assessment Center, time-based accommodations are indicated on students’ profile. During the student upload process, accommodations should be indicated in the CSV file using 1 for Standard Time, 1.5 for Time-and-a-Half, and 2 for Double Time in the relevant column.

Faculty will need to review their students with time-based accommodations in the Assessment Hub under Students to make sure time-based accommodations are assigned correctly in their profile.

In the Assessment Center you can schedule students’ exams to begin in their local time zones. This includes the ability to schedule in separate events if you have students taking remote exams in different time zones. The Scheduling page will default to the time zone of the program’s physical address, but you can change the time zone where the student will take the exam at time of scheduling. The student’s confirmation email will state the time zone where the student will sit for the exam.

You may need to edit an exam when a student is unable to take their exam on the scheduled day, or if there was an issue with the details discovered before they began their exam.

However, if the student is unable to take their on the scheduled calendar date (In-Person) or within the scheduled date range (Unproctored and Remote Proctored), you can edit the exam event after being informed of the delay. This can be done by any faculty or staff with Assessment Hub User permissions by going to Assessment Center > Assessment Hub > Scheduling. To change the date or time, select the desired exam event and Edit.

Editing the start date will impact any in-progress exams, so make sure students who take the exam as scheduled are finished for the day.

After the test date or range, you have three days to edit the exam details from the Scheduling > Show Past 90 Days screen. After that, the system will automatically cancel the event and return unused credit to the program’s balance.

Assessment Hub Users can also edit an exam until the student sees the Welcome screen on test day. Contact exams@PAEAonline.org if you need assistance after a student has reached this stage.

NOTE: If the student is simply delayed in starting their In Person exam, they may still begin the exam any time on the scheduled test day, up until 11:59 PM in the designated time zone.

If you need to cancel an exam but do not know when it will be rescheduled, you can do so from the Scheduling page. To cancel, remove the individual student or Delete the entire event. When the exam is cancelled on this page, the exam credit is returned to the program’s available balance for future use.

Three days after the test date or range, the system will automatically cancel unsat exams and return unused credit to the program’s balance.

Assessment Hub Users can cancel an exam until the student sees the Welcome screen on test day. Contact exams@PAEAonline.org if you need assistance after a student has reached this stage.

Exams are timed and have scheduled breaks, so they should not be paused unless there is an emergency or a student has an accommodation for frequent breaks. In-person proctors may pause and resume the exam on the Proctoring tab.

To resume the test, the student should re-launch the exam, select “Start My In Person Exam” and re-enter the session number.  The proctor can then approve the exam through the Proctoring tab

Third-party proctors do not have access to pause an exam in an emergency. In that case the student should disconnect from the exam by closing their browser. When they return, they will enter their registration code again. Their progress and exam clock will resume where they left off.

The Program Composite Reports tab is where programs release the student scores following an exam event.

1. Go to Score Reports and select Composite Report, then use the dropdown menus to filter to the necessary exam and select Generate Report
2. Check the box next to the students whose scores you want to release and select Release Scores
3. If you are releasing the scores for all the students that took the exam, select the box in the header of the checkbox column and select Release Scores
4. Students will receive an email that they have new score reports available in the Assessment Hub.

Note: If a student’s results for that exam have already been released, there will be a green check in the Released column. If you click the Release All Scores, it will not notify students again if their scores have already been released.

Score reports for exams taken in ExamDriver are available in the Assessment Center for program faculty and staff long term. To access these reports, go to Assessment Center > Assessment Hub > Score Reports > ExamDriver. Select the desired Graduation Year, Student Group, Exam, and Report Type, then select Generate Report. After the results are generated, click the link in the Filename column to download the report

If you do not find a particular ExamDriver report you would expect to have, please contact PAEA exam support at exams@paeaonline.org.

Please note students will not have access to ExamDriver score reports in their Assessment Center accounts. We kindly ask program faculty or staff to assist students with ExamDriver score report requests.

The URL paeasetup.programworkshop.com has the link to download and install Secure Browser, system requirements, and checks to ensure the device is compatible.

Currently, the primary tablet that can be used to take PAEA exams is an iPad. Please review the system requirements and run system checks available on the Device Setup page. NOTE: The iPad app is currently still under Apple review. We expect it to be posted in advance of launch.

The app will ask users to enter lockdown mode before entering the test – clicking “no” will prevent students from entering the test, while clicking “yes” will disable buttons and gestures that allow test takers to access other apps.

Versions of the Microsoft Surface that require that apps be downloaded from the Microsoft Store are not compatible. If a student’s Surface runs the full version of Windows 10 or 11, not Windows 10 or 11 S, they will be able to download and install Secure Browser from the Device Setup page. This primarily consists of the Microsoft Surface Pro devices.

1. After receiving an exam confirmation email, be sure to check the scheduled exam details for accuracy and save the email for future reference.
   • Students who cannot locate their confirmation email should check the spam or junk folder. If the email is not there, follow up with your program for assistance – they can re-send the email for you.
   • Note: students do not need to set their Assessment Hub password in order to take their exam, but they will need it to view their scores.
2. For In-Person and Remote Secure Delivery/Unproctored exams, visit the Device Setup page to run system checks and download Secure Browser if you haven’t already. This only needs to be done before the first exam.

Students testing a PC can use keyboard shortcuts (CTRL and + or -) to zoom within SecureClient, while those on an iPad have the ability to pinch to zoom. If a student has requested accommodation for enlarging or minimizing text, this can be met by simply testing on a PC or iPad and will not require special scheduling or evaluation by PAEA. Zoom functionality is not yet available for SecureClient for Macs.

Other built-in exam features for students include:

• Color and contrast adjustment – The Settings gear in the bottom left corner of the exam screen will reveal a screen that allows you to change the colors to a combination that better suits your vision and environment.
• Text highlighting – Use your mouse to select the desired text and it will be highlighted. To un-highlight, select the highlighted text.
• Striking answer options – Right click on the answer option or use the struck-through ab button next to the answer option of the one you wish to strike.
• Item flagging – Select the flag button at the bottom of the screen below the answer options. A flag will appear in the item list on the left . Students will be alerted to flagged questions before finishing a section.
• Exam clock change – Select the exam clock to toggle between the time available in the section and the time available in the entire test, or be hidden.
• Digital note taking – Select the Notes button to type notes for each question to help you organize your thoughts.
• Searchable lab values reference – Select the Lab Values button to view a searchable side-by-side reference that includes key adult lab value reference ranges.

Programs and students can test out these features by taking the PAEA practice exam at the following link:

paeapracticetest.starttest.com

The features are also described with screenshots in the in-exam tutorial.