Configurable Item Status Workflow

Assessment administrators can now control which item statuses are active in the workflow and whether item content can be edited while an item holds a given status, so the workflow can be tailored to each organization’s process.

A new “Item Status Workflow” option is available under Battery Management for users with the new “Manage Item Status Workflow” permission. Selecting it displays all item statuses in alphabetical order; clicking a status opens a panel that shows its name, description, and current Enabled and Content Editable settings.

All statuses are enabled by default, and Incomplete, Raw, and Pending are editable by default. A few core statuses, Incomplete, Pending, Ready For Pretest, Being Pretested, and Operational, have fixed settings that can’t be changed, since they’re required for the workflow to function. For all other statuses, administrators can enable or disable the status and control whether content can be edited while an item is in that status.

If a status with items currently assigned to it is disabled, an error message prompts the administrator to move those items out of the status first. Every change is recorded in the audit log, including who made the change, when, and what was modified. This configuration applies at the battery or instance level.

Edit Existing Item Relationships

Authors can now edit an existing item relationship directly, instead of removing and re-adding it to make a change. Editing an existing relationship opens the same populated dialog used for relationship creation. All relationship details can be updated, or the edit can be canceled without saving. An AEL (audit log) record is created whenever a relationship is saved.

Exhibit Names Are Now Clickable Links

Exhibit names throughout item search, exhibit writing projects, poolbooks, and passage lists are now links that open the exhibit’s details, matching the existing behavior for Exhibit ID.

Additional Poolbook Detail Columns

The Poolbook Details screen now supports additional columns, available via column management. This aligns it more closely with Item Search Results. Ordering and filtering continue to be supported.

Streamlined Review Project Columns

The Review Project item assignment grid now hides the Poolbook Name and Item Writer Estimated Difficulty columns by default, reducing clutter for reviewers. Both remain available as optional columns.

Additional Audit Logging for Prints and Exports

Managers can now see who printed or exported content from the item bank. Audit (AEL) records are now created for item prints and for exports of item search results, passage listings, and exhibits, capturing the user, timestamp, an activity description, and the affected item identifiers.

Authentication – More User-Friendly Login Option Names

Login screens now show clearer, less technical names for identity provider options such as Azure AD and AD FS. Each custom identity provider now has a configurable Display Name field on the organization page, with a dynamic placeholder suggestion when it isn’t set.

Please contact us if you would like to change your identity provider’s description.

Authentication – Compliant Credential Encryption

Credentials stored in the Windows Credential Manager are now encrypted using a FIPS 140-3 compliant algorithm, replacing the obsolete RijndaelManaged implementation. This aligns Strasz’s handling of sensitive credentials with current federal cryptographic standards.

Additional Athena Desktop and Browser Support

Test publishers can now optionally give candidates a Scratch Pad area to enter notes during an exam section. The setting is configurable per exam section (off by default) and is published into the exam settings.

Test publishers can now optionally enable a Find Text tool that lets candidates search for text within item content during an exam section. This is also configurable per exam section and off by default.

Exams can now include single-well items with associated passages for delivery via Pearson Athena Browser Edition. The publishing process generates the necessary output based on the existing passage-split orientation, split ratio, and auto-numbering settings. Note that this feature is only supported by Pearson’s Athena Browser Edition examination driver.

Single-Well Item & Passage Support in Back Office

Authors can now associate a single-well item with a passage directly in the Back Office, bringing single-well items in line with the passage support already available for other item types. Passage association is available both from the Passage Details view and while authoring a Single Well item. Associated passages display above the item content, follow the existing editability rules, and support word count, opening passage details, and disassociation.

New Item Creation from Passage Details

Item authors can now create a new item directly from the Passage Detail screen and have it automatically associated with the current passage, instead of creating the item separately and manually assigning the association afterward. The Passage Detail screen’s left pane now shows the list of items currently associated with the passage, with each one linking directly to open it, and the ability to remove the association. The user can choose to create a new item, which opens a new item authoring page in a new tab and links to the passage. The new item starts in Incomplete status, and the association to the passage isn’t finalized until the item is saved. If the author navigates away without saving, no association is created.

Alphabetical Sort for Approved References

References in the Back Office are now sorted alphabetically by Title rather than by the internal reference identifier, making it easier to find the reference you’re looking for by name. This applies to both the Approved Reference Listing page and the Reference pop-up used when adding an approved reference to an item.

Item Search Miscellaneous Options

The Import Vendor and Item Class have been removed from the Miscellaneous Item Search criteria page. Those fields are no longer used.

Alphabetical Sort for the Approved Reference Pop-up

The Reference pop-up used when adding an approved reference to an item now sorts references alphabetically by Title rather than by the internal reference identifier, making it easier to find the reference you’re looking for by name.

Unsaved Changes Now Persist on Session Timeout

A remote user’s unsaved changes are now persisted when their session expires. If the save fails validation or encounters an issue, the save logic will be terminated, and the session will end.

No changes.

See the Swagger documentation for API details.

Pro! Back Office

Pro! Remote Item Authoring and Review

• In Remote Item Review, resolved an issue where, during a review round, editing a passage in one item did not mark the other items associated with that passage as edited or make the reviewer’s copy available for comparison

• Resolved an issue in Remote Item Writing where removing and re-adding an answer choice incorrectly displayed the AI rationale icon