A STAAR Is Born
A STAAR Is Born
A STAAR Is Born
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A <strong>STAAR</strong> <strong>Is</strong><br />
Criss Cloudt<br />
Associate Commissioner,<br />
Assessment and<br />
Accountability,<br />
<strong>Born</strong><br />
Gloria Zyskowski<br />
Director,<br />
Student Assessment,
<strong>STAAR</strong><br />
• New assessment program for<br />
– grades 3–8<br />
– high school<br />
• Begins this year<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
2
The basics<br />
• For grades 3–8, <strong>STAAR</strong> tests are in same grades<br />
and subjects as TAKS.<br />
3–8 mathematics<br />
3–8 reading<br />
4 and 7 writing<br />
5 and 8 science<br />
8 social studies<br />
• For high school, twelve <strong>STAAR</strong> end-of-course tests<br />
replace ten grade-level tests.<br />
January 2012 3<br />
Texas Education Agency
How did we get here?<br />
• Many choices had to be made<br />
• Numerous avenues to seek advice from the<br />
field were pursued<br />
• Hard decisions were made that honored the<br />
intent of the legislation<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
4
• Assessed curriculum<br />
• Rigor of assessment<br />
TEA Choices<br />
• Performance standards<br />
• Testing burden<br />
– Test Development<br />
– Test Administration<br />
– Test Scoring<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
5
TEA Choices<br />
• Assessments for English language learners<br />
• Assessments for students served by special<br />
education<br />
• Measures of student progress<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
6
Legislative Choices:<br />
Non-negotiable realities<br />
• High school course-based testing<br />
• Link between performance on EOC assessments<br />
and course grades<br />
• Testing requirements and cumulative score<br />
requirements for graduation<br />
• Testing schedule<br />
• Review of performance standards<br />
• Collaboration with higher education<br />
• Timeline for implementation<br />
• Reduced funding at state and local levels<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
7
But what is it????<br />
• “Info about <strong>STAAR</strong> exam slow in coming”<br />
• “The staar is administered about what 6times<br />
a year? Maybe more... I'm not quite sure but I<br />
know its alot.”<br />
• “Texas schools using XXXXXXXX make AYP<br />
because of dramatic improvements on the<br />
<strong>STAAR</strong> Tests. “<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
8
Putting some myths to rest<br />
• Lots of misinformation going around<br />
BUT<br />
• Lots of accurate information is also available<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
9
<strong>STAAR</strong> Resources Page<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
10
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
11
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
12
True or false?<br />
• Districts haven’t seen the<br />
<strong>STAAR</strong> tests yet.<br />
TRUE<br />
But when have you ever seen the<br />
tests before they’re administered?<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
13
True or false?<br />
• The sample items released by TEA<br />
are bad items that they didn’t want<br />
to use on real tests.<br />
FALSE<br />
The released items are valid test questions<br />
pulled from the item development that could<br />
have appeared on the <strong>STAAR</strong> tests.<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
14
True or false?<br />
• My child passed <strong>STAAR</strong>.<br />
FALSE<br />
See previous slide. The tests haven’t been<br />
administered yet. Local benchmarks are being<br />
mistaken for the state assessments.<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
15
True or false?<br />
• Test prep materials have been<br />
proven to increase scores on<br />
<strong>STAAR</strong>.<br />
FALSE<br />
No product has been shown to increase scores on<br />
<strong>STAAR</strong> because no scores on <strong>STAAR</strong> have been reported<br />
yet. The only guaranteed preparation for success is<br />
strong instruction in the required curriculum.<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
16
True or false?<br />
• TEA is waiting to see how well students do<br />
on the tests before telling us how many<br />
items students have to answer correctly to<br />
pass the tests.<br />
FALSE<br />
Performance standards on the EOC assessments will<br />
be set at the end of February; grades 3-8 standards<br />
will be set in October. Performance standards are<br />
NOT based on number of items correct.<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
17
True or false?<br />
• <strong>STAAR</strong> is going to be really,<br />
really hard.<br />
FALSE<br />
<strong>STAAR</strong> will be more rigorous than TAKS, but content<br />
is 100% tied to the required curriculum. The state is<br />
not building tests that nobody can pass.<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
18
True or false?<br />
• The 15% rule will be waived<br />
for the first year of <strong>STAAR</strong>.<br />
FALSE<br />
This legislative requirement is contained in<br />
§ 39 of the TEC so it cannot be waived.<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
19
• Change is scary.<br />
Bottom line<br />
• We’ve done this before.<br />
• We all care about the same thing<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
20
The children of Texas<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
21
Choices for reconsideration after<br />
initial implementation<br />
• TEA choices<br />
– Testing calendar<br />
– Time limits<br />
– Accommodations policies<br />
• Legislative non-negotiable realities up<br />
for consideration in 2013 legislative<br />
session<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
22
In closing<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
23
Teachers Curriculum<br />
coordinators<br />
Principals<br />
Superintendents<br />
Higher<br />
Education<br />
Faculty<br />
District<br />
testing<br />
coordinators<br />
January 2012 Texas Education Agency<br />
24
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