STAAR Assessment Program Overview - Frisco ISD

STAAR Assessment
Program Overview
Region 10 ESC
Division of Instruction

The difficulty lies not so much in
developing new ideas as in
escaping from the old ones.
- John Maynard Kynes

STAAR Information
State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness
(STAAR) Resources
Stay informed!
www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar
Join TEA Listservs!
http://miller.tea.state.tx.us/list
Your content area, student assessment, other areas of
interest

• Who will be tested?
• What will be tested?
Today…
• How will STAAR be different from TAKS?
• What are the graduation implications?
• What is important in each content?

Who will be tested?
• Students enrolled in any of the following
courses (regardless of grade level):
– Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II
– World Geography, World History, US History
– Biology, Chemistry, Physics
– English I, II, III
• Tested over two days – Reading one day; Writing one
day

• TABS – Basic Skills
STAAR
• TEAMS – Minimum Skills
• TAAS – Academic Skills
• TAKS – Knowledge and Skills
• STAAR – State of Texas Assessment of
Academic Readiness

• “Reporting Categories”
– Replace TAKS Objectives
What will be tested?
• “Readiness Standards” – Student expectations that are
tested every year
– Essential for success in the current grade or course
– Important for preparedness for the next grade or course
– Supports college and career readiness
– Necessitates in-depth instruction
– Address broad and deep ideas
• “Supporting Standards” – SEs that are tested on a 3 year
rotating basis

What will be tested?
• Assessed Curriculum Document
– Identifies the readiness and supporting standards
• Blueprint
– Breaks down each reporting category by
readiness, supporting, and number of questions
• Test Design Schematic
– For reading/ELA only, outlines genres, number of
selections, and word count
• Rubrics
– For writing/ELA only

What will be tested?
• Assessed Curriculum Document
– Identifies the readiness and supporting standards
• Blueprint
– Breaks down each reporting category by
readiness, supporting, and number of questions
• Test Design Schematic
– For reading/ELA only, outlines genres, number of
selections, and word count
• Rubrics
– For writing/ELA only

What will be tested?
• Assessed Curriculum Document
– Identifies the readiness and supporting standards
• Blueprint
– Breaks down each reporting category by
readiness, supporting, and number of questions
• Test Design Schematic
– For reading/ELA only, outlines genres, number of
selections, and word count
• Rubrics
– For writing/ELA only

Combining Content and Process
Standards – Social Studies Example
• 8.29D Identify points of view from the historical context
surrounding an event and the frame of reference which
influenced the participants.
• 8.4C Explain the issues surrounding important events of
the American Revolution, including declaring
independence; writing the Articles of Confederation;
fighting the battles of Lexington, Concord, Saratoga, and
Yorktown; enduring the winter at Valley Forge; and
signing of the Treaty of Paris

Together:
• Analyze how the frame of reference of
various significant Americans impacted the
their points of view regarding the signing of
the Declaration of Independence, the work of
militias, joining troops at Valley Forge or the
signing of the Treaty of Paris

Combining Content and Process
Standards – Math Example
• 6.12B Evaluate the effectiveness of different
representations to communicate ideas.
• 6.3B Represent ratios and percents with
concrete models, fractions, and decimals.

Together
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a concrete or
pictorial model representing percent.

What will be tested?
• Examine the resources at your table
• Discuss the following questions and be prepared to
report out
– What surprises you?
– What concerns you?
– What immediate needs for instruction (materials,
scope and sequence revision, etc) come to mind?
– What types of training will be needed?
– How ready are your students?

What will be tested?
• Release of Test Questions
Primary forms of STAAR will be released
every three years as required.
• TEA may defer releasing assessments to the
extent necessary to develop additional
assessments.
• Prior to 2012, TEA plans to release a small
set of assessment items.

How will STAAR content be different from
• More questions
TAKS?
• Items cognitively more challenging
• Answer choices closer together – “best answer”
• Items coded dually (Process and content)
• Reference materials will be embedded in test booklet
• Linguistically accommodated version available – STAAR-L
(paper only until 2013)
• No phase in of STAAR-Alt – TAKS Alt will no longer exist
after Spring 2011

Accommodated??
No Accommodated version
– The “regular” STAAR will incorporate characteristics of
TAKS Accommodated
• More white space
• Verdana font, bigger font
• Single columns
– No accommodations manual will be provided in the
first year of the STAAR assessment program
• Policy letters (TAA letters) will be disseminated as decisions
are made

STAAR M
• Fewer questions than STAAR, but longer than
TAKS M
• 3 rather than 4 answer choices
• Increased rigor
– 2 compositions in Writing
– Dual coded items in Science and Social Studies
– Griddables (math), open ended responses
(reading), and “make no changes”
(writing/ELA)?? – no decision yet
• Time limit?? - no decision yet
• Blueprints not available yet

STAAR M
• STAAR M (EOC) availability
– 2012
• English I, English II, Algebra I, Geometry, Biology,
World Geography
– 2013
• World History
– 2014
• US History, English III

Dyslexia Bundle
• Extended to English I, II and III EOCs
• For these tests, two of the original three
accommodations will be allowed
– Oral reading of item stems/answer options
– Extended time

How will STAAR logistics be different from
TAKS at the HS?
• Three testing opportunities – fall, spring, summer
• Online or on paper at HS
• Passing/met standard will be set in February of
2012 for EOC
• in 2013 and beyond – 45 days of testing overall
• 4 hour time limit (possibility at HS of 2 tests in one
day)

4 Hour Time Limit

2011-12 Testing Calendar (HS)
• October 18 – 21
– Exit level TAKS re-test
• March 5 and 7-9
– Exit level TAKS re-test
– Grades 10 and 11 TAKS ELA
• March 26 – 29
– STAAR English I, II, III
• April 23 – 27
– Exit level TAKS re-test
– Grades 10 and 11 TAKS Math, Science, Social Studies

2011-12 Testing Calendar (HS)
• May 7 – 17
– STAAR EOC (all but English I, II, III)
• July 9 – 13
– STAAR EOC re-test (all)
– Exit level TAKS re-test

• To graduate
What are the graduation
requirements?
– a student must earn at least the minimum
standard on all EOC assessments taken
– Achieve a cumulative score that is greater than
or equal to the number of EOC assessments
taken multiplied by the satisfactory standard

Unsatisfactory
What are the graduation
requirements?
Satisfactory
Advanced

• Science
End of Course STAAR Examples
– Minimum = 900
– Satisfactory = 1000
– Advanced = 1500
• To graduate, a student must
– Score at least 900 on all science EOCs taken
– Achieve a cumulative equal to 1000 times the
number of EOCs taken

• Student 1 scores:
1200 on Biology
800 on Chemistry
1100 on Physics
Student Example 1
• Chemistry score of 800 does not meet the minimum score
requirement of 900 and CANNOT be used towards the
cumulative score.
• Then the student’s cumulative score is 2300 which does
not meet the cumulative score requirement of 3000
• This student must RETEST IN CHEMISTRY

• Student 2 scores:
950 on Biology
1000 on Chemistry
900 on Physics
Student Example 2
• The student met minimum on all 3 EOC assessments
• The student’s cumulative score is 2850 which does not
meet the cumulative score requirement of 3000
• This student must re-test – but which one to re-test?

Diploma Requirements
• Minimum High School Program
– Student must earn the minimum score on each
EOC assessment
• Recommended High School Program
– In addition to earning the minimum on each EOC,
students must earn the “satisfactory” score on
Algebra II and English III
• Distinguished Achievement Program
– In addition to earning the minimum on each EOC,
students must earn the “advanced” score on
Algebra II and English III

The 15% effect
• “ TEA does not have the authority to tell
districts how to calculate grades”
• Class rank, GPA, graduation
• Conversion from scale score to GPA
• Region 10 Information Booklet on the 15% was
provided to all districts

What is important in
each content area?

Reading
• Fiction and Expository on every Test
• Other genre are supporting standards
– Poetry, Drama, etc. not every year, but some years.
Won’t know which
• Procedural text and media literacy included
within the fiction or expository text
• Author’s craft questions:
– Why did the author use the phrase…
– Why did author conclude the second paragraph with
an ellipsis?

Literary Strand
• Fiction
• Literary Nonfiction
• Poetry
• Drama
Genres Assessed
– Assessed beginning at 4 th grade
• Media Literacy
– Embedded
Readiness Genre
Supporting Genre
Supporting Genre
Supporting Genre

Informational Strand
• Expository
• Persuasive
Genres Assessed
– Assessed beginning at 5 th grade
• Procedural
– Embedded
• Media Literacy
– Embedded
Readiness Genre
Supporting Genre

Paired Selections
• Can mix strands and genres
– Literary−Literary
• fiction−poetry
• literary nonfiction−drama
• fiction−literary nonfiction
– Informational−Informational
• expository −expository
• expository−persuasive
– Literary−Informational
• fiction−expository
• poetry−expository
• literary nonfiction−persuasive

Writing/ELA
• 2 separate tests in high school - Reading and Writing
• Writing EOC:
– 3 prompts for 1 page essays in high school (2 are real; one is
field test)
• Set of genre for each grade
• Separate revising and editing passages
• Score on English I test will have a predictor for Eng. III
success
• 2 open-ended responses on EOC in high school (one
over one passage; one is a crossover question over
two or more passages)

TAKS vs. STAAR
• Five writing rubrics replace one:
– Literary
– Expository
– Persuasive
– Analytic
– Personal Narrative (similar to Literary)

Test Length for Writing and English I, II and III EOC
Test Length
4 th Grade Writing Two Days - ½ multiple choice (mix of editing and revision) and
one of the writing prompts on Day One, and ½ multiple choice
(mix of editing and revision) and the other writing prompt on Day
Two
7 th Grade Writing Two Days - Multiple choice and one prompt on Day One, the other
two prompts on Day Two (one of which is a filed test prompt)
English I Two Days - Writing on Day One (to include three prompts one of
which is a field test prompt) and Reading on Day Two (to include
three short answer questions one of which is a filed test question)
English II Two Days - Writing on Day One (to include three prompts one of
which is a field test prompt) and Reading on Day Two (to include
three short answer questions one of which is a filed test question)
English III Two Days - Writing on Day One (to include three prompts one of
which is a field test prompt) and Reading on Day Two (to include
three short answer questions one of which is a field test question)

Compositions
English I, II, and III
• Students will write three* one-page essays
addressing different types of writing.
– English I−literary and expository
– English II−expository and persuasive
– English III−persuasive and analytic
*2 base test essays + one field test essay
• Essays will be weighted equally and comprise
52% of the writing score.
• Score of 1 will not automatically fail a student (no
“gatekeeper).

About the Prompt
Expository, persuasive, and analytic prompts contain a
stimulus that is scaffolded. The prompt has a
component that asks students to…
–Read (Students will be asked to read something or
view a picture in order to stimulate thinking.)
–Think (Students will be asked to think about/
ponder their charge.)
–Write (This will be the actual charge to write.)
–Be sure to… (This will be a reminder for students
to proof their writing.)

About the Prompt Page
The literary and narrative prompts
are scaffolded, too. However, they
look a bit different. They will not be
scaffolded as extensively.

Victoria Young Quote
“Remember that kids have
to be able to think.
Writing comes out of
thinking. So, we are
going to have kids read
something. For the lower
grades, it will be
something pretty short.”

Math
• Algebra I will have predictor for Algebra II success
• Algebra II and Geometry basically never tested
before
• More Griddable responses
• Griddables will have negative and positive
numbers as well as floating decimal in high school

8 th graders and Algebra I
• 8 th graders taking Algebra I in 2010-11
– Will have the following choice –
• Cumulative will be based on Geometry and Algebra II only
– OR
• Take Algebra I EOC at end of freshman year (likely the day
before taking Geometry EOC) and use score only if it helps
• 8 th graders taking Algebra I in 2011-12 and beyond
– Will take Algebra I EOC in 8th grade and the score will
count towards graduation
– Will not take the 8th grade STAAR Math (HB 2135)

Calculators - Math
• One graphing calculator required for each
student taking
– STAAR Algebra I
– STAAR Geometry
– STAAR Algebra II

Social Studies
• Not all TEKS tested, but more TEKS tested than previously
• EOC for geography and world history –
– two subjects not previously assessed except in minimal way
• 68 questions scored (embedded field test will add more
questions)
• Multi-step and multiple stimuli followed by inferencing,
etc.
• 4 possible correct answers with choices “most likely”,
“best”, etc.
• Will use negative questions
• New TEKS not tested until 2014 – overlap will be tested
2012-2013

• Longer
Science
• First time to test chemistry and physics in addition to
biology
• No test for IPC
• Calculations heavy especially in chemistry and physics –
Algebra I level
• Principles of Technology as Gr. 12 course will take Physics
EOC

Calculators - Science
• One scientific or graphing calculator required
for each student taking
– STAAR Chemistry
– STAAR Physics
• One 4-function, scientific, or graphing
calculator for every 5 students taking
– STAAR Biology

• Reading/Writing/ELA
Content Contacts
– Jayne Knighton – jayne.knighton@region10.org
• Math/Science/Social Studies
– Dana Grieb – dana.grieb@region10.org
• Special Education
– Gloria Key – gloria.key@region10.org

“If somebody were judging us like
we’re judging these schools, we’d
probably be a failing Congress”
- Rep. Howard P “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif.
Education Week, April 7, 2011

Resources
• STAAR Transition “To Do” List
• HB 3 Transition Plan Study guide
• Information booklet for 15%
• TEA Documents
– http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/
• STAAR Alt Resources
– http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/specialed/staaralt
• PLC Library
• Campus sessions by request