Student assessment

A brand new state student assessment system, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) will be ushered in beginning with the 2011-12 school year. Under the STAAR system, which replaces the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) program, students in grades 3-8 will continue to be tested annually in the same subjects they were tested in under the TAKS program. In high school, starting with 9th graders in the 2011-12 school year, students in the recommended and advanced high school programs must achieve a certain overall cumulative score based on meeting minimum performance requirements in each of the four core subject areas on 12 end-of-course (EOC) exams; students in the minimum high school program will need to do so on nine EOCs. The STAAR EOC scores will count for 15 percent of a student’s final grade in the course. There will be a four-hour time limit for all STAAR assessments for the 2011-12 school year. (Note: High school students other than 9th grade students will continue to take the TAKS exit-level test during the 2011-12 school year as replacement of the TAKS exit-level test with STAAR EOCs is phased in grade by grade for the next several years.)

STAAR reflects the incorporation of college readiness standards and was designed to measure a broader range of student achievement. The math/English/reading tests for grades 3-8 were all benchmarked down from Algebra II and English language arts III EOC exams. For more information on STAAR, see www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar.

Recent legislation provides that a student enrolled in a course above the student’s grade level who will be taking an assessment for that course will not also be required to take the grade-level assessment for that course.

Schools are required to administer a reading assessment (adopted by the commissioner of education) at the beginning of 7th grade to each student who did not demonstrate proficiency on the 6th grade reading state assessment.

Limits on testing

Separate field testing of existing tests can be conducted no more than once every other year. TEA must notify each school district before the beginning of the school year of any required participation in field testing. Additionally, districts are prohibited from administering any locally required test designed to prepare students for state-administered tests on more than 10 percent of instructional days; campus site-based decision making committees may approve an even lower percentage of days.

Vertical scale scores

As required by law, TEA has developed a vertical scale for assessing student performance on grades 3-8 STAAR tests. The vertical scale scores will replace the current scale scores for students taking English STAAR reading and math in grades 3-8 and Spanish STAAR reading and math in grades 3-6.

Measure of annual improvement

TEA is required to determine the annual improvement necessary for a student to be prepared to perform satisfactorily on grades 5 and 8 state assessments as well as the EOCs required for graduation. TEA did so (through an instrument called the Texas Projection Measure), but the TPM was recently discontinued for determining accountability ratings because of ongoing criticisms regarding its accuracy and use.

Student report for teachers

A school district is required to prepare a report of the comparisons made under the measure of annual improvement and provide it to teachers at the beginning of the school year for incoming students (a TCTA suggestion) as well as for students from the prior school year.

Student assessment data portal

TEA is required to establish a student assessment data portal for use by school districts, teachers, parents, students and public institutions of higher education. The estimated completion date is fall 2011.

Special education students

As with the TAKS tests, a new slate of STAAR tests replaces the TAKS-Modified (TAKS-M) and TAKS-Alternative (TAKS-Alt) tests. The TAKS-Accommodated (TAKS-A) test is being eliminated and not replaced. The new tests are:

STAAR Modified: This test replaces the TAKS-M beginning in the 2011-12 school year and is designed to assess students in grades 3-8 and high school receiving special education services who have been determined to need assessment on modified achievement standards aligned with grade-level content standards. (Federal NCLB regulations allow states and local school districts to count as proficient for purposes of AYP the scores of up to 2 percent of students who are assessed in this manner.)

STAAR Alternate: This test replaces the TAKS-Alt beginning in the 2011-12 school year and is designed to assess students in grades 3-8 and high school receiving special education services who have significant cognitive disabilities. (Federal NCLB regulations put a cap of 1 percent on the number of students who can be assessed in this manner and still be counted as proficient for purposes of AYP.)

Limited English Proficient students

Legislation passed in 2009 provides that a student may be administered an accommodated or alternative assessment instrument or may be granted an exemption from or a postponement of the administration of an assessment instrument for a period of up to one year after initial enrollment in a school in the U.S., if the student is of limited English proficiency (LEP) and has not demonstrated proficiency in English; for a period of up to three years if the student is also a recent unschooled immigrant (lacking necessary foundation in the TEKS as determined by the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee, as a result of inadequate schooling outside of the U.S.) and is in a grade for which no test is available in the student’s primary language; and for a period up to five years if the student’s initial enrollment in a school in the U.S. was as an unschooled asylee or refugee.

Student promotion requirements

Texas’ Student Success Initiative, which prohibits the social promotion of students, places emphasis on the STAAR test for determining whether a student advances to the next grade level in grade 5 (a 5th grade student must pass the math and reading STAAR tests to be promoted to the 6th grade) and in grade 8 (an 8th grade student must pass the math and reading STAAR tests to be promoted to the 9th grade).

For all grades other than 5 and 8, each school district must adopt a policy regarding student advancement, which must include consideration of the student’s score on the state assessment to the extent applicable; the recommendation of the student’s teacher; the student’s grade in each subject/course; and any other necessary information determined by the school district. Each time a student fails the state assessment in grades 3 through 8, the school district must provide the student with accelerated instruction, which may require participation of the student before or after normal school hours and may include participation outside of the normal school year. The maximum class size for accelerated instruction classes in grades 5 and 8 is 10 students per instructor. A student in grade 5 or 8 who fails to complete the required accelerated instruction cannot be promoted. A student in grade 5 or 8 who fails the state assessment but is promoted must be assigned in all foundation curriculum subjects to a teacher who meets all state and federal qualifications to teach that subject and grade.

The first time a student fails the STAAR in grade 5 or 8, he/she must be provided at least two additional opportunities to retake the test. On the third try, the district may administer an alternative assessment approved by the commissioner of education, and the student may be promoted if he/she performs at grade level on the alternative assessment instrument.

After a student fails the STAAR a second time, a grade placement committee (GPC) shall be established to prescribe the accelerated instruction program the student must receive. The GPC is composed of the principal or designee, the student’s parent or guardian, and the teacher of the subject of the failed STAAR test. In the case of a special education student, the GPC is the Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) committee. If the student fails the STAAR a third time, he/she shall be retained unless the GPC unanimously determines that if promoted and given accelerated instruction, the student is likely to perform at grade level. In this case, the student must be provided with accelerated instruction, even after promotion.

Information about tests

On or before Sept. 1 of each year, the commissioner must make available on the TEA website the number of questions on the assessment instrument, the number of questions that must be answered correctly to achieve satisfactory performance, the number of questions that must be answered correctly to achieve satisfactory performance under the college readiness performance standard, and the corresponding scale scores for each of the state assessments.

Computer-administered tests may not be required

The commissioner may not require school districts or charters to administer an assessment by computer.

Test security

It is a Class C misdemeanor to intentionally disclose any portion of a test which is likely to affect the individual performance of one or more students on the assessment.

Test release schedule

Tests are released to the public every three years.

Scheduling during STAAR testing week

UIL competitions may not be scheduled on Monday through Thursday, or the last testing day, of the primary STAAR assessment week. This provision does not apply to retesting.

2011-12 STAAR REQUIREMENTS

GRADES 3-8 ASSESSMENTS

• Grade 3 Reading, Math
• Grade 4 Reading, Math, Writing
• Grade 5 Reading,* Math,* Science
• Grade 6 Reading, Math
• Grade 7 Reading, Math, Writing
• Grade 8 Reading,* Math,* Science, Social Studies

* Promotion requirement.

END-OF-COURSE ASSESSMENTS**

(required only for 9th grade students in 2011-12 school year)

• English Language Arts: English I, English II, English III
• Mathematics: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II
• Science: Biology, Chemistry, Physics
• Social Studies: World Geography, World History, U.S. History

**Students enrolling after January 1 of the school year in which the student is eligible to graduate in Texas public schools for the first time, or who have been absent at least four years from any Texas public school, can take/pass a norm-referenced test in lieu of the EOC exams.

Source: TEA Student Assessment Division