STAAR Mentoring Minds

Smooth Sailing on the Science STAAR

In Texas, educators are experienced captains in the sea of high-stakes testing. As the new STAAR tests rapidly approach, the atmosphere is changing, as districts, schools, teachers, and students brace themselves for uncharted waters. To stay afloat, there are several ways educators can chart the course for smooth sailing.

Trim the Sails

As review time approaches, take a moment to reflect on the teaching and learning that has taken place over the course of the year. Note any interruptions in the delivery of the science curriculum, such as unexpected absences from work or school-wide assemblies. Schedule a specific time to review TEKS that were covered in a shorter time frame than originally anticipated.

Get All Hands on Deck

With mounting pressure to perform at increased levels of rigor, do not be afraid to enlist help. Often, other classroom teachers and support staff are eager to lend a hand. For example, teachers in kindergarten through grade 2 are usually willing to tutor former students. Similarly, art, music, and physical education teachers appreciate ideas for incorporating science into their subject matter. Students will benefit from having the material presented in a different way as well.

Take the Helm

Create a review plan, using data to determine which TEKS need the most emphasis. Carefully examine the success students have experienced with process, or Scientific Investigation and Reasoning TEKS, which will be included on over 40% of the test items. Keep a written log of the review plan, noting the activities used and amount of time spent covering each readiness or supporting standard. After the assessment results arrive, use data to determine which parts of the review plan were most effective. Tracking the success of the review plan helps make decisions for next year’s STAAR assessment preparation.

Full Steam Ahead

Give students opportunities to practice answering questions in a timed setting. During these rehearsals, observe the students. Make a note of the students that have trouble staying on task, experience anxiety, or who pace themselves either too fast or slow. Develop mini-lessons to address the noted concerns.

Keep the Wind in their Sails

Utilize the remaining time between now and the assessment to build self confidence in science. A study conducted by Liu, Hsieh, Cho, and Schallert found significant evidence that self-efficacy in science, or a student’s belief that they can perform successfully, was a predictor of science academic performance. Revisit areas of strengths and achievements, using those as confidence builders. Make it a goal that every student in your class receives personal attention and praise for the knowledge they have acquired in science this year.

Although the pressure may seem overwhelming, all educators in the state are in the same boat. Keeping an even keel during this new adventure may seem unfamiliar, but with careful planning, it is possible to make the most of the remaining instructional time to ensure the smoothest course.

Reference:

Liu, M., Hsieh, P., Cho, Y., & Schallert, D. (2006). Middle school students’ self-efficacy,
attitudes, and achievement in a computer-enhanced problem-based learning
environment. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 17(3), 225-242.

Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

Written by Karen Lane, M.Ed., Educational Consultant at Mentoring Minds

Posted on 10 May 2012

Is your student ready for the STAAR exam?

TYLER, TX (KLTV) -It can be difficult to prepare students for a test no one has taken, but this is a task a local educational publishing company has taken on.

Source: KLTV, by Shaley Sanders | 03. 26.2012

Posted on 28 March 2012

What you need to know about the STAAR Test for Mathematics

Across the State of Texas, math educators anxiously await the arrival of STAAR—The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. This new state testing program, which makes its debut in the spring of 2012, will replace the TAKS test and promises to  be a more comprehensive and rigorous program of assessment. The mathematics test will be administered to students in grades 3-8, and end-of-course assessments will be administered for Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. The focus of STAAR is readiness—providing readiness skills so that students are prepared for the next grade level or math course while also building the skills needed for success in college and careers.

The STAAR assessments for grades 3-8 are designed to assess the student expectations from the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills with a “clearer, fewer, deeper” emphasis. One difference between STAAR and the previous testing program, TAKS, is that areas of focus have been identified for STAAR. In mathematics, the eligible student standards have been categorized as either readiness skills or supporting skills. At most levels, approximately 1/3 of the skills are classified as readiness, while approximately 2/3 of the skills are classified as supporting.  Conversely, although both categories are eligible for testing on STAAR, approximately 2/3 of the test will be comprised of questions addressing the readiness skills while only 1/3 of the test will address supporting skills. In this way the assessment will focus on the math skills deemed to be the most important for that grade level.

The STAAR assessments for 2012 and 2013 will actually assess much of the same mathematics content and skills as the TAKS test, but the questions will be written at a higher difficulty level and require higher levels of critical thinking, concentrating on problem solving and process skills. More non-routine problems will be incorporated, and many problems will require multiple steps to reach a solution. Approximately 75% of the questions on STAAR mathematics will have a dual-coded alignment to both a math content skill and a math process skill. Although most of the test continues in a multiple choice format, an increased number of griddable, open-response questions will be incorporated.

There are other differences between STAAR and TAKS. The STAAR mathematics assessment will have more questions per test than TAKS. In addition, students will have a time limit of four hours to complete the STAAR assessment while there was no time limit for TAKS. For the first time, students in grade 3 will record their responses on a separate answer sheet instead of recording in the actual test booklet. Measures of student progress for this assessment program will be based on the new, more rigorous standards for the STAAR assessments.

The Texas Education Agency website has provided numerous resources to help schools prepare for STAAR including sample test items, outlines of the tested curriculum, test blueprints, and Q&A documents. For more information, go to http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/ . The first full release of a STAAR test is scheduled for summer 2014.

The STAAR Assessment Program presents new challenges to Texas educators of mathematics. However, if effective instruction is aligned with the standards outlined in the TEKS, students and teachers should continue to experience success.

Written by: Marian Rainwater, Educational Consultant at Mentoring Minds | March 21, 2012

Posted on 21 March 2012

Understanding STAAR Reading

The spring of 2012 brings a new challenge to public schools in Texas. Teachers, campus leaders, and district administrators will implement a new assessment program, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR).  These assessments will test the same grades and content areas as tested by TAKS, but that concludes the similarities. Public educators in Texas are preparing to meet the challenges of this new and more rigorous assessment as they consider the following important changes for the Reading STAAR.

• The rigor, depth, and level of cognitive complexity will increase in order to measure a greater range of student achievement and to better link the results to college and career readiness and success.  Students will be required to move beyond a literal understanding of texts and to think critically and inferentially about those texts. In addition, students will be asked to make connections within and across texts and to understand how to use text evidence to confirm ideas.
• The number of test items has increased for the Reading STAAR. The number of questions ranges from 40 on the third grade assessment to 52 on the eighth grade version.
• A time limit of four hours has been imposed.
• Performance standards will be linked from grade to grade.
• Two cut scores will be used to identify individual student performance. The individual performance ratings of Advanced Academic Performance, Satisfactory Academic Performance, and Unsatisfactory Academic Performance will be awarded based on numbers of correct responses. These cut scores will be set in October of 2012.
• STAAR Resources provided by TEA include the following:
  • Assessed Curriculum Documents –
    • identifies the TEKS to be tested on STAAR; classifies the TEKS into Reporting Categories – 1: Understanding and Analysis Across Genre, 2: Understanding and Analysis of Literary Texts, 3: Understanding and Analysis of Informational Texts)
    • classifies the TEKS as Readiness or Supporting standards – Readiness TEKS (60-70%) essential for current the grade level and important to prepare students for the next grade level and college and career readiness, require in-depth instruction; Supporting TEKS (30-40%) introduced or reinforced in current grade but emphasized or reinforced in prior or subsequent grades
    • identifies the literary and informational genres to be tested
  • Test Blueprints – define the content of the STAAR based on number of questions for each Reporting Category
  • Test Design Schematics – identify the content of the base and field portions of the test; note the genres assessed; provide the load of number of words on the assessment
  • Released Test Items –  are representative of the cognitive complexity of the actual STAAR items; includes two reading selections and 15 sample questions per grade level; includes the newly-assessed genres of poetry, drama, and persuasive text

• Released tests will be available every three years.
• The first STAAR field-test data were collected in spring, 2011. The results demonstrated student difficulties responding to questions relating to poetry, drama, persuasive texts, and theme across all genres.
• Educator information booklets will not be provided to teachers, principals, or district leaders.
• Study guides will not be provided to students and parents.

Effective instruction and meaningful practice will support student success on STAAR. Within instruction, it is important that students know and use the language of the ELA/R TEKS. In addition, students must receive in-depth instruction in all genres with relevant learning activities that include compare/contrast strategies and making connections between different genres and strands.

Written by: Connie Moore, M.Ed., Educational Consultant at Mentoring Minds | March 2012

Posted on 11 March 2012

How Administrators Help Prepare a Campus for Academic Excellence

A rigorous and relevant education is a product of effective teaching and learning. When educators recognize how standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment interrelate and reinforce each other, academic excellence will be imminent in our schools. If the focus is on state assessments as the only determiner of academic excellence, then undue pressure will more than likely be placed on teachers. Administrators must take responsibility for providing a positive, supportive campus climate and for alleviating stress of all stakeholders. Such support begins at the onset of the school year and continues throughout the year in order to bring out the best in teachers and students. When students are fully engaged in the learning process, achievement can result. The opportunities for students to meet or exceed expectations also increase when educators strive to prepare students for life and not only for state assessments. It seems likely that if campuses place curriculum, instruction, and relevant learning as the school-wide focus, then success on state assessments will occur. Teaching and learning can be favorably influenced when campus administrators engage in the practices that follow.

Goals of High Expectations Develop a plan for student success. Goals must be measurable and must focus on student achievement. Involve the faculty in establishing a long-term goal for all students to demonstrate mastery on state assessments and to increase the commended performance percentage. Short-term academic improvement goals must be set and measured monthly and weekly in order to achieve the long-term goal. The faculty and students must remain focused on improvement goals. Pertinent information must also be communicated regularly to parents.

A Shared Focus on Student Learning Students need to know the expectations of the campus. An assembly can jump start the school year to motivate students to perform well. Expectations regarding attendance, behavior, and achievement must be related to student learning and all students must be informed.  It is essential that all other school-wide and classroom assemblies follow suit in order for students to recognize that the entire campus embraces a shared focus for achieving success in academics. Individual student conferences, assigned mentors for students, and the belief in all students by every staff member are essential to improved student learning.

Instructional Time Instructional and learning time must be protected. Monitor the learning environment so detractions do not distract from instruction. Become conscious of interruptions and take action to limit disruptions (announcements, intrusions, and non-instructional activities). Design a schedule to increase instructional time during and beyond the school day. Continuously show teachers they are valued and remove any obstacles that prevent student success.

Discussion of Instruction Encourage conversations among staff about curriculum and instruction. Define rigor in teaching and effective instructional practices, and engage the staff in discussions about best practices within content areas. Recognize that planning and preparation precede effective instruction. Discuss the elements of instruction (learning experiences, materials, assessments, and strategies), and facilitate discussions on how to meaningfully engage students in content (aligned to student needs and standards). Stress how the physical environment supports instruction and brainstorm observable indicators. Ensure that discussions include how non-instructional interactions must support a respectful environment and a culture for learning. Schedule common planning times and data team/vertical team meetings to strengthen staff collaboration.

Critical Thinking Stress that the emphasis shifts from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered learning. Students must be required to think rigorously (analyze, compare, create, evaluate). Acknowledge that questions are essential for probing student thinking and extending understanding. Discuss how teachers must demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness as they shift questions or experiences when the situations or students warrant. Not only should students understand or conceptualize the standards being taught, teachers must design experiences where students make relevant applications by applying what is taught to the real world. Allow teachers time to collaborate and plan performance tasks that provide evidence to themselves and to students the degree to which standards are understood. Students must be provided real-world tasks in order to become critical problem-solvers as they seek original solutions and reflect on what was workable and what was not. Introduce teachers to a framework or a structure so they acquire knowledge and become skilled at designing instruction with rigor, depth, and relevance. This emphasis in learning thoughtfully engages students and promotes self-directed and critical thinking learners.

Professional Development and Resources Identify areas for teacher growth that offer continuous advancement for all teachers and that advance student learning. Provide high-quality learning opportunities to enable teachers to design instruction that aligns with the standards and prepares students to meet or exceed grade-level standards. Include training designed by teachers where they share proven strategies. Introduce teachers to STAAR™ Resources offered by the Texas Education Agency to support instruction. Encourage teacher reflection and invite teacher input about what is needed to implement high-quality instruction. Administrators must be creative in their willingness to secure resources (financial, human, time, training, and materials) that support teachers in the implementation and improvement of instruction.

Monitoring Progress Ensure that systematic procedures are in place for monitoring student progress toward achieving academic standards. Provide teachers an assessment calendar at the beginning of the year keeping them informed of changes. Use multiple sources of diagnostic tools to assess learning, identify gaps, and make plans for instructional improvement. Monitor classrooms to verify that grade level standards are addressed and critique learning experiences for the integration of rigorous thought and ongoing formative assessment techniques. Collect observable and objective evidence which is free from debate. Share evidence most representative of the observation and discuss the feedback.

Use of Student Data Know how to interpret student performance data and ensure that teachers are skilled in using data to guide teaching and learning. Disaggregate data to determine the progress of individual students and student groups. Ensure that teachers are informed of student data and ensure that teachers keep students informed. Students should be given active roles in sharing responsibility for learning and setting learning goals. Data advances the teaching and learning processes.

Celebrations Recognize achievement and efforts for both students and teachers. Hold school-wide and small-group celebrations to genuinely praise individuals, grade levels, or content areas. When the achievement of short-term goals is celebrated, students and staff understand the value of setting campus and individual goals.

Evaluation/Formative Assessment Evaluation drives instruction. It is critical to monitor and measure curriculum success and report findings to teachers. Measuring student success and communicating progress to individual students is just as important. Administrators must help teachers recognize the value of diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses to determine instructional direction. Formative assessment measures are essential to daily success in teaching and learning. These assessment techniques reflect the instructional outcomes and document student progress during and at the end of a learning experience. These diagnostic opportunities allow students to demonstrate their levels of understanding during the instructional sequence, while there is ample time to make adjustments. By engaging students in formative assessment, misconceptions in learning and errors caused by inadequate instruction can be identified and corrected immediately. When students become self-assessors of learning, student performance improves.

Test Preparation Other strategies pertinent in preparation for STAAR are: focused instruction on grade-level standards (TEKS), repeated and varied instructional practice that reinforce standards, extensive use of formative assessment strategies, knowledge of specific resources for STAAR™ on the TEA website, direct instruction in test-taking skills, intervention strategies to identify students needing assistance, teachers hired as intervention specialists, intervention programs offered at varying times (during school day, before or after school), and students recognized and rewarded for successes throughout year.

The best preparation for state assessments is high-quality, rigorous instruction in a relevant, real-world environment delivered by skilled teachers. Administrators have the responsibility for ensuring such instruction occurs each day in every classroom. However, it is imperative that educators recognize that academic excellence cannot be defined merely by proficiency on state tests, but rather academic excellence depends on the teaching and learning students experience throughout their entire education process.

Posted on 4 March 2012

Texas Today: Districts need to email TEA to defer STAAR grade rule

Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott provided the state’s school districts with the process they need to follow if they wish to defer a requirement tying high school students’ grades to their scores on a new state test.

In a written statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Scott said districts wanting to opt out of a provision that requires performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness to count as 15 percent of a student’s final course grade need to notify the Texas Education Agency via email.

Locally, the Killeen, Lampasas and Belton school districts confirmed that they plan to defer the requirement. Officials from the Richard Milburn Academy Charter Schools also said they would ask to waive the requirement.

Scott said districts must notify the agency by March 1. The requirement will only be waived for this school year.

Source: Killeen Daily Herald, 02.22.2012

Posted on 4 March 2012

Not the Brightest STAAR

Parents, students, and teachers across Texas breathed a sigh of relief when Texas dumped the dreaded Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test – right until they saw its replacement, the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness. Now the new tests are so mired in controversy that Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott has agreed to defer for one year the Texas Education Agency‘s implementation of what is called the 15% rule.

On Feb. 17, Scott announced, “I am modifying the Texas Education Agency’s [STAAR] Transition Plan.” As a result, the TEA will allow school districts and charter schools to suspend the 15% grading system – under which the end-of-course STAAR tests will count for 15% of a student’s graduating score – for the 2011-12 school year. In his press release, Scott said that his change in position came from “conversations with the Governor’s Office and clarification of legislative intent from the House and Senate.” Earlier this month, the Senate Education Committee and the House Public Education Committee sent him letters asking him to hold fire. Since schools were already getting a one-year respite from the state’s accountability system during the transition but students did not, the House members wrote that the situation “is not fair or right.”

Scott’s deferment announcement was a relief to the Austin Independent School District, as its trustees requested a similar waiver from him last November. He said no, but with this change in direction, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen announced that the board will vote on the matter at its Feb. 27 meeting. However, the result seems to be a foregone conclusion, as board President Mark Williams told the Chronicle before Scott’s announcement that trustees would take advantage of any waiver.

Yet this leniency only solves one problem out of a gamut of issues that plague the new system, and it may create new ones. With testing scheduled to begin on March 26, the TEA has released surprisingly little information about STAAR. The TEA’s own timeline means the agency will not approve performance standards for the end-of-course exams until mid-March, and those standards will not be implemented until May. There will be an even longer wait for grades 3-8, since their standards will not be issued until the fourth quarter of this year. Education Austin co-President Ken Zarifis argued that Scott’s waiver is all too little, too late. “[The TEA] should have listened to people two, three years ago,” he said, when education advocates and experts first warned them about the perils of high-stakes end-of-course testing and poor implementation.

Williams echoed those concerns, adding, “We won’t know until we administer the test what is a passing grade,” and the complications do not end there. Because the waiver is only for the 2011-12 year and not a student’s entire career, he explained, “We’re probably going to have to have some kind of conversion factor, based on some kind of scale factor of some sort of pass rate, but we haven’t worked that out yet, and nobody knows.”

Zarifis and Williams agreed that this volatile situation is far tougher on staff and students than it is on the board. The complaint is constant: If the state expects teachers to teach to the test, it would be nice to know what the test looks like. So far, the TEA has only issued rough blueprints and a limited number of sample questions. “How do you prepare for something you don’t know?” Zarifis asked. The lack of information is just adding pressure to teachers. “Everyone is coming down and saying, ‘You’ve got to get students ready,’” he said, “but no one is telling them what ‘ready’ is.”

So was the problem in the legislation, how it was enacted, or both? After all, it’s not like the TEA didn’t have plenty of time to prepare. Senate Bill 1031, which instigated the changeover, was passed in 2007, and the TEA has been working on the standard-setting process since early 2009. Zarifis blamed the Legislature for passing an end-of-course bill without any thought to how it would affect classrooms. Williams ascribed some of the delay to the layoffs that hit TEA last September – all part of the state’s budget-slashing program – but Drew Scheberle, vice president of education and workforce development for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, takes a less a charitable view: Scott is, after all, the same commissioner who cancelled the controversial Texas Projection Measure after students had already taken their tests. What frustrated Scheberle most is that somehow the TEA had failed to learn the lesson from the equally bumpy shift from Texas Assessment of Academic Skills tests to TAKS in 2003, or from the switch from the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills to TAAS in 1990. Instead, districts have been left in the dark well into the new school year. Looking at the administration, said Scheberle, “These are all people who all knew and all went through this multiple times … but the culture at TEA has always been ‘I tell you nothing.”

Source: Austin Chronicles, 02.24.2012

Posted on 4 March 2012

Workshop on STAAR test planned

Two community organizations partnered with the Killeen Independent School District to inform parents and students about changes to the state’s mandatory assessment tests.

The Killeen Chapter of the NAACP and the Killeen Area Alliance of Black School Educators will host a workshop Tuesday to educate parents on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, test.

The test, set to replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test, or TAKS, will be administered to all third- through eighth-graders and high school freshmen for the first time this year.

Compared to TAKS, the STAAR has been characterized as a more rigorous test that emphasizes college readiness and critical thinking skills over simple memorization and multiple choice answers.

“It’s a different test, and the reality is that parents need to have as much information as possible,” said TaNeika Driver, president of the Killeen NAACP. “Our goal is making sure our kids have the best education and are equipped with the best tools and resources to succeed.”

Students will begin taking the new test — which was developed by the Texas Education Agency in response to state requirements set in 2007 — in March.

The test also calls for high school students to take multiple “end-of-course” exams.

When the test is fully implemented, most high school students will be required to take a total of 12 exams in four core subjects: English, science, social studies and math.

As well as requiring students to take multiple, subject-specific tests, the state Legislature also mandated that the scores count toward 15 percent of the final grade for high school students.

The requirements raised concerns from parents, who feared the new exams would negatively affect students’ class rank and grade-point average, which could hurt their chances for admission to college.

On Friday, Robert Scott, head of the Texas Education Agency, announced that he would waive the requirement to have the tests count toward ninth-graders’ final grades for the current school year.

Even with the 15 percent grade requirement deferred, Driver said it would not change the fact that students still have to take STAAR exams.

“They are going to have to take the test this year,” Driver said. “We wanted to get the word out, work with the district to let parents know what resources are out there, and answer any of their questions.”

Read More: Killeen Daily Herald, 2.19.2012

Posted on 22 February 2012

Districts getting ready for new test

Read more:

Source: MySanAntonio.com, 12.03.2011

Posted on 13 February 2012

A parent’s guide to STAAR!

With all the changes in education children are facing, several parents have emailed us asking what they could do to better help their children with STAAR, the new state test being implemented this school year. Below are a few tips we hope will be of benefit to you and your children.

• Talk to your child’s teacher about the subject matter covered on the test. In some schools, a handout is available that explains how parents can assist their children in studying the different subjects tested at each level.
• Look at the testable student expectations on the TEA website. http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/
• See how STAAR will change from the previous TAKS. http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/
• There are no released STAAR assessments, but there are sample STAAR test items on the TEA website that might be helpful. These give parents a fairly good idea of wording on test items. Remember, these are only samples. http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index.aspx?id=2147495410&menu_id=660&menu_id2=795&cid=2147483660
• Subscribe to TEA list services so that when assessment information is available, an e-mail will notify you with the targeted information. Perhaps other test items will be released at a date prior to the next school year.
• Practice using questioning prompts to ask your child higher-level questions about content at the application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels. Also, use the prompts from the sample test items, remembering they are ONLY samples.
• This TEA site shares brochures about STAAR that might also be helpful.
• A sister company, First Impact Education, carries STAAR Pamphlets for Parents. These pamphlets have other information for parents.

If you would like to stay informed on updates around STAAR please visit: www.mentoringminds.com/staar

Posted on 15 November 2011