PRAIRIE VIEW ELEMENTARY

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Racing to STAAR

Success

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TEST DATES

March 27th 4th Writing Day 1

5th MathMarch 28th 4th

Writing Day 2 5th Reading

April 24th 3rd-4th Math

April 25th 3rd-4th Reading

April 26th 5th Grade Science

STAAR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

http://www.txetests.com/FAQS/index.asp

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Policy and Procedure Highlights

Scheduling Test Sessions

• Four-hour time limit policy and procedures

• Extra time or extra day accommodation available only to students who meet eligibility criteria

• Testing should end by the close of the regular school day (with exceptions for campuses testing more than one session)

Make-up Testing

• Available for all grades, all subjects, and courses

• Available for all administrations

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Policy and Procedure Highlights

Reference Materials for Mathematics and Science

• Consists of formulas, constants, conversions, periodic table, etc.

• Are used for grades 3–8 mathematics, grade 8 science, Algebra I,

geometry, Algebra II, chemistry, and physics

• Are not used for grade 5 science or biology • Will be embedded in the paper test booklets and

perforated so students can tear them out

• May be printed from the TEA website and distributed to students to

use during paper and online testing 55

Policy and Procedure Highlights

Work Space for Mathematics and Science

• Paper tests will have blank space around test questions for students

to make notes and perform calculations.

• Math tests will have graph paper embedded in the paper test

booklets and perforated so students can tear it out.

• Campuses may print copies of the graph paper from the TEA website

and distribute to students to use during testing.

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STAAR Resources

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http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/accommodations/staar-telpas

Optional Test Administration and Procedures - May be provided to any student based on his or her needs

- Student must have experience with the specific procedure or material

- Must have been determined effective in meeting student needs

- May not require students to use them

- Not intended for every student

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Optional Test Administration Procedures & Materials

What procedures and materials are available to ALL students?

• Includes some things that have been called testing accommodations in previous years

• Related to best practices for instruction• Available to any student who needs them• Not intended for every student in a class or

disability category• Not recorded on answer document• Available on test administration materials web

pages as well as accommodation resources

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/accommodations/staar-telpas/ 8

What procedures and materials are available to ALL students?

• Allowed for any student NOT every student; test administrators should not distribute these materials on test day; make them available in front of room or ask students if they need it

• No documentation required beyond what is necessary for planning on test day• However, a district could require documentation

for certain students or for certain procedures/materials

• Individual or small-group administration has moved back to a Type 1 accommodation

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What procedures and materials are available to ALL students?

• Reading assistance on grade 3 mathematics

• Highlighters or colored pencils

• Procedures or materials to minimize distractions (e.g., stress ball, noise-reducing headphones)

• Reading test aloud to self (e.g., reading into a voice-feedback device or voice recorder)

• Signing or translating test administration directions

• Scratch paper or other workspace

• Colored overlays• Magnifying devices• Blank place

markers• Preferential seating

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Assessments for Students with Disabilities

STAAR

Performers

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STAAR Modified

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WHAT IS STAAR MODIFIED AND WHO IS IT FOR?

An alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards

• Different passing standard than STAAR• Different test questions… based on STAAR

For students receiving special education services who meet participation requirements

• For the 2011-2012 school year, applies to students in grades 3-8 and entering grade 9 Students repeating grade 9 and students currently in

grades 10-12 are still held to the requirements of the TAKS program

STAAR format with simplified reading selections, test questions, and answer choices by:

Reducing the number of questions tested and deleting one answer choice

Simplifying sentence structure, vocabulary, digits, and grid for griddable questions (mathematics only)

Revising or adding context for clarification Examples: pre-reading text in reading and writing,

definitions, formulas and/or conversions

Modification Guidelines

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Deleting extraneous information Examples: reduce number of variables/steps/operations, delete one part of compound answer choices

Organizing information differently Examples: chunk (separate into parts) reading and editing selections, bulleting information, additional spacing

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Or… delete certain things from STAAR so that they are not tested on STAAR Modified

Delete “not” or “except” questions

Delete griddable questions (science tests only)

Students will be assessed with only one type of writing prompt in each tested grade (writing tests only)

Student compositions are scored on a three-point rubric (writing tests only)

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Separate paired STAAR reading selections (test as single selections that are not thematically linked) and delete all thematically-linked crossover questions (reading tests only)

Student expectations in Reporting Category 1 associated with making connections across texts are not tested on STAAR Modified

Only vocabulary will be tested in Reporting Category 1 for STAAR Modified

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WILL TEST ADMINISTRATORS BE ALLOWED TO READ ANY WORD IN THE SELECTION

THAT THEY ALREADY READ IN THE PRE-READING TEXT LIKE IN TAKS-M?

No. This is a difference between TAKS-M and STAAR Modified reading tests.

Test administrators (TA) may read the pre-reading text to students but may not read anything in the reading selection.

The TA must read aloud the pre-reading text and may read the test questions and answer choices if the student is eligible for an oral administration.

Test administration directions will explain that the TA can read the pre-reading text as many times as necessary, as long as it is prior to the students reading the selections.

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WILL POETRY AND DRAMA SELECTIONS BE CHUNKED ON STAAR MODIFIED

READING TESTS?

Poetry selections will NOT be separated into parts.

Drama selections WILL be separated into parts, usually according to the number of scenes.

Will students taking STAAR Modified have four hours to test or

will they get extra time?

• Students taking STAAR Modified will have four hours to test just like students taking STAAR

• The accommodations of extra time will be available to those students taking STAAR Modified who meet the eligibility criteria for the Extra Time (XT) Accommodation.

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What resources are available to help with STAAR Modified?

Available Resources

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/special-ed/staarm/

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Accommodationshttp://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/accommodations

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Are changes to instructional materials, procedures, or techniques that are made on an individual basis and allow a student with a disability to participate in grade-level or course instruction and testing

Should be evaluated regularly to determine effectiveness and to help plan for accommodations the student will need each year

Are not changes to the content being assessed and should not replace the teaching of subject-specific knowledge and skills as outlined in the TEKS

Should not be provided to an entire group of students, such as those in the same class or disability

What are Accommodations for Students with Disabilities?

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Who are students with disabilities making them potentially eligible for

accommodations?

Applies to students taking STAAR, STAAR Spanish, STAAR Modified, STAAR L, and TELPAS

For purposes of statewide assessments, a student needing accommodations due to a disability includes

• A student with an identified disability who receives special education services and meets established eligibility criteria for certain accommodations

• A student with an identified disability who receives Section 504 services and meets established eligibility criteria for certain accommodations

• A student with a disabling condition who does not receive special education or Section 504 services but meets established eligibility criteria for certain accommodations

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Who has the authority for decision and documentation?

Special education services: the ARD committee; IEP

Section 504 services: the 504 placement committee; IAP

No special education or Section 504 services: the appropriate team of people at the campus level; documentation determined at local level

• Response to Intervention (RTI) team and student assistance team are just examples

• This applies to a small group of students

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What are Type 1 Accommodations?

For students with a specific need• One eligibility criterion:

• Student must routinely, independently (when applicable), and effectively use the accommodation during classroom instruction and testing (RIE)

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What does Routinely, Independently, and Effectively

mean?Routinely• Used often enough that student is familiar and comfortable

using accommodation on a statewide assessment • Not necessarily used every day

Independently• Only applicable to some accommodations (e.g., applies to

use of a calculator but not to an oral administration)

Effectively• Accommodation meets student needs as evidenced by

scores and observations with or without accommodation use

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What are Type 2 Accommodations?

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Two or more eligibility criteria, including:• Student must routinely, independently

(when applicable), and effectively use the accommodation during classroom instruction and testing

• Additional criteria based on specific student needs

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What are Type 3 Accommodations?

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For a very small number of students• Student must meet all eligibility criteria

listed• Appropriate team of people at campus

level determines eligibility for listed accommodations or “other” accommodations not listed in the triangle

• AND submits an ARF to TEA

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What are Type 3 Accommodations?

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Requires an approved ARF because Type 3 accommodations involve a test administrator handling or manipulating secure test materials or student responses in ways that could compromise test security, confidentiality, and/or student results.

TEA provides specific guidelines with an approved ARF in order to ensurethat Type 3 accommodations arecarried out in a standardized manner.

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This type of PDF document opens when the link to

an accommodation in

the triangle is clicked.

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This section provides a general description of the accommodation and who may need it.

The statewide assessments that the accommodation may be used on are listed in this section.

This section lists the specific criteria that a student must meet in order to use the accommodation.

The checkboxes are provided for possible documentation.

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This section lists the campus personnel and the requireddocumentation necessary for making accommodation decisions.

This section also explains what to record on the student answer document.

This section states if an Accommodation Request Form is/is not required.

This section lists examples and types of the accommodation that may be used on a statewide assessment.

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This section provides detailed information that is integral to the appropriate use of each accommodation. For instance, the section may include test administration instructions, security precautions, and training requirements.

The intent of this section is to assist districts in making accommodation decisions. It will be updated as needed based on educator feedback. This section will not be included on all accommodations.

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What Accommodations are Available?

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HTTP://WWW.TEA.STATE.TX.US/STUDENT.ASSESSMENT/ACCOMMODATIONS/STAAR-TELPAS

Handout

Click this link to see all resources for accommodations for students with disabilities

What resources are available to help with Accommodations for

Students with Disabilities?

Available Resourceshttp://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/accommodations/staar-telpas/#triangle

Be sure to reference the Accommodations Triangle when making accommodation decisions as there have been updates since the first postings.

This webpage takes the place of TEA’s annually published accommodations manual. As policies and documents are finalized, they are posted as separate links. The date shown on each document indicate when the document was last revised.

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ELLS AND STAAR

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LINGUISTIC ACCOMMODATIONS STAAR

*Dictionary access to be provided for all students in grade 6 and up as part of STAAR dictionary policy

Math, Science, Social Studies Reading, Writing

Bilingual dictionary

Extra time (same day)

Reading and Writing: Dictionaries of various types** Extra time (same school day)

Writing: Clarification in English of word meaning in writing prompts

Reading for English I-III: Clarification in English of word meaning in short-answer questions

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LINGUISTIC ACCOMMODATION RESOURCES

Test administrator manuals no longer have detailed information about linguistic accommodations

Guide called Linguistic Accommodations for ELLs Participating in the STAAR Program available on Accommodation Resources webpage is principal source of information

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/accommodations/staar-telpas/

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EXTRA TIME (SAME DAY) AS A LINGUISTIC ACCOMMODATION

Permitted for any ELL on any test if ELL meets eligibility criteria as determined by LPAC

Not “automatic”

Eligibility criteria in linguistic accommodation section of Accommodation Resources page

Extra time within regularly scheduled school day only

Schools with both morning and afternoon 4-hour test sessions must include these students in morning session

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STAAR L PLANNING FOR TEST ADMINISTRATORS

Individual or small group administrations necessary

Test administrators respond to student requests for reading text aloud and clarifying word meaning

Test administrators who provide clarification of word meaning should be ―

familiar with the subject matter assessed and linguistic needs of the students, and

work routinely with the students in assisting with or delivering instruction

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HELPING ELLS UNDERSTAND TEST DIRECTIONS

For all tests, ELLs may be helped to understand “SAY” directions and test booklet directions that introduce test sections or item formats. TA is allowed to:

oparaphraseotranslateorepeat oread directions aloud

TA is not allowed to add directions that are substantively different (no pointers, no test-taking strategies, etc.)

STAAR tests have no sample items; familiarize new ELLs with item formats ahead of time using released items on TEA website

New to Test Security

Student Cheating

• determined by districts

• IF cheating determined, district MUST invalidate (“other”) the test

• report discipline taken locally through the Locally Determined Disciplinary Action Form (online)

http://www.txetests.com/DAF/index.asp

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QUESTIONS???

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