Chris Castillo Comer Director of Science Texas Education Agency The Texas Science Diagnostic System TSDS

10/12/05 C.Comer Texas Science Diagnostic System  The Texas Science Diagnostic System (TSDS) will be announced at the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teachers (CAST) Conference in Houston, Texas.  TSDS is a web-based tool designed to increase student proficiency in science developed by the Texas Education Agency and Vantage Learning

10/12/05 C.Comer What is the Texas Science Diagnostic System?  The Texas Science Diagnostic System (TSDS) will be available through the same interface as TMDS  It will be a tool that teachers can use to diagnost gaps in student performance in science.  TSDS is tailored for use in grades 4-5 at the elementary level, grades 6-8 at the middle school level, and the Integrated Physics and Chemistry (IPC) and Biology courses at the high school level.

10/12/05 C.Comer Texas Science Diagnostic System…  The goal of the TEA is to provide teachers and administrators with an innovative tool to continuously evaluate student progress in science.  A flexible and user-friendly diagnostic instrument, TSDS is designed for multiple uses and will be intrinsically linked to the required Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) measured on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests.

10/12/05 C.Comer What is the Texas Science Diagnostic System?  A series of preconfigured diagnostic tests will be available within TSDS for online or paper delivery.  Immediate scoring and reporting will help science educators to develop and guide instruction accurately and efficiently.  Teachers will be able to access in the fall of ’06, an extensive bank containing thousands of test questions in order to create their own assessments, quizzes, and/or homework assignments.  Administrators can also use this item bank to create district or school-wide benchmark exams.

10/12/05 C.Comer What is the Texas Science Diagnostic System?  In order to accommodate users with limited computer and Internet access, students will be able to take a paper and pencil test and then use the electronic bubble sheet to "click" in their answers directly into the program.  Teachers with access to scanning technology will be able to scan penciled-in answer sheets directly into the system for reporting and tracking purposes…thanks to the "state of the art" reporting capabilities of the program,  Teachers will be able to obtain real time updates on student performance by grade and strand across the entire state, within each region, within each district and within each school.

10/12/05 C.Comer Why do we need TSDS?  During the 1990s, many districts did not teach science at the elementary level, choosing instead to focus intensively on mathematics and reading.  Since many students did not receive science instruction, teachers needed a tool that could help guide their instructional practices in science to accommodate the varying knowledge levels of their students.  Without comprehensive knowledge about gaps in their students' science knowledge, teachers had a difficult time informing their science instruction.

10/12/05 C.Comer How will TSDS benefit students?  A comprehensive, flexible tool that assesses students' knowledge and skills providing educators with a profile of student performance to effectively intervene to strengthen instructional programs.  Teachers can also identify areas needing early intervention to target instruction to  specific areas  customize science materials  design intervention strategies  create student portfolios, and  view and analyze student results over time.  TSDS will individualize science instruction to meet specific student needs, leading to a decrease in achievement gaps and ultimately ensuring student success, both academically and beyond!

10/12/05 C.Comer TMDS main web page:

10/12/05 C.Comer Example of class summary report teachers can create after administering a diagnostic to students. Report summarizes individual student performance by math strand and aggregate class performance

10/12/05 C.Comer Teachers can drill down into individual student performance on a diagnostic and see graphical representations of performance by math strand and can conduct item by item analysis of student performance. System can compare performance on repeated assessment administrations also.

10/12/05 C.Comer Teachers can also see TEKS descriptions behind each question on an assessment.

10/12/05 C.Comer  Improvements and features were added to TMDS with two major goals in mind:  to expand the program's diagnostic content and  to make the program even more user-friendly.  Science Training to Vantage lead to various improvements  User feedback was collected and thoroughly reviewed to identify the current application strengths and weaknesses in order to offer a number of enhancements in the following areas: TMDS and TSDS

10/12/05 C.Comer Reporting Options  CAT Report! Once students take a CAT exam, teachers will be able to view their scaled score results in an online report complete with proficiency statements that will help teachers interpret their students' performance and current ability level.  Redesigned State Report! The main menu from which users select their reports will be improved and reformatted to allow an easy selection process to narrow down the type of report that is desired.  Expanded Reports for High School and Science! With the recent addition of high school level content as well as the forthcoming science content, all of the reports will be modified to accommodate the additional field choices and data results.

10/12/05 C.Comer  Two Programs in One! TMDS will have a science component available through the same homepage - the Texas Science Diagnostic System (TSDS). You will begin to see the science framework within the application immediately, while the item bank and test forms will be available in the fall of ‘06. Both TMDS and TSDS will be free to all new and existing users and are based on the same, easy-to-use functionality.  Test Form E ! Over 40 new pre-configured tests will be available in both English and Spanish for mathematics gr 3-12 for use in both on and offline testing. All existing test forms will remain accessible within the application.  Diagnostic Content

10/12/05 C.Comer Functionality Improvements  Difficulty Levels! All items in the bank will be tagged with their appropriate difficulty levels of easy, medium or hard.  Improved Search Ability! Fewer required fields to select before searching for items and users will be able to refine their search by language (English or Spanish) and by difficulty level (easy, medium or hard).  Archive Filter! Teachers will be able to customize their group center by choosing to show only current groups, archived groups or a combination of both.

10/12/05 C.Comer  Friendly User Interface! The homepage for TMDS will be given a major overhaul with bright, colorful graphics to promote the addition of TSDS and allow a single user interface for maximum usability. Users only need to remember one username and password!  Fun Icons! Rather than overwhelm teachers with several text options in their group and assignment centers, easy- to-understand icons represent the options available. Functionality Improvements

10/12/05 C.Comer  Computer Adaptive Testing! Available in English for grades 4 - 8, Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) provides an extra option for diagnosing student ability level. Teachers will be able to use CAT tests to quickly and accurately estimate the performance level of their students through a series of items chosen specifically during the test, based on the correctness or incorrectness of the student's answer.  Teacher Assessment Plan! This useful resource will offer guidance and suggestions to teachers on how and when to use CAT and linear tests to help meet their specific goals. Example plans will be included along with worksheets for teachers to create their yearly assessment plan.  Coming soon!

10/12/05 C.Comer Science List Serve:

10/12/05 C.Comer Irene Pickhardt Asst. Dir. of Science Chris Castillo-Comer Director of Science Contact Information