1. State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness TM An Overview of the Program Victoria Young Director of Reading, Writing, and Social Studies Assessments Texas Education Agency

2. New Approach for STAAR In general, Readiness Standards  Are essential for success in the current grade or course  Are important for preparedness for the next grade or course  Support college and career readiness  Necessitate in-depth instruction  Address broad and deep ideas

3. New Approach for STAAR  In general, Supporting Standards  May be introduced in the current grade or course and emphasized in a subsequent year  May be emphasized in a previous year and reinforced in the current grade or course  May play a role in preparing students for the next grade or course but not a central role  May address more narrowly defined ideas

4. New Approach for STAAR

5.  More questions with a higher cognitive complexity level to match the TEKS  Greater emphasis on critical thinking and reading across different genres  Two essays required in writing  Assessing process skills with content skills in mathematics, science, and social studies  Greater number of open-ended (griddable ) questions on mathematics and science

6. STAAR Results—Grades 3−8  May 2012—raw scores  July 2012—state frequency distributions  June−September 2012—research studies (e.g., STAAR to TAKS; STAAR grade 3 to grade 4 math)  October 2012—standard setting  November 2012—Commissioner approves standards  December 2012—performance standards are applied to raw-score results; reports are generated  January 2013—results indicating scale scores and performance level/passing standards sent to districts

7. STAAR Standard-Setting Proces s The standard-setting process for STAAR includes  validity and linking studies  performance labels and policy definitions  specific performance level descriptors  policy committees  standard-setting committees

8. Standard-Setting Process Combines content, data, and policy expertise 8

9. Performance Labels and Policy Definitions  Developed by a policy committee convened in September 2010  Describe the general level of knowledge and skills evident at each performance level  Describe students in the middle of each performance level  Apply to all assessments

10. Performance Labels  There will be two cut scores, identifying three performance categories  Level III: Advanced Academic Performance  Level II: Satisfactory Academic Performance  Level I: Unsatisfactory Academic Performance

11. Policy Definition of Level III: Advanced Academic Performance Performance in this category indicates that students  Are well prepared for the next grade or course  Demonstrate the ability to think critically  Demonstrate the ability to apply the assessed knowledge and skills in varied contexts, both familiar and unfamiliar  Have a high likelihood of success in next grade or course with little or no academic intervention

12. Policy Definition of Level II: Satisfactory Academic Performance  Performance in this category indicates that students  Are sufficiently prepared for the next grade or course  Generally demonstrate the ability to think critically  Generally demonstrate the ability to apply the assessed knowledge and skills in familiar contexts  Have a reasonable likelihood of success in the next grade or course  May need short-term, targeted academic intervention

13. Policy Definition of Level I: Unsatisfactory Academic Performance  Performance in this category indicates that students  Are inadequately prepared for the next grade or course  Do not demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the assessed knowledge and skills  Are unlikely to succeed in next grade or course without significant, ongoing academic intervention

14. 14 Performance Labels

15. Commended Performance Met Standard Level III: Advanced Level II: Satisfactory

16. Student Success on STAAR  Teach both readiness and supporting skills  Develop coherent instructional programs that integrate the scaffolding/building blocks necessary for students to do on-grade-level work  Emphasize critical/inferential thinking, problem solving, and application rather than isolated skills  Teach expository reading across the curriculum

17. Student Success on STAAR  Teach students the academic vocabulary unique to each content area  Reinforce the connections between different content areas (math and science, reading and writing, reading and science, reading and social studies, writing and science, writing and social studies)  Use benchmarks that have instructional value  Teach students to use test-taking strategies judiciously, especially given the 4-hour time limit

18. Contact Information Victoria Young Director of Reading, Writing, and Social Studies Assessments Texas Education Agency 512-463-9536 victoria.young@tea.state.tx.us