In the spring, high school freshmen will take end-of-course exams being phased in to measure academic achievement of Texas students.
But teachers won't know how the exams will be scored until February, about a month before students take the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness tests.Passing standards on tests for younger students won't be established until October 2012, after results from this spring's round of testing are in.The uncertainties surrounding the new tests, which are replacing the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exams, have school districts scrambling to prepare teachers and students.Until there is more information from the Texas Education Agency, local school administrators say their strategy is to work to make sure teachers are covering all the material in the state curriculum."We're trying to deflect concern about that," said Fort Worth district Chief Academic Officer Michael Sorum. "Everybody is very concerned about 'we don't know what the test looks like; we don't know how it is going to be scored.'"...We have to focus people's energy and not let some of those unknowns distract us," Sorum said.While STAAR is being phased in, state accountability ratings will be suspended for the 2011-12 school year.A new rating system will be place for 2012-13.Grade planUnder STAAR, children in grades three through eight will take tests in the same core subjects measured by TAKS: math, reading, writing, science and social studies. High school freshmen will be the first class required to take end-of-course exams akin to finals at the end of key courses, such as English and algebra. They will take about four such exams per year for a total of 12 exams over four years.Students currently in grades 10, 11 and 12 won't take STAAR exams but will continue to take the TAKS through graduation.A high school class will be added each year; next year, for example, freshmen and sophomores will take the STAAR tests.Students in kindergarten through second grade will not be tested.Many area school districts, including Aledo, Arlington, Carroll, Grapevine-Colleyville, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Mansfield and Northwest, are holding parent meetings and conferences this semester to explain the effects of the changes.Jennifer Winter, who has a ninth-grade son at Carroll High School, said she is concerned about the ability of teachers and students to prepare and thinks the state should consider delaying the new program a year."I'm concerned that it's being released now and they're expected to do it," said Winter, who was among about 60 parents at a recent meeting. "I think that's unacceptable; I don't think they're ready. I don't think there has been a lot of thought put into the timing of this."In late September, state officials posted sample STAAR questions on the Texas Education Agency website to give educators and parents an idea of what to expect.The new test is designed to be more rigorous after the Legislature directed educators to create end-of-course tests that focused on preparing students for college, career or technical school, or the workforce, TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said.Differences with TAKSSTAAR tests will have more questions than TAKS and will focus on open-ended questions that require critical analysis.Students will write two essays on the writing and English tests, and they must revise and edit their pieces before turning them in. The tests will have a four-hour limit; TAKS tests were not timed.Also unlike TAKS, STAAR results will be figured into course grades.Local districts, however, will be charged with creating policies to determine how STAAR results are figured into grade averages.Last week, for example, Arlington trustees approved a policy under which a retake score would be included only if it would allow the student to gain credit for the course.Other districts are still considering their policies."This is all new for everybody," said Richie Escovedo, Mansfield district spokesman. "We've got a responsibility to make sure our quality of instruction is met and let the tests take care of themselves."Jessamy Brown, 817-390-7326About STAAR
Texas is phasing in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exams. STAAR testing will begin in March on these subjects:
Grades 3 through 8: reading and math
Grades 4 and 7: writing
Grades 5 and 8: science
Grade 8: social studies
High school end-of-course exams: English I, II and III, Algebra I and II, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, world geography, world history and U.S. history.
The test will have three levels of proficiency. Level 1 is for unsatisfactory academic performance, level 2 for satisfactory performance and level 3 for advanced academic performance.
State accountability ratings, which will be based largely on STAAR results, have been suspended for the 2011-12 school year.
Source: Texas Education Agency
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