TELPAS & STAAR Assessments

[Audio] Welcome to our session. Today we will be learning about the Texas Education Agency's two main summative assessments, the Tell pass and the star tests..

[Audio] Today we will build our assessment literacy on T E A's 2 main summative assessments: the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System or telpass, and the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or star tests. As we go throughout today's session and wonderings arise, please write them on a post-it note and if it is not answered by the time we end, please bring it forward to the group or to your supervisor..

[Audio] Let's start with telpass. All kindergarten through twelfth grade emergent bilingual students are required to participate in telpass test, including students whose parents have denied any English language supports and are coded W H​ All K–12 students classified as emergent bilingual, E B, or as E Ls in the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) are required to participate in telpas test, including those who have parents who have declined bilingual and or English as a Second Language (ESL) program services. E B students are required to be assessed annually with an English language proficiency assessment until they meet E B reclassification criteria..

[Audio] The purpose of the telpass assessment is to assess the progress of emergent bilingual students in learning the English language annually..

[Audio] Notice that the all E B scholars in grades kindergarten through high school are are assessed in all for test domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing; however kindergarten and 1st graders are rated holistically through observational assessments while 2nd through 12th graders take an online test for all 4 domains..

[Audio] Telpass Alternative or Telpass alt is a holistic inventory that assesses the language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing for students with significant cognitive disabilities in grades 2–12, it is also aligned to the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards or elps, and is based on alternate Proficiency Level Descriptors P L Ds created to address the specific access needs of this student group population..

[Audio] Students taking Telpass alt are English learners in grades 2 through 12 who have significant cognitive disabilities and who are in the process of acquiring English proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These students have one or more disabilities that significantly limit their intellectual functioning, as shown by their ability to plan, comprehend, and reason, and their adaptive behavior, as shown by their ability to apply social and practical skills..

[Audio] And like Telpass, the Telpass alt assess the progress that emergent bilingual students make in learning the English language. The assessment is also used to guide the ard committee, in conjunction with the L pac committee when determining the appropriate English language proficiency assessment to administer to E B students..

[Audio] Notice that the Telpass alt requirements mirror the general education E B students; however, nnlike general Telpass, there is not a assessment for kindergarten or first grade scholars and there are no domain-specific exemptions for Telpass Alternate: Students MUST be assessed in all four language domains..

[Audio] Now, lets learn about T E A's other summative assessment, the Star Assessment. The Star test is a 'Criterion Referenced' test. Questions are based on this curriculum, the Teaks — in other words, the test is based on what students are being taught in school. Notice, that the state was required to make much needed updates to the Star test. The purpose of these laws is to make sure our scholars have the academic skills necessary to be successful in school. These policies are intended to ensure assessments engage students in the same ways they are learning in the classroom and reward good instruction while continuing to accurately measure student mastery. Additionally, House Bill 3906 established a "multiple choice cap," meaning that no more than 75% of points on a Star test can be based on multiple choice questions. Texas educators are helped design new question types that reflect classroom test questions and allow students more ways to show their understanding..

[Audio] All Texas public school students in Grades 3 through 11 take the state Star assessments every spring. High school students have other opportunities throughout the year to ensure success on the required end-of-course assessments..

[Audio] Assessments provide educators and parents with helpful information to support strong teaching and guide students to their full potential. In Texas, each public school must teach the same curriculum, or Teaks. The Star which stands for State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness is used to assess students on the state standards, or Teaks. to help families and educators determine mastery of the breadth of knowledge & skills for students. The purpose of the star test is to make sure Texas scholars have the academic skills necessary to be successful in school, to help determine which individual students should receive additional holistic supports, and to ensure curricular and instructional alignment..

[Audio] 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th graders take Reading and Math Star tests while 5th graders are required to take a math, reading, and science test, and 8th grade students are required to take math, reading, science, and social studies star assessments. Notice that the Star 2 point O redesign requires scholars to be assessed online. There will be an increase in the number of cross-curricular informational passages that reference content aligned to the Teaks for other subject areas (e.g., social studies, science, mathematics, fine arts, etc.)..

[Audio] High school students must take the Star End-of-Course or E O C tests in Biology, Algebra 1, English 1, English 2, and U S History. They must also pass the assessments in order to graduate..

[Audio] Similar to the Telpass Alt, students in grades 3 through high school who have significant cognitive disabilities, who have one or more disabilities that significantly limit their intellectual functioning, as shown by their ability to plan, comprehend, and reason, and their adaptive behavior, as shown by their ability to apply social and practical skills, and whom the ard committee determines eligible for the Star Alternate, or Star Alt, will take an alternate assessment in ALL enrolled courses, or subjects, for that school year as shown in the table. Additionally, The T E A provides an online testing policy which provides guidance to districts about which students qualify for a special paper administration. The policy is designed with feedback from Special Education educators to ensure students have access to online accommodations they may need..

[Audio] Thank you for your attention today for our session around T E A's two main summative assessments: the Telpass and the star tests..