Student Assessment Updates STUDENT ASSESSMENT DIVISION TEXAS EDUCATION

Student Assessment Updates STUDENT ASSESSMENT DIVISION TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY NOVEMBER 3, 2019

Agenda § Student Assessment Updates § Welcome and Introductions § Legislative Session Impact on the Assessment Program and Future Plans § 2019– 2020 Key Assessment Updates § Questions and Answers TEA - Student Assessment Division 2

House Bill 3906: Highlights Continues technical advisory and creates educator advisory committee Continues creation of optional interim assessments Allows assessments to be administered in multiple parts over multiple days Creates integrated formative assessment pilot program Moves toward electronic administration of all assessments by 2022 -23 Eliminates standalone 4 and 7 writing in 2021 -22 Permits use of calculator applications Caps multiple choice questions at 75% of test in 2022 -23

Technical and Educator Advisory Committees Continues technical advisory committee and creates educator advisory committee Ø Technical advisory committee currently exists and includes national experts on assessment design and psychometrics Technical and Educator Advisory Committees Ø New educator advisory committee will advise the commissioner and the agency regarding the development of academically appropriate assessment instruments Ø Nominations were solicited this summer with formation of the committee in the fall 4

Interim Assessments Continues creation of optional interim assessments Ø Must be predictive of STAAR outcomes Ø Must be administered electronically Ø May not be used for accountability purposes Interim Assessments 5

Multiple Parts Allows assessments to be administered in multiple parts over multiple days Ø Creates flexibility for districts in scheduling Ø Grades 3 -8 assessments may not be more than 3 parts Ø No maximum for EOC Multiple Parts Ø 85% of students in grades 3 and 4 must be able to complete each part within 60 minutes Ø 85% of students in grades 5 -8 must be able to complete each part within 75 minutes 6

Integrated Formative Assessment Pilot Creates integrated formative assessment pilot program Ø Design will be informed by educator feedback Integrated Formative Assessment Pilot Ø Requires TEA to develop formative assessments that inform instruction during the year and can potentially replace a single summative assessment administration Ø Participation by districts is optional Ø Pilot participation does not affect district obligations to administer STAAR 7

Electronic Assessments Moves toward electronic administration of all assessments by 2022 -23 Ø TEA, in consultation with the SBOE, must develop a transition plan to administer all assessment instruments electronically beginning not later than the 2022 -2023 school year. Ø Can greatly increase results reporting speed Electronic Assessments Ø Allows for more authentic, customizable assessments that operate more seamlessly with instruction Ø Saves on waste and registration complexity Ø Begins with a feasibility study due December 2020 8

Writing Eliminates standalone 4 and 7 writing in 2021 -22 Ø 3 -8 writing still required by federal government Ø Design will be informed by educator feedback Ø Grades 3 -8 implementation expected in 2021 -22 Writing Ø Some writing items will be field tested as part of reading assessments in 2019 -20 9

Writing Texas Education Code § 39. 023(a) RLA All students must be assessed in: (1) mathematics, annually in grades three through eight (2) reading, annually in grades three through eight; (3) social studies, in grade eight; (4) science, in grades five and eight; and (5) any other subject and grade required by federal law. 10

Calculators Ø School districts must permit a student enrolled in a course requiring graphing calculators to use a calculator application on a computing device, including a personal, laptop, or tablet computer, that provides the same functionality, unless the district makes available to the student a graphing calculator at no cost to the student. Ø School districts may adopt policies related to student use of computing devices. 11

Multiple Choice Caps multiple choice questions at 75% of test starting in 2022 -23 Ø Design will be informed by educator feedback Multiple Choice Cap Ø Electronic assessments will allow for greater variety of non-MC items 12

Key Assessment Updates ü Improved STAAR participation counts process based on initial registration ü Testing calendar updates ü New process to request alternate test dates for writing tests ü Improved District and Campus Coordinator Resources ü New Student Assessment Help Desk ü Additional training opportunities (New Technology Systems and Requirements webinar) ü STAAR SOTP will prevent students testing over multiple days to change previous day answers (spring 2020) TEA - Student Assessment Division 13

Key Assessment Updates ü Accommodation policy updates ü TELPAS updates ü STAAR Alternate 2 enhancements ü STAAR paper materials updates ü Substitute assessments updates ü Updated DCCR security section and test security oaths TEA - Student Assessment Division 14

Improved Participation Counts Process § Materials orders will be based on initial registrations. § Districts no longer need a separate participation counts submission. TEA - Student Assessment Division 15

Testing Calendar Updates § Calendar no longer allows test administrations to be scheduled on Mondays during the regular school year. § Recently updated to allow for grade 8 science and social studies online testing window to align with paper administration. § For students who are no longer receiving instruction on Monday, June 22, the district may schedule test administrations on Monday. *For grade 4 writing, grade 7 Writing, English I, II, and III tests only, an alternate test date request must be submitted to TEA if districts need to reschedule these administrations. Request form available from the DCCR here. TEA - Student Assessment Division 16

Calendar of Events (Co. E) Updates § PDF and new interactive Calendar of Events (Co. E) available on the DCCR. § Users can view or add by program. § Can be downloaded as. ics file to add to Outlook, Google, and other calendar apps. TEA - Student Assessment Division 17

Improved Coordinator Resources (DCCR 2. 0) § New introduction section with all new functionality “how-to” descriptions § Improved search features § Provides option to convert ALL sections to one PDF for easy printing on demand § New “Quick Click” Navigation § Color coded! TEA - Student Assessment Division 18

New Student Assessment Help Desk § New Help Desk system and searchable FAQs coming soon § Will provide additional communication method § Target release: November 2019 TEA - Student Assessment Division 19

Additional Training Opportunities § New training opportunities (i. e. , New Technology Staff Network Configuration webinar) § All updates to current policy and procedures to covered in depth during TETNs and Webinars § Webinars recordings available in Texasassessment. gov § Please visit the Coordinator Resources (DCCR) for schedule TEA - Student Assessment Division 20

STAAR Online Testing Platform (SOTP) Updates § Starting in spring 2020, the SOTP will prevent students who are testing over multiple days from changing the previous day’s answers. § Submitted answers will lock after 12 hours. TEA - Student Assessment Division 21

STAAR Paper Materials Updates § All general STAAR test booklets will now have a form number on the cover. § All answer documents will have a FORM # field. § Does not apply to Braille or STAAR paper with Embedded Supports since these assessments have their own separate answer document. TEA - Student Assessment Division 22

Accommodation Policy Updates Accessibility Features: § Guidance on small group size Content and Language Supports: § Beginning in spring 2020 pre-reading text will no longer be available in writing revising passages. § Prereading text will only be provided prior to reading selections and writing editing passages. Authority for Decision and Required Documentation: § An LPAC by itself can make a decision for a student to use the following designated supports WITHOUT an ARD or Section 504 committee. § Extra Time § Content and Language Supports § Oral/Signed Administration Braille Administration: § Braille preview period extension § Braille and STAAR paper with Embedded Supports materials ordering process TEA - Student Assessment Division 23

TELPAS and TELPAS Alternate Updates § Counts must be entered for TELPAS and TELPAS Alternate Test Administrator Manuals § TELPAS Rater Manuals only posted online § Going forward, training certificates will be saved in the TELPAS Online Training Center § TELPAS now allows centralized raters of writing collections TEA - Student Assessment Division 24

STAAR Alternate 2 Updates § Districts must enter student registrations to receive paper test materials § Student registration window has been pushed out to a later date (12/2/19– 1/3/20) § Materials list available earlier TEA - Student Assessment Division 25

STAAR Substitute Assessments and Accountability § Under ESEA, a state is required to administer the same academic assessments to measure the achievement of all public-school students and include these assessment results in accountability calculations. § Therefore, TEA is no longer able to use substitute assessments for purposes of accountability as indicated in a communication to districts dated June 20, 2019. § Beginning with the December 2019 administration, substitute assessments will not be included in state or federal accountability calculations. § Therefore, the state will not be collecting substitute assessment information on the STAAR answer document (i. e. , no substitute assessment bubble). TEA - Student Assessment Division 26

New Policy for STAAR Substitute Assessments § Starting with the 2019– 2020 school year, students will need to take STAAR EOC assessments at least once to meet federal testing and accountability requirements. § For accountability purposes, taking a STAAR EOC assessment means receiving a score (i. e. , marking answer document with score code “S”). § After taking the STAAR EOC assessment at least once and not meeting the passing requirement for graduation, a student may • retake the EOC assessment or • if eligible, use a substitute assessment. § If after taking the STAAR EOC assessment at least once and not meeting the passing score a student chooses to use a substitute assessment, then the district should void the student's answer document. TEA - Student Assessment Division 27

Testing Requirements for Accelerated Students § As indicated in a communication to districts dated August 22, 2019, there will be NO policy changes to the testing requirements for accelerated students for the 2019– 2020 school year. § Districts should continue to follow existing policies and guidance concerning testing accelerated students. • Students in grades 3– 8 take their enrolled grade-level assessment unless they are receiving instruction above-grade-level and taking an assessment that corresponds to that instruction. • Students take an EOC assessment as they are completing the high school course. • No double-testing is required. TEA - Student Assessment Division 28

Revised Security Section of DCCR § The security section of the Coordinator Resources has been reorganized to include the following pages. § Overview of security and confidentiality § Testing irregularities § Penalties for violating security and confidentiality of assessments § Investigating and reporting testing irregularities § Things to consider before, during, and after an administration § Security forms TEA - Student Assessment Division 29

Revised Security Oaths § Based on feedback from the field, TEA has revised the security oaths. § There are now three separate oaths with links to each on the security forms page of the DCCR. § Superintendent and Chief Administrative Officer § District Testing Coordinator § General (for CTC, TA, technology staff, proctors, raters, etc. ) § The Superintendent and DTC oaths are online forms with checkboxes. These oaths should be submitted online. They can be stored electronically or printed and stored. § The General oath is a fillable PDF that can be stored electronically or printed and stored. TEA - Student Assessment Division 30

Questions?