The Testing Coordinator Connection
October 2021
Mark Your Calendar!
Student Assessment TETN
October 14th, 9:30-11:30 a.m.
- Fall Updates for STAAR Alternate 2, TELPAS, and TELPAS Alternate
October 28th, 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
- 2020–2021 Accessibility Updates
Join Zoom Meeting
https://edlink18.zoom.us/j/4325612001?pwd=WmV5cUxsQlBjVEQ4b0xTM09QczNIUT09
Dial by your location
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 432 561 2001
Passcode: 2811
OOD and OOS Registration
- The out-of-district (OOD) and out-of-school (OOS) Test Site Registration form for the December 2021 administration is now available through October 8, 2021. Districts must register each participating OOD and OOS test site in the test site registration form.
October 11th-29th
- OOD and OOS examinees will be able register for the December 2021 STAAR administration October 11–29, 2021. A link to the registration form will be available on the Other Testing Resources webpage.
TEA is providing optional online BOY assessments for the 2021–2022 school year. BOY assessments can help schools gauge students’ understanding of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), as they begin the school year. BOY assessments have been built using released STAAR test questions that measure the TEKS. While the optional BOY assessments will be administered in early fall 2021, they are designed to diagnose students’ understanding of the TEKS from the previous school year. Therefore, the grade level of each student’s BOY assessment should be aligned to a student’s grade level from the previous school year. TEA will not use data from the BOY assessments for any accountability purposes.
Key Dates & Resources
October 8th
- Student registration for the optional BOY assessments is available through the Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE) until October 8, 2021. Refer to the TIDE User Guide for information on how to register students and submit test attribute information in TIDE.
October 15th
- BOY assessment window closes
Frequently Asked Questions
If we are going all online this year, do we have to register students in TIDE?
- Yes, users must be added to TIDE to have access to any CAI systems (the new testing vendor).
I followed the steps in the December EOC registration video but I showed no results. Why is that?
- If you're not showing any results, then it is most likely due to one of two potential issues, either the students have not yet been registered in TIDE for their applicable EOC(s) or their test attributes have not been updated. The TIDE User Guide breaks down the steps necessary to complete these tasks.
What supports are available to students taking STAAR online?
- Accessibility features and accommodations for online STAAR are similar to those available during classroom instruction. In addition to common tools such as highlighters, scratch paper, dictionaries, and color overlays, the online system also can provide additional content and language supports (e.g., scaffolded directions, assistance with tracking, graphic organizers, simplified language, passage pre-reads, graphic representations of vocabulary and concepts), spelling assistance, American sign language videos, and refreshable braille.
What is the difference between Auto TTS and TTS?
- TTS - Will read aspects of the test that the student selects.
- Auto-TTS - Will read everything automatically.
We thought that students could have the Content and Language Supports read aloud. On the guide it says no Embedded Designated Supports are read aloud. Does that mean it will not automatically do that?
- The embedded supports are not read aloud by the TTS programming. The Test Admin will have to read those to the students.
Do I need to update student demographic information in TIDE?
- Districts must update all relevant student demographic information, including program information, that is not initially included in the student registration file in TIDE BEFORE the last day of the test administration window. Only information available in TIDE can be included in the raw data files that districts receive after each test administration and is included in the consolidated accountability file.
Is there a way to import important assessment dates to my calendar?
- Yes, you can download .ics of all important dates on the Texas Assessment website
Preliminary Calendar of Events
A preliminary Calendar of Events (CoE) has been posted here. We are still pending a few dates, but they should be populated soon. We’ll let you know when the document is updated.
Recorded Webinars
The following recorded training webinars are available in the Learning Management System (LMS). In addition to the recording, the original PowerPoint presentation, presenter’s notes, and the questions and answers from the live webinars are available.
Texas Learning Management System (LMS) Overview
District Testing Coordinator Overview
Campus Testing Coordinator Overview
Beginning-of-Year Assessments Overview
STAAR Interim Assessments Overview
A short registration video is available to assist in the process of completing student registration for the December 2021 STAAR EOC administration.
Assessment Scoring & Reporting
All Testers—all students eligible to participate in the December 2021 STAAR administration must be registered in TIDE regardless of whether they are first-time testers or re-testers.
First-Time Testers—districts or campuses must mark STAAR EOC eligibility fields as yes, “Y”, for applicable courses.
Re-testers—districts or campuses must mark STAAR EOC eligibility fields as yes, “Y”, for applicable courses to contribute to the calculation of test administrator manuals needed. If eligibility information is not included for these students, beginning October 4, 2021, until November 1, 2021, Cambium will populate the STAAR EOC eligibility field and re-tester flag based on the information received from the previous vendor. Cambium will modify student information included only in the re-tester file. After November 1, 2021, districts and campuses may review re-tester student information to verify updates as appropriate.
Visit the TEA STAAR Redesign web page to learn more about four exciting changes coming to STAAR:
- New types of non-multiple-choice questions like the kind teachers ask in class will give students more opportunities to demonstrate full understanding.
- Nearly all tests will be administered online. (Students unable to access online tests due to a disability may still take the paper test.) Compared to paper, the online format provides faster test results and more robust accommodations for students who need them.
- Reading comprehension questions will reference topics that have been taught in other subjects.
- Stand-alone writing tests were eliminated, and writing now will be incorporated into reading language arts tests. This better supports the interconnected way reading and writing are taught.
Watch the STAAR Redesign Videos
2021-2022 STAAR Reading Language Arts Resource Documents
- As a transition to the redesigned State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) reading language arts (RLA) assessments in 2023, a one-year modification will be implemented in 2022. STAAR RLA tests administered in April through December 2022 will include only items that assess the current 2017 standards for reading grades 3–8 English, reading grades 3–5 Spanish, and reading and writing in English I and English II.
- The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has posted the assessed curriculum documents identifying the standards eligible to be included in the 2022 STAAR grades 3–8 reading, STAAR Spanish grades 3–5 reading, STAAR English I end-of-course (EOC) assessment, and STAAR English II EOC assessment. Blueprints and test design schematics for 2022 are also available.
2022 Accelerated Testers Student Listings
Performance Reporting will follow a similar timeline as last year and release the preliminary 2022 Accelerated Testers Student Listing in TEAL Accountability in November followed by the final listing in March. For additional information, please see the Accelerated Testers Data Processing Timeline.
November 2021: Prelim 2022 Accelerated Testers Student Listings Released in TEAL Accountability (includes SAT/ACT results through May 2021)
March 2022: Final 2022 Accelerated Testers Student Listing Released in TEAL Accountability (includes Grade 12 students who will be included in 2022 accountability as accelerated testers)
NOTE: The 2021-2022 DCCR will be released after the ESC training on September 30th.