Assessment & Accountability Updates
as of November 2, 2020
Region 6 ESC Assessment & Accountability Listserv
SUGGESTION AMID COVID-19
A couple of items to consider:
1. An assistant DTC or back-up DTC is considered "Best Practice," but it is not required.
2. How would your district function if you as the DTC had to quarantine during any STAAR testing windows? Do you already have a plan?
3. Keep in mind that anyone who serves in the role as DTC, must be a TRAINED DTC.
4. Districts may also want to consider training more than one CTC per campus this year as well. Once again, that is not a requirement.
5. How would your individual campuses function on STAAR test day if your CTC had to quarantine? Would you as a DTC be able to step into that roll? Do you already have a plan?
6. Also keep in mind that anyone who serves as the role as the CTC must receive specific CTC training from the DTC. Plan now to reduce stress during a hectic testing season.
ASSESSMENT UPDATES:
December 2020 STAAR Administration Guidance
A frequently asked questions guidance document has been posted on the COVID-19 Support: Student Assessment webpage in response to districts’ concerns regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the December 2020 STAAR administration. As part of this guidance, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is providing additional flexibility for the administration of the STAAR English I and English II EOC assessments in December.
STAAR English I is scheduled to be administered on Tuesday, December 8, and STAAR English II is scheduled to be administered on Thursday, December 10. If a district is unable to follow the current TEA one-day administration schedule for these assessments while complying with local health guidelines, the district can request a two-day administration (across two consecutive days) for English I and English II. To make this request, the district must complete the request webform accessible from the link below:
After submitting the request, districts will receive an auto-generated receipt by email. This receipt is only acknowledging that the request has been received. Once the request has been processed, districts will receive an email indicating whether the request has been approved or denied or if more information is needed. To ensure your request is processed in a timely manner, you need to complete all indicated fields in the webform, including the specific information requested.
Please note that this guidance is ONLY for the December 2020 STAAR EOC administration. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will continue to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic across the state and provide additional guidance for spring 2021 state assessments closer to the administration dates. In addition, TEA is pursing options for a waiver of participation as it relates to federal accountability and will continue to seek additional flexibility for the spring 2021 state assessments. More information will be shared once available.
If you have questions about the information in this communication, submit your inquiries to TEA using the Student Assessment Help Desk.
2020-2021 STAAR Administrations
The 2021 STAAR EOC assessments Reporting Student Data File Format will be posted and available for download by October 28, 2020. Districts will refer to the 2021 data file format document to create student data files for the 2021 spring and summer test administrations.
Career and Technical Education Indicator
Beginning with the 2020–2021 school year, the Career and Technical Education Indicator will no longer be collected from districts during the PEIMS submission. This indicator will now be taken from course completion at the end of the year. Due to the timing of this change, the Career-And-Technical-Ed-Ind-Code is still included in the 2020–2021 Data File Format for Student Registration. Districts do not need to populate any information in this field because it will now be calculated from course completion. If a district’s Student Information System (SIS) pulls this information for students as a part of their registration upload file, districts may leave it intact during registration.
Beginning the week of October 26, 2020, the Career and Technical Education Indicator will no longer be reported in the STAAR Interim Assessments data files. Any information submitted by districts during registration will not be included in those data files. Similarly, when reporting begins for the 2020–2021 STAAR administrations, the Career and Technical Education Indicator will no longer be included in reports. This change will be reflected in the STAAR EOC Reporting Student Data File Format and the STAAR 3–8 Reporting Student Data File Format.
December 2020 STAAR EOC Administration
Materials lists for the December 2020 STAAR EOC administration will be available in the Assessment Management System by October 26, 2020. Districts may begin placing additional orders in the Assessment Management System on November 9, 2020. All orders must be submitted by December 1, 2020.
Combined initial orders of secure and nonsecure test materials are scheduled to arrive in districts November 16–20, 2020. Districts will receive copies of the 2020–2021 STAAR Test Administrator Manuals with their shipment of combined materials. For some districts, precoded answer documents will arrive in a separate shipment. Districts scheduled for freight shipments will receive test materials and precoded answer documents in a single shipment.
The District Coordinator Kits will be posted to the Help Documentation tab in the Assessment Management System by November 16, 2020. For those districts returning materials via freight, the Bill of Lading will be packed in the district white box (Box 1).
Detailed information about materials shipments for STAAR administrations is available at Initial Orders Materials Lists and Shipments.
Test Booklet Serial Number Report
Districts will be able to download a cumulative CSV file of the Test Book Serial Number Report for a list of serial numbers of STAAR test booklets assigned and delivered to the district for the December 2020 STAAR administration. The report will include serial numbers from initial shipments and will be updated nightly as orders for additional materials are fulfilled. Go to Reports > Orders > Test Booklet Serial Number Report in the Assessment Management System. The Test Booklet Serial Number Report will be available on the same date as the materials list, October 28, 2020. The report will be updated as test booklets are assigned to each district. A complete list of barcodes for districts’ initial orders will be available prior to delivery of initial orders. ETS will continue to send the bar code file containing serial numbers to specific vendors that work with districts.
Spring 2021 Out-of-District (OOD) and Out-of-School (OOS) Test Site Registration
Upcoming TELPAS and TELPAS Alternate Activities
2020-2021 TELPAS Registration Window
The window to select a registration option for the 2020–2021 TELPAS administration is November 9–December 11, 2020. There are two data collection options. Districts may choose to have student data loaded to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) Alternate 2, TELPAS, and TELPAS Alternate Assessment Management System based on Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) data, or districts may submit a locally created student registration data file containing all K–12 English learner (EL) students. For more information about the data collection options, refer to Review Student Records in the District and Campus Coordinator Resources.
Your district’s default data collection selection is [Old option]. If you do not want to change the selection, no further action is necessary. To change your selection for the spring 2020–2021 TELPAS administration, indicate your new selection by December 11, 2020. Data collection options are entered at the district level only. For details about indicating your selection or uploading files, see the STAAR Alternate 2, TELPAS, and TELPAS Alternate Assessment Management User’s Guide. The window to submit district-created student registration data files will open January 11, 2021, for the spring 2021 TELPAS administration.
2020–2021 TELPAS and TELPAS Alternate Test Administrator Manual Counts
This is a reminder that districts must submit counts for test administrator manuals in the Assessment Management System by November 6, 2020. Counts can be submitted using the “Edit Enrollment Counts” task in the Assessment Management System. Districts with a manual count increase of more than 5% from 2019–2020 may be subject to a call from the Texas Education Agency to verify the number of manuals.
For questions and assistance regarding the information in this communication, contact the Customer Service Center using the live chat feature, the Pearson Customer Support Form, or by calling 800-627-0225.
Professional Learning Opportunities:
Supplemental STAAR Test Administrator Training Module
This training module was created for Test Administrators. It is designed to supplement the mandatory training required of all Test Administrators. The training consists of two training videos and twelve questions about the content covered in the videos. The module should take about an hour to complete. A Certificate of Completion will be available at the end of the module. Individuals will be prompted to fill in their first and last name and date of completion prior to printing or saving a copy of the certificate. Note that any unsaved certificates will not be retrievable at a later time.
More Training Opportunities from ETS
The following training webinars are coming soon. Select the link to register for the training.
Webinar information and registration links are also available on the Training webpage.
- The Getting Ready for your December 2020 Shipments to Arrive” webinar will take place Tuesday, November 10, 2020, 1:30–3:00 p.m. (CT).
- The “December 2020 Material Returns” webinar will take place Tuesday, December 1, 2020, 1:30–3:00 p.m. (CT).
For questions or assistance regarding the information in this communication, contact the Texas Assessment Support Center at 855-333-7770, STAAR3-8@ets.org, STAAREOC@ets.org, or via live chat through the Assessment Management System.
More Training Opportunities from Pearson
Two webinar training opportunities will be available in January 2021 to provide an overview of the STAAR Alternate 2, TELPAS, and TELPAS Alternate Assessment Management System and the TELPAS Online Training Center and to help you prepare for the spring administrations.
The webinars include information on changes and key dates.
Each webinar will be offered at two different times but will include the same information. Districts will receive an additional email in January when registration for the webinars opens. Dates and times for these webinars are listed below.
STAAR Alternate 2 and TELPAS Alternate
Tuesday, January 26
Wednesday, January 27
10:00–11:30 a.m. (CT)
10:00–11:30 a.m. (CT)
TELPAS and TELPAS Online Training Center
Tuesday, January 26
Wednesday, January 27
2:00–3:30 p.m. (CT)
2:00–3:30 p.m. (CT)
For questions and assistance regarding the information in this communication, contact the Customer Service Center using the live chat feature, the Pearson Customer Support Form, or by calling 800-627-0225.
STAAR Interim Assessments
COVID-19 Waiver Support
Testing of Virtual Students
CALENDARS:
Calendar of Events - Online Calendar Upload Now Available
Additional Assessment Resources:
ACCOUNTABILITY UPDATES:
2021 Accountability Development
When Will Academic Accountability Decisions For 2021 Be Made?
Performance Reporting is collaborating with national accountability experts, accountability advisory groups, U.S. Department of Education staff, and state legislative staff to determine options for 2021 accountability ratings. The agency plans to publicize requests for changes to the federal accountability system in December for public comment followed by a January submission. Similar to last year, the 2021 Academic Accountability Framework is scheduled for release in February/March, followed by the 2021 Accountability Manual public comment period in April.
In the meantime, you may follow the 2021 development process.
2020–2021 STAAR and STAAR Alternate 2 Progress Measures
Background Information
The STAAR progress measure is calculated based on a student’s gain score—the scale score difference between the current year and the prior year, while STAAR Alternate 2 progress measures are determined by a student’s stage change from the prior year to the current year. Since STAAR testing was suspended for spring and summer 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19, this year’s calculation differs slightly and measures progress across two years, from 2018–2019 to 2020–2021.
Due to the gap year, it would be a rare scenario for students enrolled in grade 4 in the 2020–2021 school year to be enrolled in grade 3 in 2018–2019 school year. Therefore, STAAR progress measures will not be calculated for grade 4 students. English II progress measures for the 2020–2021 school year will use 2018–2019 school year English I scale scores as the prior year data.
STAAR progress measures will be calculated for STAAR and STAAR Alternate 2 for the following grade levels and subject areas:
- Grade 5 Reading English, Reading Spanish (STAAR only), Mathematics English, and Mathematics Spanish (STAAR only)
- Grade 6 Reading and Mathematics
- Grade 7 Reading and Mathematics
- Grade 8 Reading and Mathematics
- Algebra I
- English I (STAAR Alternate 2 only)
- English II
Use of the 2020–2021 STAAR Progress Measure
While 2020–2021 STAAR progress measure outcomes will be provided on STAAR data files, whether they will be used for 2021 academic accountability evaluations in the School Progress and Closing the Gaps domains in the same manner as in the past has yet to be determined.
The 2020–2021 STAAR progress measure will be included on STAAR Report Cards and in the Student Portal to help parents gauge their child’s academic performance from 2018–2019 to 2020–2021. Similar to previous years, STAAR progress measures will not be included on STAAR Alternate 2 Report Cards. When interpreting this year’s STAAR progress measure outcomes, districts and parents should be mindful of the unusual instructional, social interruption and learning conditions of the 2020–2021 school year, as well as that this year’s STAAR progress measure calculation varies from the traditional adjacent prior year to current year methodology. Further, districts should exercise caution when using this year’s outcomes for evaluation or planning purposes (e.g., district/campus goal setting) and should use this data point in conjunction with other, more stable data points. Districts should not use this data point to measure student growth for the Teacher Incentive Allotment.
In addition, the Parent’s Guide to the STAAR Progress Measure will be updated to include information about the 2020–2021 STAAR progress measure in early 2021.
If you have any questions, please contact the Performance Reporting Division at (512) 463-9704 or performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov.
A-F Accountability:
2021–2022 Public Education Grant (PEG) List Available
Performance Reporting released the 2021–2022 Public Education Grant (PEG) List. The PEG List identifies campuses that received an F rating in both the Student Achievement domain and the School Progress domain. However, because ratings were not issued in 2020, the campuses identified for PEG based on 2019 ratings remain on the 2021–2022 PEG List.
More information can be found at the PEG FAQ page.
Local Accountability System (LAS)
Due to COVID-19-related uncertainty about school schedules, the local accountability team is adopting a flexible approach to district development of a local accountability plan. The Local Accountability Guide provides information about plan requirement and example components.
An updated Frequently Asked Questions has been posted.
Districts wishing to learn more about the local accountability system and how to develop a district local accountability plan can participant in an hour-long overview webinar with time for Q & A.
Registration links are available for upcoming webinar dates in October and November.
Thursday, November 5, 2020 at 11 am
Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at 9 am
Friday, November 13, 2020 at 1 pm
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 2 pm
Thursday, November 19, 2020 at 3 pm
Please contact the local accountability system team at LAS@tea.texas.gov for additional information or to set up a virtual meeting to discuss specifics related to your district.
Local Accountability website: https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/accountability/academic-accountability/local-accountability-system
2020 Data Tables and Student Listing Now Available
The final 2020 College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) Student Listing and data table as well as the Graduation Rate data table are now available in the TEA Login (TEAL) Accountability application. The final 2020 CCMR Student Listing contains CCMR data for 2018–19 annual graduates and non-graduating 12th graders, including any approved submissions to the CCMR Verifier, while the data table only contains CCMR data for 2018–19 annual graduates. Please note that the data in these reports are confidential.
The masked versions of the data tables, as well as a brief accountability summary report, are available on the 2020 Accountability Rating System webpage.
If you have questions about any of the information contained in this notification, please contact the Performance Reporting Division at (512) 463-9704 or performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov.
College, Career, or Military Readiness Outcomes Bonus Thresholds
Background
Under House Bill 3 (HB 3), 86th Legislature, 2019, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) annually awards districts CCMR OB funding. Funding is generated based on the number of annual graduates who demonstrate college, career, or military readiness in excess of a threshold for three cohorts: annual graduates who are educationally disadvantaged (economically disadvantaged),; annual graduates who are not educationally disadvantaged; and annual graduates who are enrolled in a special education program. The threshold percentages for each cohort are based upon statewide CCMR outcomes for each cohort from the 2016–2017 school year.
An annual graduate demonstrates:
- college readiness if the annual graduate:
- a. achieves college readiness standards used for accountability purposes on the ACT, the SAT, or the Texas Success Initiative assessment (TSIA); and
- b. earns an associate degree by August 31 immediately following high school graduation or enrolls at a postsecondary educational institution by the tenth instructional day of the fall semester immediately following high school graduation;
- career readiness if the annual graduate:
- a. achieves college readiness standards used for accountability purposes on the ACT, the SAT, or the TSIA; and
- b. earns an industry-based certification or a level I or level II certificate by August 31 immediately following high school graduation; or
- military readiness if the annual graduate enlists in the armed forces of the United States by December 31 immediately following high school graduation.
CCMR OB Threshold Percentages by Cohort
The threshold percentages of annual graduates who demonstrate college, career, or military readiness for each of the following cohorts are as follows:
- 11% of annual graduates who are educationally disadvantaged
- 24% of annual graduates who are not educationally disadvantaged
- 0% of annual graduates who are enrolled in a special education program regardless of whether the annual graduates are educationally disadvantaged
Because of the required administrative rulemaking process, these thresholds are not yet final. The public comment period on the proposed CCMR OB rule opens on January 1, 2021, and closes on February 1, 2021. Public comments may be made through the TEA website or to performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov.
CCMR OB Student Listings and Funding Timeline Updates
Performance Reporting will release 2018 Annual Graduates CCMR OB Student Listings in TEA Login (TEAL) Accountability by January 1, 2021. This listing will be considered final and will be used by the State Funding Division to settle up fiscal year 2019–2020 CCMR OB funding.
Preliminary 2019 Annual Graduates CCMR OB Student Listings will also be released in TEAL Accountability by January 1, 2021, and will be used to generate preliminary 2020–2021 CCMR OB funding. As data for enrollment in institutions of higher education (IHE) for 2019 annual graduates are not available to the agency until February 2021, the preliminary CCMR OB student listings will not include IHE enrollment. For 2019 annual graduates, TEA will use a two-year IHE enrollment average, using IHE data for 2017 and 2018 annual graduates, for each district to generate IHE enrollment estimates.
Upon receipt of IHE enrollment data, TEA will reconcile the 2019 Annual Graduates CCMR OB Student Listings with actual enrollment data. Upon reconciliation, State Funding will update the fiscal year 2020–2021 CCMR OB funding.
U.S. Armed Forces Data
Due to discrepancies between annual enlistment counts for Texas military enlistees aged 17–19 released by the Department of Defense and the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) military enlistment data for 2017 and 2018 annual graduates, TEA will exclude military enlistment data from both CCMR accountability calculations and CCMR OB Student Listings until such data can be obtained directly from the U.S. Armed Forces.
Upon receipt of such data, previously released final CCMR OB Student Listings will be updated to include military enlistment data. When the final CCMR OB Student Listings are updated, the number of annual graduates in excess of the threshold percentage for each cohort will be updated and used to recalculate college, career, or military readiness outcomes bonus funding for any applicable fiscal year.
For Further Information
If you have questions regarding CCMR OB criteria or student listings, please contact TEA’s Performance Reporting Division at (512) 463-9704 or performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov.
For questions regarding funding, please contact the State Funding Division at (512) 463-9238 or sfinance@tea.texas.gov.
To view the proposed rules during the comment period, visit https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/laws-and-rules/commissioner-rules-tac/proposed-commissioner-of-education-rules.
District & Campus Accountability Intervention & Submissions Calendars
Intervention & Submission calendars were posted on August 13th on the TEA website. The calendars may be accessed at the links below.
- Visit the District Accountability Intervention and Guidance webpage and choose District Interventions Matrix.
- Visit the Campus Accountability Intervention and Guidance webpage and choose Campus Interventions Matrix.
2020 Accountability Quicklook from Lead4Ward
Additional Accountability Resources:
Important Assessment Contacts:
Texas Education Agency
Student Assessment Division
1701 N. Congress Avenue, Room 3-122A
Austin, Texas 78701
Phone: (512) 463-9536
Fax: (512) 463-9302
ETS Customer Service
(STAAR Grades 3–8, EOC, and Interim Assessments):
Phone:(855) 333-7770
Email:
STAAR3-8@ets.org
STAAREOC@ets.org
Pearson's Customer Service Center
(STAAR Alternate 2, TELPAS. and TELPAS Alternate):
Phone: (800) 627-0225
Email: TxPearsonAccess@support.pearson.com
Additional ESC 6 Newsletters:
Contact Information:
Assessment, Accountability & School Improvement Specialist
Regional Testing Coordinator
Region 6 Education Service Center
Email: jhassell@esc6.net
Website: https://www.esc6.net/
Location: 3332 Montgomery Rd, Huntsville, TX, USA
Phone: 936-435-8355