โIโm not teaching to testโ: Fleming Middle School takes different approach to STAAR preparation
Join the discussion on how Fleming Middle School is taking a different approach to STAAR preparation! Find out how they are focusing on real-life scenarios and critical thinking skills to ensure student success. #Education #STAARPrep #CriticalThinking #StudentSuccess
STAAR test prep: How parents can detect and ease testing anxiety
Anxiety is at an all time high among children with the societal pressure of the world, social media, peers, family and friends -- they are also trying to balance succeeding in their education -- such as preparing for the upcoming STAAR test.
How local school districts measured in testing after dramatic drop in STAAR test scores
The number of students failing to meet grade-level went up statewide across all grade levels and nearly all subject areas according to results of theย Spring 2021 STAAR test released Monday by the Texas Education Agency.
Remote students are not required to take STAAR tests, TEA commissioner says
HOUSTON โ Texas students in remote learning wonโt be required to take the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam, according to Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath. This option will be available for parents who are concerned about sending their children to school. โThe kid wonโt take the test and they wonโt have access to that information,โ said Morath, during a virtual conversation with The Texas Tribune on Thursday. Morath said that the state decided not to cancel the STAAR test because schools need the data from the tests to measure the studentโs learning. He added that the state did not have the โlogistical ability to do the STAAR remotely.โStudents must attend school in-person to take the standardized test.
Texas will require students to take the STAAR test in person
(TEXAS TRIBUNE) โ Texas public school students must show up in person to take the STAAR test this spring and districts can apply for waivers to socially distance test-takers, according to recent guidance released by the Texas Education Agency. School districts can set up sites outside of their schools, including performing arts centers, hotels and recreational centers where they can "ensure equitable access and maintain test security." Currently, Texas requires all districts to allow in-person learning for all students who want it, with few exceptions. Texas has already said students in younger grades who fail required STAAR exams can move up to the next grade. Morath said the data from the tests will show the extent of the educational gaps Texas students have experienced during a devastating pandemic.
Texas hires two companies to run STAAR, moving toward statewide online testing
It will also continue work on an existing testing contract through August. The two companies will take over from Educational Testing Service, or ETS, which has had the bulk of the state's testing contract since 2016. Texas students grades 3-12 take the STAAR assessments, which often determine whether they can graduate or move up to the next grade. Currently, just 20% of Texas students take the STAAR online, many of them students with disabilities and those learning English, according to Cambium's contract. As ETS' contract was set to end in 2019, Texas chose to extend ETS' contract through Aug. 31.
Texas students will still take STAAR tests in 2021, but schools wonโt be rated on them
Texas public school students will still take the STAAR test this spring, but the state will not rate schools and districts based on their results, the Texas Education Agency announced Thursday. In normal years, Texas rates its schools and districts on a scale from A through F, based in large part on the scores students receive on the standardized tests. But he said in November that he was reviewing exactly how those student scores would be used to rate schools and districts. Last spring, Texas applied for and received a waiver from the federal government allowing it not to administer the STAAR test. Usually, student scores on the test determine whether high school students can graduate, whether some elementary and middle school students can move on to the next grade, and whether schools can remain open.
68 members of the Texas House call for STAAR exams to be canceled this year
โAbsent the STAAR test, youโre not going to have a valid, reliable view of grade-level mastery of student skills,โ he said. Last spring, Texas applied for and received a waiver from the federal government allowing it not to administer the STAAR. Texas has already committed to allowing elementary and middle school students who fail the exams this spring to move up to the next grade, with district permission. Usually, student scores on the test determine whether high school students can graduate, whether some elementary and middle school students can move on to the next grade, and whether schools can remain open. The Texas State Teachers Association, which has been calling for a suspension of STAAR testing since June, quickly came out in support of the legislatorsโ letter.
Texas fifth and eighth graders won't have to pass STAAR test to move on to the next grade
Texas students will still have to take the STAAR test next year, but fifth and eighth grade students will be able to move on to the next grade even if they fail, Gov. State education officials announced earlier this summer that third through 12th grade students would take the state standardized exams, or STAAR, this upcoming academic year. But Abbott said that next spring, the fifth and eighth grade math and reading exams would only be administered one time, in May. Student scores on the STAAR also determine whether high school students and graduate and whether schools can remain open. In normal circumstances, high school students must pass five subject-specific standardized tests in order to graduate.
Texas lawmakers calling for STAAR test to be canceled
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is calling for the state to cancel the upcoming April STAAR test โ as more public school districts suspend classes in the wake of heightened concern over coronavirus. State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, sent a letter to the governor Friday asking that โany and all requirements and mandates related to the provision of the 2020 STAAR testโ be canceled, since area school districts have โsubstantially limitedโ classroom instruction. The federal government is already considering waivers from testing requirements for areas heavily impacted by the COVID-19 disease. "The University is working closely with Tarrant County health officials and assisting in identifying individuals who may have had contact with the individual." The school announced last week it was extending spring break and switching to online classes "until further notice" beginning on March 23.