Assessment & Accountability Updates
as of September 30, 2020
Region 6 ESC Assessment & Accountability Listserv
ASSESSMENT UPDATES:
December 2020 STAAR End-Of-Course EOC Administration
Student registration for the December 2020 STAAR administration is now available through the STAAR Assessment Management System during the following dates:
- STAAR Paper Registration Window: September 14–October 2, 2020
- STAAR Online Registration Window: September 14–December 18, 2020
OOD and OOS Registration
- OOD and OOS examinees may now register for the December 2020 STAAR administration. Examinees should register online at https://texastests.com/forms/student-reg-eoc by October 2, 2020, for districts to receive precoded materials and test booklets.
Braille Material Kit Orders
- The deadline to order braille materials for the December 2020 STAAR administration is October 2, 2020.
New Limited English Proficient (LEP) Indicator
- Beginning with the 2020–2021 school year, there is a new LEP indicator. LEP-Indicator-Code 5 identifies students who have previously been identified as LEP or English learners, have met reclassification criteria, and have completed four years of monitoring. Districts should enter an “E” in the registration upload file for this code.
Outbound Shipping
- Districts receiving freight shipments may request a change from the standard campus sort order so that campus boxes are packed in the order of the districts’ choosing. Districts may request a specified pallet sort order by contacting the Texas Assessment Support Center. Requests must be submitted by October 2, 2020.
Guidance for Tracking Students Who Were Eligible for the 2020 STAAR EOC Assessment COVID-19 Waiver
As announced on March 16, 2020, Governor Greg Abbott used his statutory authority under Texas Government Code, §418.016 to suspend annual academic assessment requirements for the remainder of the 2019–20 school year due to the impact of COVID-19. This suspension waived STAAR EOC assessment graduation requirements for thousands of eligible Texas students. Eligibility requirements are listed below.
1. To qualify for the STAAR EOC assessment waiver, a student must have been
- enrolled in the course during spring or summer 2020,
- completed the full course by the end of spring or summer 2020, AND
- earned full course credit by the end of the spring or summer 2020.
3. Students, who did not earn full course credit in spring or summer 2020 and must continue or repeat the course, will be required to pass the corresponding STAAR EOC assessment to meet assessment graduation requirements. The “2020 Waived” code does not apply to these students.
4. Students who have a STAAR EOC assessment that they have not passed from a previous year are still required to retake and pass that STAAR EOC assessment to meet graduation requirements. The “2020 Waived” code does not apply to these students.
In an effort to assist districts, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) recommends districts and charter school refer to student transcripts or academic achievement records (AAR). A new code, 2020 Waived, was added to the STAAR performance level code table (TC31) in the Texas Records Exchange (TREx) system. Districts and charter schools were required to indicate on the transcript or in the AAR the “2020 Waived” code for students for whom the STAAR EOC assessment requirement was waived, in accordance with the assessment guidance issued in spring 2020. District testing coordinators should work closely with their TREx coordinators to access TREx for this information. As TEA does not have the authority to access TREx data or sufficient student records to make accurate determinations, districts need to determine which students were eligible for the 2020 waiver using their own student information systems.
In the case of a student who transfers into a district for school year 2020–21 and does not have the “2020 Waived” code appropriately indicated on the student transcript or AAR, the district can refer to 2019–20 school year course completion in the student transcript or AAR to identify students who successfully completed curriculum requirements and qualify for the COVID-19 waiver.
For additional information, please refer to the Assessment Guidance on the COVID-19 Assessment webpage.
If you have questions about assessment requirements, submit your questions via the Student Assessment Help Desk. For questions about assessment scoring and reporting, contact the Performance Reporting Division at (512) 463-9704 or performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov.
Assessment Scoring and Reporting
The Student Portal is updated with the latest assessment information. Parents can access their child’s results using a unique access code, which can be found on any previous state assessment Report Card.
Additionally, parents can view their child’s performance relative to the campus, district, and state.
Raw score to scale score conversion tables are posted here.
For questions or help with accessing and interpreting STAAR, STAAR Alternate 2, TELPAS, and TELPAS Alternate results, districts and parents can email assessment.reporting@tea.texas.gov or call (512) 463-9704.
Planning Ahead for December EOC Testing
District coordinators must train campus testing coordinators who are administering the December STAAR assessments in the fall prior to this administration. It is recommended that these campus coordinators are trained by November 20, 2020.
Campus coordinators must train test administrators who are administering the December STAAR assessments in the fall prior to this administration. It is recommended that test administrators are trained by December 4, 2020.
2020 District Testing Coordinator Training at ESC 6
If you would like to view the recording, please submit a request for Session #423510 to the IVC Team at ESC 6 at IVCTeam@esc6.net.
This training is the annual MANDATED training that District Testing Coordinators must receive before state assessment. In the session, you will receive the TEA assessment training for the year. It is the responsibility of the District Testing Coordinator to turn the training around to their own Campus Testing Coordinators.
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 “Technology Staff Network Configuration, Secure Browser Installation, and Device Set Up” webinar will take place Thursday, October 15, 2020, 1:30–3:00 p.m. (CT).
The “Online Testing Preparation for the December 2020 STAAR Administration” webinar will take place Monday, October 19, 2020, 1:30–3:00 p.m. (CT).
The “Overview of the STAAR Online Testing Platform” webinar will take place Thursday, October 22, 2020, 1:30–3:00 p.m. (CT).
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.
New Supplemental STAAR Training Modules
Two new supplemental training modules for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) are now available. The modules, as well as brief descriptions of each module, are available in the District Campus Coordinator Resources (DCCR) on the Training page.
As part of the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) ongoing efforts to improve the state’s testing program, the Student Assessment Division has developed web-based training modules for STAAR administrations. The modules are designed to supplement, not replace, the mandatory training required of all personnel involved in testing. These modules provide a narrow, focused review of topics representing the top phone queries and reported irregularities that occur during test administrations. The modules are tailored to specific test administration roles.
Completion of these modules is not a requirement. It is, however, recommended that school districts and open-enrollment charter schools use these modules to enhance the mandatory training required of all personnel involved in testing. Each training module consists of two videos and twelve questions about the content covered in the videos. There is no limit to the number of times the videos may be viewed.
After completion of a module, an individual will be able to view his or her overall score and download a certificate of completion. An individual will be prompted to fill in his or her first and last names 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. Certificates are made available for a school district as a convenience and are to be used at the district’s discretion.
Online Testing Window EXTENDED for 2020-2021
- two weeks for the December 2020 STAAR EOC assessments (December 8–18),
- five weeks for the April 2021 STAAR grades 3–8 and EOC assessments (April 6–May 7),
- five weeks for the May 2021 STAAR EOC assessments (May 4–June 4),
- five weeks for the May 2021 STAAR grades 3–8 assessments (May 11–June 11), and
- two weeks for the June 2021 STAAR grades 3–8 and EOC assessments (June 22–July 2).
Calendar of Events - Online Calendar Upload Now Available
Additional Assessment Resources:
ACCOUNTABILITY UPDATES:
No Decisions For Now
No formal changes will be made to the current Accountability System until the end of the calendar year per Commissioner Morath. There are too many unknowns regarding the reopening of schools to make decisions now. TEA, ATAC and APAC are working through various scenarios to make the best decisions regarding Accountability for 2020-2021.
2019 Accountability Reports To Be REMOVED From TEAL
All 2019 accountability reports and student listings for all campuses and districts will be removed from the TEA Login (TEAL) Accountability application on Friday, October 16, 2020. Once removed, the data contained in each report and student listing will be unavailable. Please ensure that your district downloads and maintains a copy of these reports and data for your records.
The accountability reports consist of accountability summaries, calculations, data tables for each domain, and distinction designation reports for 2019 accountability. Accountability student listings include data that was used to calculate the STAAR performance; College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR); Academic Growth; and English Language Proficiency components for 2019 accountability.
How to Access the TEAL Accountability Application
- Log on to the TEA Login (TEAL) secure portal at https://tealprod.tea.state.tx.us/TSP/TEASecurePortal/Access/LogonServlet.
- If you have access to TEAL Accountability, you will see ACCT – Accountability listed as one of the web applications. Launch ACCT – Accountability.
- Superintendents who do not have access to TEAL Accountability must request access using the My Application Accounts link under Self Service in TEAL.
CCMR Verifier Deadline - October 1st
As a reminder, the deadline to submit corrections for College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) data for 2018–19 annual graduates plus 2018–19 non-graduating 12th graders via the CCMR Verifier is 5:00 p.m. CDT October 1st.
If the district does not find any discrepancies or wish to request changes, no action is required.
If discrepancies are found, districts must request changes with supporting documentation via the CCMR Verifier within the TEAL Accountability application.
Please note, CCMR indicators determined by TSDS PEIMS submissions are not eligible for corrections, and therefore, are not shown. For more information, please view our one-pager or the CCMR Verifier Demonstration.
Local Accountability System
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 9 am
Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 2 pm
Tuesday, October 20, 2020 at 11 am
Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 1 pm
Tuesday, October 27, 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
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