Building Strong Foundations in PK-3

Welcome back, Educators! We hope you have had a relaxing summer break, and we want you to know that we are HERE for YOU as you prepare to kick off your school year! Please reach out if there is anything you need!

Sincerely,

Your Region 17 Team

STAAR 2023 tests are released on the Texas Assessment Website through the Practice tests. TEA also released the Answer Keys, Item Rationales, & SE's tested. Check them out!

Released Tests

More STAAR Resources

• Link to the Letter from TEA
• Starting the 2023-2024 school year, districts may NOT request a waiver in order to use another instrument approved by a local district board of trustees.
  

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has posted a new Commissioner’s List of Approved Grade 7 Reading Instruments for use during the 2023–2024 through 2026–2027 school years in accordance with Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.006(c-1).

In accordance with TEC, §28.006(c-1), each school district and open-enrollment charter school is required to administer at the beginning of Grade 7, a reading instrument adopted by the commissioner to each student whose performance on the Grade 6 STAAR Reading assessment did not demonstrate reading proficiency. Districts and charter school must administer the reading instrument in accordance with the commissioner’s recommendations under TEC, §28.006(a)(1).

The Commissioner’s List of Approved Grade 7 Reading Instruments ensures school districts and charter schools select instruments that are based on valid and reliable scientific research, thoroughly measure each domain of development, and are user friendly. The following three domains of development are assessed using the instruments on the list

1. Text Comprehension (Reading)
2. Word Analysis
3. Fluency

The instruments listed below may be accessed on the Grade 7 Reading Instruments page on the TEA website.

2023–2027 Commissioner’s List of Approved Grade 7 Reading Instruments:

• i-Ready Assessment for Reading (Curriculum Associates, LLC)
• Istation’s Indicators of Progress (ISIP) (Istation)
• LION for Reading (Liberty Source)
• Map Suite (MAP Growth TM Reading and MAP Reading Fluency TM) (NWEA)
• MindPlay Literacy (MindPlay Education LLC)
• STAR Reading (Renaissance Learning, Inc)
• Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (TMSFA)

The Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (TMSFA) option will continue to be available to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools free of charge.

Should you have questions, please contact the Reading Language Arts and Social Studies Team in the Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division by completing a Curriculum Request Form.

We are excited to announce that the Early Childhood Assessment Support (ECAS) Initiative has partnered with Amplify and CLI once more to bring grant-funded, free-of-charge, virtual trainings for the 2023-2024 school year over various assessment-related topics for mCLASS and TX-KEA.

Check out the ECAS Trainings Webpage for more more information!

Click here to visit TEA's newest PK-2 vertical alignment documents!

On March 30th, the List of Compliant Phonics Materials was released.

• Click here for details of the To Administrator Addressed Letter
• Check out the Texas Resource Review website here. Click on the "View Reports" tab to access phonics reports.
• Download the List of Compliant Phonics Programs FAQ below.

The 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines are published on the TEA-Early Childhood Education webpage Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines | Texas Education Agency. Implementation of the guidelines begin August 2023 (2023-2024 School Year).

The published documents include:

• PK3 and PK4 Comprehensive Guide - Full version of the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines with PK3 and PK4 outcomes
• PK3 Streamlined - Comprehensive guide with PK3 outcomes only
• PK4 Streamlined - Comprehensive guide with PK4 outcomes only

Do you want to GROW future ready and STAAR ready readers, writers, and mathematicians? Then this series is for you!

In this series of on-demand videos, teachers will learn strategies and activities to develop their students into proficient readers, writers, and mathematicians. Each video episode will include links to resources that can be implemented right away.

This series is great for individual learning or for Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). The on-demand videos are each between 20-30 minutes in length.

With each episode, teachers will receive:

• 20-30 minutes of recorded PD
• Links to resources for activities & strategies
• Discussion/Reflection questions for individuals or PLCs

****TEACHERS WILL RECEIVE 1 HOUR OF CPE UPON COMPLETION OF THE VIDEO AND SHORT REFLECTION.

Download the Flyer Below & Register!

Region 17 Education Specialist

Reach out anytime!

Email: jrogers@esc17.net
Website: https://www.esc17.net/page/ci.reading
Location: 1111 West Loop 289, Lubbock, TX, USA
Phone: 806-281-5841