STAAR Overview Parent Information January 23, 2014

STAAR Designed to help answer these questions: Did students learn what they were supposed to learn in the current year’s grade? Are students ready for the next grade? Are they also ready for the grade after that?

 Questions will have a high cognitive complexity level to match the TEKS (curriculum)  Great emphasis on critical thinking  Assessing process skills with content skills in mathematics  There are a number of open-ended (griddable) questions  Multi-step word problems STAAR

STAAR Reporting Categories The TEKS eligible for testing on the 3 rd & 4 th grade STAAR Math assessments are grouped under these reporting categories: Numbers, Operations, and Quantitative Reasoning Patterns, Relationships, and Algebraic Reasoning Geometry and Spatial Reasoning Measurement Probability and Statistics

Increased Rigor Rigor of items increased by: - assessing content and skills at a greater depth and higher level of cognitive complexity - assessing more than one student expectation in an item Rigor of test increased by: - assessing more focused student expectations but doing so multiple times and in more complex ways - adding a greater number of rigorous items to the test

Performance Labels There will be two cut scores, identifying three performance categories  Level III: Advanced Academic Performance  Level II: Satisfactory Academic Performance  Level I: Unsatisfactory Academic Performance

Policy Definition of Level III: Advanced Academic Performance Performance in this category indicates that students:  Are well prepared for the next grade or course  Demonstrate the ability to think critically  Demonstrate the ability to apply the assessed knowledge and skills in varied contexts, both familiar and unfamiliar  Have a high likelihood of success in next grade or course with little or no academic intervention

Policy Definition of Level II: Satisfactory Academic Performance Performance in this category indicates that students:  Are sufficiently prepared for the next grade or course  Generally demonstrate the ability to think critically  Generally demonstrate the ability to apply the assessed knowledge and skills in familiar contexts  Have a reasonable likelihood of success in the next grade or course  May need short-term, targeted academic intervention

Policy Definition of Level I: Unsatisfactory Academic Performance Performance in this category indicates that students:  Are inadequately prepared for the next grade or course  Do not demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the assessed knowledge and skills  Are unlikely to succeed in next grade or course without significant, ongoing academic intervention

STAAR FAQs Will there be a time limit for tests in the STAAR program?  All tests in the STAAR program will have a four-hour time limit. Where can I go to find more information about the STAAR program?  For more information about the STAAR program, visit the TEA Student Assessment website at rd & 4 th Grade Mathematics STAAR Testing Date: Tuesday, April 22nd

How Parents Can Help at Home  Encourage your child to use all their strategies on math problems  Make connections to every day math  Encourage your child to read  Stay on top of homework and ask if you notice your child struggling on a specific concept  Memorization of multiplication facts