1. STAAR Overview Parent Information January 23, 2014

2. 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?

3.  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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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 http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar. http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar 3 rd & 4 th Grade Mathematics STAAR Testing Date: Tuesday, April 22nd

11. 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