Should you wish to be removed from this email list or if someone in your district needs to be added, please contact Jessica Hassell at jhassell@esc6.net.

August 24th is the deadline for a student to receive credit for a course in order to qualify for the COVID EOC waiver. According to TEA, this date is firm. If your district delays starting until after Labor Day, EOC credit must be given on or prior August 24, 2020 for the student to receive the waiver. TEA considers August 24th as the official beginning of the 2020-2021 school year.

The 2020-2021 Assessment Webinars have been posted at www.texasassessment.gov. If you are a new district test coordinator, these are webinars hosted by ETS (STAAR vendor) and Pearson (STAAR ALT 2 and TELPAS vendor). I highly recommend you register for these webinars and/or pass the information along to those who need it. By registering you will receive the presentation ahead of the webinar. If for some reason you miss a webinar, it usually posts the recording a week later.

• August 11th @1:30 Interim Assessment Updates and Overview - Recording Available
• August 13th @1:30 Interim Student Registration - Recording Available
• August 18th @1:30 Classroom Teachers: Interpreting Student Interim Scores
• August 20th @1:30 A Deep Dive into the Online Reporting Suite (ORS)
• August 25th @1:30 December 2020 Student Registration Updates
• Sept 1st @1:30 Registration for New District Test Coordinators
• Sept 15th @1:30 Fall Activities for the December 2020 STAAR Administration

• STAAR Assessment Management System User’s Guide
  The updated STAAR Assessment Management System User’s Guide is now available. Training for new features within this manual will be provided during the fall webinars.
  

• Updated District and Campus Coordinator Resources
  The District and Campus Coordinator Resources will be updated for the 2020–2021 school year on August 17, 2020. As a result, the Coordinator Resources will be temporarily unavailable from 7:00 a.m. (CT) on August 13, 2020, to 7:00 a.m. (CT) on August 17, 2020, while this update occurs.

• Updated Secure Browser Application for iOS
  Districts that plan to use iPads for testing during the 2020–2021 school year must first uninstall any prior versions of the application and reinstall the current version available in the Apple Store. Previously, it was communicated that an updated STAAR Online Testing Platform secure browser application was available and that prior versions of the application for iOS would auto-update to the current version 2.80.0 (2.73 in Apple Store). Unfortunately, an issue has been identified with Apple that prevents auto-updates from working as intended. Districts that have already attempted to update their iOS devices as of July 20, 2020, will also need to uninstall the application and reinstall.

While the optional BOY assessments will be administered in early fall 2020, they are designed to diagnose understanding of the TEKS from the previous school year. Therefore, the BOY assessments should be administered to students based on their prior year enrolled grade level. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will not use data from the BOY assessments for any accountability purposes. Data may only be used to research the educational impact of the current crisis and to spread best practices.

The registration window opened to districts on Monday, July 20, 2020, and will remain open until Friday, September 18, 2020. The BOY assessments will be available to administer from Monday, July 27, 2020, to Friday, September 25, 2020.

The optional BOY assessments will be available online and in paper (through a printable PDF). Just as with the EOY assessments, students may also access the online tests at home using Pearson’s Schoolnet platform. By clicking on a link to Schoolnet, students can access a browser-based version of Pearson’s online testing system known as TestNav. This is not a secure application and no installation or plug-ins are required. Districts may also provide print PDF versions of the tests to their students.

BOY Assessment Resources & Tools:

https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/student-assessment-overview/beginning-of-year-assessments-boy-district-and-parent-tools

The online testing window is extended for both STAAR 3–8 assessments and STAAR end-of-course (EOC) assessments:

• 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).

As part of Texas’s ESSA plan, TEA has been granted a waiver to expand the advanced mathematics exception beyond grade 8 students enrolled in advanced mathematics courses to include all middle school students who are administered a STAAR EOC assessment for mathematics, reading/language arts, or science. The USDE’s approval of this waiver request eliminates the need for double testing.

Beginning in the 2020–2021 school year, a middle school student, who is completing instruction in a high school course that has a corresponding EOC assessment, will be administered the corresponding STAAR EOC assessment (not the grade-level assessment). The STAAR EOC assessment may be used to fulfill the student’s graduation requirement and will be used for the campus’ and district’s accountability calculations. This waiver aligns assessment requirements with students’ instruction, where possible. As required now in Title 19 of the Texas Administrative Code (TAC), §101.3011, students who have completed STAAR EOC assessments while in middle school must take either the ACT or the SAT once to fulfill federal testing requirements.

A copy of the waiver request and USDE response are available on the TEA website at https://tea.texas.gov/about_tea/laws_and_rules/essa/every_student_succeeds_act/.

The TAA dated July 30, 2020 can be found here: https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/correspondence/taa-letters/approval-of-accelerated-testers-waiver.

2020 New Coordinator Academy

September 10 & 11, 2020

FREE Virtual Academy

• For District Testing Coordinators with 2 years or less experience
• Participants will learn the basics of how to manage the state assessment program. Topics will include the calendar, test security, online testing, designated supports, test administration, shipping, planning and much more.
  

Register here!

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.

All districts and campuses are labeled Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster for 2020. Visit TXSchools.gov to view the 2019 accountability rating reports for each district, campus, and open-enrollment charter school in the state of Texas.

The 2020 College, Career, and Military Readiness and Graduation Rate reports will be available in the fall with the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR).

A downloadable spreadsheet of statewide 2020 ratings, school improvement identification status, and demographic information is available in Excel.

For more information, see the TEA website at: https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/accountability/academic-accountability/performance-reporting/2020-accountability-rating-system

What is the CCMR Verifier?

• The CCMR Verifier is a TEA Login (TEAL) version of last year’s CCMR corrections system which occurred in April and May.
• Corrections will be submitted through the TEAL Accountability application for the list of 2018–19 annual graduates plus non-graduating 12th graders.
• Districts will have through October 1 to electronically submit documentation for updates to student records.
• The verifier can only be used to correct non-PEIMS indicators.

Why should districts use the CCMR Verifier?

Districts are encouraged to verify their CCMR data to ensure accurate data for:

• the CCMR Outcomes Bonus;
• potential future small numbers analyses;
• the 2019–20 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR); and
• potential use in future accountability ratings.

For more information, please check out TEA's CCMR Verifier Training:

https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/ESC%20CCMR%20Verifier%20Training.pdf

TEA released a TAA letter on August 13th regarding School Improvement under the 2020 Accountability System. Please see the letter here: https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/correspondence/taa-letters/information-for-districts-campuses-and-charter-schools-identified-to-engage-in-school-improvement-interventions

Key Points:

• For 2020 state academic accountability, all districts and campuses will receive a label of Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster. However, districts and campuses shall continue to implement previously ordered sanctions and interventions.
• A campus may have its 2020–2021 label updated from Comprehensive Reidentified to Comprehensive Progress based on revised exit criteria.
• Any campus that was identified as Targeted Support and Improvement or Additional Targeted Support in 2019 solely on the performance of its all students group will be removed from school improvement lists.
• Superintendents with a district or campuses identified for interventions must select and enter contact information for their District Coordinator of School Improvement (DCSI) in the contacts tab in ISAM by August 31, 2020.
• Due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 emergency, LEAs will have the option to follow standard submission structure or delay initial submissions for the current year.

Based on the changes in methodology for identifying campuses for school improvement a total of 558 fewer campuses are identified for school improvement in 2020-21 than were identified for 2019-20, as summarized in the following table:

In response to the impact of COVID-19, the local accountability process will offer expanded flexibility to address two main challenges – incomplete 2019–20 baseline data and potential disruptions to 2020–21 instruction.

As a reminder, the LAS process will continue to allow districts to use cut-points from a vetted measure, such as but not limited to NWEA MAP, to set the component rating scale instead of using local baseline data. This allows any eligible district to submit a local accountability plan comprised of vetted measures for full implementation in the 2020–21 school year which, if approved, also includes the option of combining local and state data for the official campus rating in August 2021 if applicable.

Districts who did not participate in the fall 2019 local accountability system training may become eligible to participate in the 2020–21 local accountability system by participating in individual online training which can be scheduled by contacting the TEA LAS Team at las@tea.texas.gov.

TEA will also continue to offer informational webinars for districts seeking an introduction to the local accountability process. Dates and times are posted here: https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/accountability/academic-accountability/webinar-schedule. The content of the Fall 2020 LAS webinars is identical for all sessions so interested districts need only attend a single webinar. The webinar provides an overview of the Local Accountability System (approximately 30 - 45min.) with opportunities to ask questions throughout. Registration links will be shared as available.

For more information, visit TEA's LAS website: https://tea.texas.gov/Student_Testing_and_Accountability/Accountability/State_Accountability/Performance_Reporting/Local_Accountability_System

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

Jessica Hassell, M.Ed.

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