STAAR Mathematics Updates

A few reminders and some new information about STAAR Mathematics...


Revised (2012) TEKS

New TEKS for mathematics were revised and adopted by the State Board of Education (SBOE) in April 2012.   These new TEKS are often referred to as the Revised (2012) TEKS for this reason.

The SBOE specified that the new standards would be implemented in:

• K-8 in the 2014-2015 school year

• High School in the 2015-2016 school year (note: CISD is transitioning this year)

Revised (2012) TEKS & STAAR

The Student Assessment Division, in coordination with the Curriculum Division, convened advisory committees in October 2013 to make recommendations about the implementation of the new TEKS in the STAAR mathematics assessments. 

The advisory committees discussed and made recommendations about:

• How to group the curriculum into reporting categories for the assessments

• How the mathematical process standards should be incorporated into the assessments

• Which student expectations could/could not be tested

• Which student expectations are critical and should be identified as readiness standards

• How the reporting categories should be emphasized in the test blueprint (number of questions)

• What information should be included on the reference materials

• What format should be used for griddable questions

• What graph paper should be used, etc. 

New Documents on STAAR Mathematics Resources Webpage

Changes to the STAAR mathematics assessments based on recommendations from the advisory committees can be found in multiple documents on the STAAR Mathematics Resources webpage: 

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/math/

• New assessed curriculum documents

• New blueprints

• New reference materials

• New griddable questions document

• New process codes document 

New Documents Coming Soon to STAAR Mathematics Resources Webpage

There are additional changes to the STAAR mathematics assessments that are being worked on or have not yet been finalized. These changes include: 

• New calculator policy 

• New specific performance level descriptors

• New performance standards

Information shared by TEA: Student Assessment Division, October 2014.

No Retest Opportunities for STAAR Grades 5 & 8 in 2014-2015

In a TEA News Release dated August 22, 2014, information was shared about the suspension of the SSI grades 5 and 8 mathematics requirement for 2014-2015.

So what does this mean?  

(From TEA: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/ssi/) 

Prior to this announcement, the Student Success Initiative (SSI) grade advancement requirements applied to enrolled grades 5 and 8 students who took the STAAR and mathematics tests at grades 5 and 8.

The SSI requirement specified that a student may advance to the next grade level only by passing these tests or by unanimous decision of his or her grade placement committee that the student is likely to perform at grade level after additional instruction.

Why are the SSI requirements suspended?

The revised (2012) TEKS for kindergarten through grade 8 are now being implemented in classrooms and in the grades 3–8 assessment program in the 2014–2015 school year.

Because performance standards for STAAR grades 3–8 mathematics will not be set until after the spring 2015 administration, retest opportunities for STAAR grades 5 and 8 mathematics will not be offered in May and June of 2015. 

What are the implications for promotion or retention decisions?

For the 2014–2015 school year, districts will use other relevant academic information to make promotion or retention decisions for mathematics.  

Commissioner Williams noted this suspension of the 5^th and 8^th grade mathematics requirement applies only for the 2014–2015 school year. 

The TEA News Release can be accessed here: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=25769815716