Spring - Klein Edition | May 2023

CALCULATING ACCOUNTABILITY The Texas Education Agency provides annual academic accountability ratings to its public school districts, individual campuses and charter schools for three areas across several factors, including STAAR scores.

throughout the school year,” Popinski said. “The STAAR test, as it stands today, is not one of those types of tests. It’s a one-day test [taken] on one day, and it’s just a snapshot in time.” The new test STAAR exams measure student progress in read- ing, math, science, social studies and writing—a goal that hasn’t changed, according to the TEA. “Assessments provide teachers and parents with helpful information to see how individual students are performing so they can better support those stu- dents moving forward,” a TEA spokesperson said. The new online STAAR will allow school districts to receive student scores quicker and cut supply costs compared to the paper test, Harris said. “[The new STAAR test] will also give us an oppor- tunity to increase accommodation options for our students ... and then also ... allow our students to use higher-level thinking and to complete assess- ments in a variety of ways,” Harris said. With testing wrapping up May 12, districts can expect to receive early raw scores as soon as May 22, according to the TEA website. In addition to being online, the new STAAR test features a maximum of 75% multiple choice ques- tions while the remaining portion consists of 14 question types. The new question types have stu- dents perform tasks such as selecting a point on a map or adding the missing portion of an equation, according to the TEA’s website. For reading passage test questions, students may need to use knowledge from subjects outside of the one they are being tested for. Essays on language arts STAAR tests will now be based on a reading passage instead of an independent writing prompt, according to a TEA spokesperson. Reading and writ- ing tests have also been combined into one test, which impacts grades four and seven. Stute applauded KISD for helping teachers pre- pare for the new STAAR test, but she said she believes information from the TEA was lacking. A specic rubric for how the new essay portion of the reading and writing STAAR will be scored, for exam- ple, was never provided, she said. Pushing for change Under the TEA’s current accountability system, ratings are determined by student STAAR scores, graduation rates, and college, career and military

2021-22 accountability rating scores:

Klein ISD

Spring ISD

Scores are tallied for three areas.

Closing the gaps Reects how well a school or district is ensuring all student groups are successful

School progress Reects students’ performance over time and how a school’s performance compares to other schools with similar economically disadvantaged student populations

Student achievement Reects students’ scores on STAAR exams, graduation rates, and college, career and military readiness

Take the higher score

School progress score: 89 x 70% + Closing the gaps score: 88 x 30% = 88.7

School progress score: 84 x 70% + Closing the gaps score: 75 x 30% = 81.3

The higher score of either “student achievement” or “school progress” accounts for 70% of the total score, while “closing the gaps” accounts for 30%.

30% closing the gaps

70% student achievement or school progress

Round the total

A = 90-100 B = 80-89 C = 70-79 Not Rated = 0-69

Round the total score to a whole number to determine the overall ranking.

NOTE: SCHOOL DISTRICTS RECEIVING A SCORE LOWER THAN A 70 ARE GIVEN A NOT RATED LABEL.

81.3 rounds to an overall score of 81

88.7 rounds to an overall score of 89

SOURCE: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCYCOMMUNITY IMPACT

conduct interventions—requirements for districts to provide better sta and resources to lower perform- ing campuses—with schools who receive “not rated” scores, or ratings lower than a C. Exceptions were made for the 2020-21 school year, when schools were not rated due to the coronavirus pandemic, but intervention resumed in the 2021-22 school year. Multiple bills in the ongoing 88th Legislature seek to change the role STAAR plays in district account- ability scores. Bob Popinski, senior director of pol- icy for public education advocacy group Raise Your Hand Texas, said he believes STAAR should be de-emphasized as an accountability metric. “We believe in good assessments, forma- tive assessments that help inform instruction

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saying, ‘OK, this is the answer,’” Stutes said. During an April 6 Spring ISD trustee meeting, LaTracy Harris, SISD’s assistant superintendent of academics said the district has been working since the 2022-23 school year began in August to acclimate students to the new STAAR test questions. “We wanted to make sure that we could expose our students so they have an opportunity to practice and be prepared for the STAAR test,” Harris said. Despite HB 3906’s updates to STAAR, the test will still contribute to the AF scale accountability ratings the TEA assigns each campus and district. The TEA is typically required, under state law, to

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