NOTES FROM THE ASSESSMENT CONFERENCE

Major Points

Changes from TAKS to STAAR Curriculum Implications

WritingReadingScienceMathSocial Studies

Implications for Sinton ISD

Changes from TAKS to STAAR 3-8 relatively unchanged #/retest/subjects HS: 12 EOC’s

Every TEST Counts, not just Exit Writing grades 4, 7, and Eng I, II, III—2

days STAAR linked to College Readiness “Clearer, Fewer, and Deeper” and aligned

across courses Skills Objectives now embedded in

Content-Based REPORTING Categories

Curriculum Implications Writing:

Grades 4 and 7: (2) 1-page essays (26 lines and NO doubling)

Personal Narrative ○ Realistic (no trips to the moon/dragons)○ Prompt will appear with a photograph○ At grade 7 “Why” will be incorporated into the prompt

Expository Essay ○ Contains a stimulus ○ Are scaffolded (READ, THINK, Write)○ Much longer stimulus that could be about

famous/historical

Curriculum Implications Reading

TEA’s way of fighting back…authentic instruction vs. Test Prep and misuse of benchmarking

Important Connection between Reading and Writing, especially author’s craft. Ex. Why did the author use … at the end of paragraph 12?

Genre-based Assessment

Literary Strand Informational Reading Strand

Fiction* Poetry, Drama, Literary nonfiction Media literacy (embedded)

Expository* and Persuasive (5th grade) Procedural and Media literacy (embedded)

*Readiness Genre Both Genres should be given equal weight in instruction

Curriculum Implications Reading continued

Selections can be published or commissioned○ Grades 3–8 reading assessments will include a

combination of published and commissioned selectionsPaired selections can mix strands and genres

○ Paired selections begin at Grade 4 Literary−Literary (e.g., fiction−poetry, literary nonfiction−drama,

fiction−literary nonfiction Informational−Informational (e.g., expository−expository,

expository−persuasive) Literary−Informational (e.g., fiction−expository, poetry−expository,

literary nonfiction−persuasive)

Instruction must emphasize critical-thinking skills / inferential thinking rather than isolated skills (literal analysis)

Curriculum Implications

Science TAKS 2011:

○ Deleted TEKS (No questions)○ Recurring TEKS (was tested, then may be

tested)○ Added TEKS (May be field tested)○ IF moved within a testing band (ex. 5th to 4th,

then still eligible for 2011 TAKS)

Curriculum Implications

MathESTAR professional developmentMSTAR professional development and

assessmentAlgebra II linked to College Readiness and

Recommended Plan graduates must PASS / Distinguished Grads MUST get new commended-level

New Griddable

Curriculum Implications

Social StudiesBehind due to new TEKS for 2011-2012

Educator Committees will review new TEKS in January of 2011 to determine:○ What can and cannot be tested○ Readiness Standards○ Supporting Standards

Implications for Sinton ISD Evaluate CSCOPE Curriculum Documents

and compare to Readiness/Supporting Documents from TEA http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/

Comprehensive Professional Development Plan for Spring/Summer of 2011

Details….Adjust Grading Policy for SHS to align with

EOC retestsTesting Plan will be more comprehensive