STAAR OverviewParent InformationJanuary 23, 2014

STAARDesigned 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?

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

STAAR Reporting CategoriesThe TEKS eligible for testing on the 3rd & 4th 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

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

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

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

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

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

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 .

3rd & 4th Grade Mathematics STAAR Testing Date:

Tuesday, April 22nd

How Parents Can Help at Home

Encourage your child to use all their strategies on math problems

Make connections to every day mathEncourage your child to readStay on top of homework and ask if you

notice your child struggling on a specific concept

Memorization of multiplication facts