Dear Community Member,

We are beginning the fifth week of the spring semester and in looking ahead, the State’s new assessments will start on Monday, March 26. I believe it is important for you to know how Fort Bend ISD is preparing for the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). As you may know, to fulfill the requirements of House Bill 3 passed by the 81st Texas Legislature, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) developed a more rigorous assessment program that provides the foundation for the new STAAR accountability system for Texas public education. STAAR will replace most of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) in spring 2012.

In anticipation of STAAR, our teachers participated in staff development as part of their learning plans in preparation for the 2011-2012 school year. Prior to that, Fort Bend ISD aligned its curriculum with the State Readiness Standards during the 2010-2011 school year.

We have shared presentations with parent groups since the beginning of the school year. These presentations are on the Fort Bend ISD website. Go to www.fortbendisd.com and look under “Quick Links” for “STAAR News” to find narrated STAAR presentations, links to TEA STAAR information, the testing calendar and other important information. The campus counselor is a valuable resource and will be able to answer many of the questions parents and students may have concerning the new state assessments.

How is the STAAR assessment program different from TAKS?

  • STAAR is a more rigorous exam and will have more questions for most grades, subjects and courses.
  • Students will have four hours to complete the STAAR exams. TAKS was not timed.
  • STAAR end-of-course (STAAR-EOC) exams will count for 15 percent of a student’s final course grade in a subject. The 15 percent is a state mandated requirement. TAKS did not affect course grades.
  • Unlike TAKS, make-up testing under STAAR will be allowed in all subjects and grades.
  • The new STAAR program will emphasize readiness standards, which are the knowledge and skills that are considered most important for success in the next grade level or in the next subject taken by the student and also important for college and career readiness. For example, Reading/ELA and mathematics readiness standards will be tied to the college and career readiness standards on the English III and Algebra II STAAR-EOCs.  

Spring 2012 STAAR assessment highlights

  • The STAAR program in grades 3-8 will assess the same subjects and grades that are currently assessed on TAKS.
  • Students currently in grades 10 and 11 will continue to take the TAKS tests and will graduate under the TAKS program.

STAAR end-of-course (STAAR-EOC) assessments

  • In high school, grade-specific assessments will be replaced with 12 STAAR-EOC assessments: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English I, English II, English III, World Geography, World History and U.S. History. STAAR-EOC will begin with students who entered ninth-grade in the 2011-2012 school year. The ninth-grade EOC assessment will be fully implemented and will count as 15 percent of a student’s grade in a tested subject for the current school year.
  • Middle School students enrolled in high school courses will take the appropriate STAAR-EOC assessments. The score a student receives will count as 15 percent of the student’s final course grade.
  • Students who were in middle school in 2010-2011 and took a high school course that has a STAAR-EOC exam are not required to take the EOC assessment for that course.
  • FBISD has established raw score conversions to assign students’ grades on the End of Course assessment. Conversions for each content area will be on the STAAR News webpage later in February. Should you have questions about end-of-course score conversions, please contact your student’s counselor.
  • Note: Students repeating the ninth-grade will be tied to the TAKS graduation plan, but no assessment will be available for them until they take the TAKS exit level exam.

STAAR assessments for special populations

  • There are STAAR assessments for special populations and details can be found by viewing the STAAR parent information presentations on the District’s Testing website and on the TEA website.

What we don’t know about STAAR

  • The TEA has not released the complete passing standards for STAAR assessments. The Elementary and Middle School passing standards will not be released until late fall 2012. The EOC passing standards are expected to be released in April before the STAAR-EOC scores are released. STAAR test results will be sent home to parents.
  • We do not know if the State Board of Education will make any changes to STAAR in November 2012 and what STAAR EOC assessments will count for the Federal Adequate Yearly Progress beginning in spring 2013.

In closing, these are only highlights of changes with the new STAAR state assessments. We encourage you to use the resources I shared earlier to learn more about STAAR. As you visit the TEA website, make sure you review the STAAR test blueprint and sample questions for each assessment at STAAR Resources.

We want you to know that we will continue to do everything possible to help our students transition smoothly to the new assessment program. Thank you for your continued support of FBISD. 

Sincerely,

Tim Jenney, FBISD Superintendent

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