Category Archives: STAAR

Burbank MS leaders to share best practices at TABSE conference

Campus leaders from HISD’s Burbank Middle School will be sharing the wisdom of their experiences with hundreds of other educators at the Texas Alliance of Black School Educators’ Demonstration Schools Symposium on Feb. 27.

The campus is one of only eight from across the state that will present some of its best practices at the event. Burbank was selected in part because of its success in closing the achievement gap. The school matched or beat both the district’s and the state’s averages on all students’ reading and math scores in every grade on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) in 2013–2014. Continue reading →

Spring 2015 testing date changes for STAAR math test for grades 5, 8

Texas Commissioner of Education Michael Williams has notified Texas school districts and charters that the spring testing date for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) grades 5 and 8 mathematics will be shifted for the 2014–2015 school year.

The spring testing date for STAAR grades 5 and 8 mathematics will change from March 30, 2015, to April 20, 2015. Continue reading →

State makes big change to Grades 5, 8 STAAR math

The Texas Education Agency has made a big change to STAAR testing for the 2014-2015 school year.

The agency said Friday that the math assessments for grades 5 and 8 will be given just once this year. The Student Success Initiative requirement that those students pass the math portion of STAAR has been suspended for the year. Continue reading →

Students’ STAAR success = one shaved head for YMCPA teacher

Adrian Acosta

Adrian Acosta has been challenging his biology classes at Young Men’s Preparatory Academy for years with a singular offer: if 25 percent or more of them earn “commended” status on the annual state-mandated assessment test, he will shave his head.

Until now, he has never had to make good on that promise, but on May 29, Acosta closed his eyes, sat in a chair, and handed the clippers to a student, after learning that 14 of his students—or a whopping 41 percent of his biology class—had held up their end of the bargain.

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Helms ES fourth-grader earns perfect math score on STAAR exam

Natalie Nichols

Natalie Nichols has seen a lot of tragedy in her short life. Given up for adoption by her dying mother when she was just four years old, she lost both her mother and her younger sister in Guatemala before being adopted by a couple from the U.S.

Assimilating to life in a foreign country is a formidable task on its own, but that hasn’t stopped the plucky Helms Elementary fourth-grader from taking on additional challenges. Natalie wants to excel academically as well—and now, she has done so—earning a perfect score on the math portion of the recent STAAR exam.

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HISD Transportation celebrates drivers’ role in STAAR testing week

A group of HISD bus drivers were full of joy and excitement during an event held Friday that celebrated their role in having the best attendance during STARR testing week.

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State of Texas adds another technology tool for use during STAAR — for next year

For the first time, an electronic calculator application has been authorized for use by students during a Texas state assessment. Eighth-graders across the state can use either a graphing calculator or a graphing calculator application available on an electronic tablet on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) grade 8 mathematics test. Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner of Education Michael Williams informed superintendents across the state recently that the new policy will go into effect on a pilot basis for the 2014-2015 school year. For the pilot year, the TEA will still prohibit the use of smart phones.

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HISD students get ‘STAAR-y’-eyed in advance of state assessment

Students at schools all across Houston are getting jazzed up in advance of the STAAR exams that begin next week, with activities ranging from tutorials to pep rallies.

Pupils at HISD’s Chávez High School, for instance, got to participate in a relay race and fling cream pies at their principal and teachers during an event held on March 27.

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Garcia Elementary teachers and staff got their students excited by hosting a pep rally. There were performances and a surprise flash mob! Click here to see a video from the event.

Here is a breakdown of the testing schedule:

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Algebra I students in middle school no longer required to ‘double-test’

Middle school students who take Algebra I as a seventh- or eighth-grader will no longer face the prospect of “double testing.” Until recently, those students would be required to take both the Algebra I end-of-course (EOC) exam and their grade-level STAAR math assessment.

Now, the Algebra I end-of-course exam will satisfy the requirement for a math test for those middle school students.

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