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
12 schools earn recognition for both high performance and progress
The Texas Education Agency has recognized several HISD schools for high performance and high progress for the 2013-2014 school year. Seventeen HISD schools were included on the agency’s list of Title I High Performing Schools and 17 schools were named as High Progress schools.
“The students and staff of the schools included on this list are focused on implementing innovative programs to affect student outcomes in a positive way,” said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. “Their successes are models that can be used by all schools across the district to ensure that each of our students are not only receiving good grades and scoring well on tests, but are exposed to an academically rigorous education that creates learning leaders.”
The Houston Independent School District earned an overall Met Standard rating under the new Texas school accountability system, the Texas Education Agency announced Thursday.
More than three-quarters – 78 percent – of individual HISD schools earned a Met Standard rating under the new system that seeks to measure whether students are on track to graduate ready for college and the workplace. Of the 210 HISD schools that were awarded a Met Standard rating, 154 earned an additional distinction designation for especially strong student progress, or achievement in math and/or reading/English language arts.
The Texas Education Agency on Monday upheld the state education commissioner’s order for the North Forest Independent School District closed and annexed into the Houston Independent School District effective July 1.
According to the TEA, Education Commissioner Michael Williams based his decision on North Forest’s track record of poor academic performance and low high school completion rate. His decision was upheld Monday by Chief Deputy Commissioner Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds. North Forest’s elected school board now has the option of appealing the decision to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, which could uphold or reverse the decision.
State Education Commissioner Michael Williams announced Thursday that the Texas Education Agency is proceeding with an order to close North Forest ISD and annex the area into the Houston Independent School District effective July 1.
The 2012-2013 school year is the second year for the new state assessment known as STAAR, which requires high school students to take End of Course exams or EOCs rather than grade-based assessments under TAKS. Last year, only high school freshmen were required to take STAAR End of Course exams. This year, all ninth- and tenth-graders in the state of Texas will take STAAR EOCs.
Under STAAR, a student’s score on an EOC would normally count toward 15 percent of their final course grade. However, the Texas Education Agency has deferred implementation of the 15 percent grading requirement for the 2012-2013 school year.
Westside High School freshmen and their parents wanting more information on STAAR recently came out to a special campus workshop. The informational session was held to help parents understand how the new EOC exams could impact their child’s course grades and GPAs, as well as their ability to graduate.
The Texas Education Agency today revealed the performance standards students must achieve to pass or excel on the STAAR tests.
Have questions? Visit HISD’s STAAR Q&A Blog.
On April 5, the Texas Education Agency posted a revised timeline showing the commissioner approving STAAR end-of-course exam standards in mid-April:
| March 26-29 | STAAR Testing (grades 3-8 and EOC) |
| Mid April | EOC Standards Approved by Commissioner |
| April 16 | First meeting of the Academic Achievement Distinction Designation Committee (AADDC) |
| April 24-27 | STAAR Testing (grades 3-8) |
| May 7-18 | STAAR Testing (EOC) |
| May | Second meeting of the ATAC |
| Early June | EOC results available with standards |
Click here to view the entire 2013 Accountability System Development Timeline.
As students in Houston ISD begin taking the new State Assessments of Academic Readiness, HISD’s Richard Blair talks about some of the chief differences between TAKS and STAAR, and how parents can help their children get ready for the tests. For a complete schedule of testing dates, click here.
Click image above for video.
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