ESSA & STAAR - Assessment in Texas

According to the U.S. Department of Education (2016), “High-quality assessments are essential to effectively educating students, measuring progress, and promoting equity. Done well and thoughtfully, they provide critical information for educators, families, the public, and students themselves and create the basis for improving outcomes for all learners. Done poorly, in excess, or without clear purpose, however, they take valuable time away from teaching and learning, and may drain creative approaches from our classrooms.” Sadly, from my perspective as a teacher, the latter part of this statement was a more accurate description of the situation that was happening in classrooms at the time under the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB). As a result, changes were made under ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act), which replaced NCLB. The intent was to reduce the number of tests, and to make the remaining ones better and fairer (U.S. Dept. of Education [USDE], 2016). Based on my experience, the only change I saw happen, at that time, in Texas was the reduction in the number of end-of-course exams administered to high school students. The tests that were administered remained largely the same, except for possibly reducing the number of questions, and the amount of time taken away from teaching and learning was not reduced in any way.

What is ESSA?

I began my teaching career before NCLB was enacted, but the basic tenents of it were already in place in Texas. I cut my teaching teeth in this system, and did not really understand the effect that it had on education until I moved from Texas to New Mexico in 2001. The requirements of NCLB had not yet been implemented, and the freedom I felt in the classroom then was amazing. There were standardized tests, but the focus on those tests had not yet ramped up. I was sad to see how that changed over the next few years.

I vaguely remember ESSA being talked about when it was passed, but I did not experience much difference in the classroom because of it. Until now, I have never really looked in much detail to see what ESSA was about or how it was different than NCLB. Based on what I have read, a summary of the highlights of ESSA include:

• provides states the flexibility to reduce testing (though the minimum requirements were the same as NCLB)

  • Reading/language arts and math - tested annually for all grade 3-8 students and once in high school

  • Science - tested once in each grade span (K-5, 6-8, 9-12)

  • English language proficiency - tested annually (K-12) for English learners

• maintains civil rights of students by ensuring fair assessments for all,

  • all students tested and held to same standards

  • appropriate accommodations allowed as needed for English language learners and those with disabilities

  • allows for Native American language and native-language assessments to be used in certain circumstances

  • requires use of Universal Design for Learning principles when creating assessments

  • requires training for staff for administration of alternate assessments and use of accommodations

• requires tests that measure higher-order skills (reasoning, analysis, problem-solving, etc.)

• makes the process for evaluating waivers to exceed the alternate assessment cap more streamlined,

• deals with how information about student success and progress was communicated,

• allows development of computer-adaptive tests,

• allows redesign and piloting of new assessment systems in up to seven states,

  • could include modular assessments

  • could include using a national high school academic assessments (ACT, SAT) or college admission exams instead of the statewide assessments for high school students

• requires state and districts to make sure all students are ready for a career or college upon graduation

  • establish standards for college- and career-readiness

  • assess all students using those standards with high expectations (USDE, 2016; Education Week, 2018).

Changes in Texas in the wake of ESSA

When comparing NCLB and ESSA, I learned the biggest difference was not in testing programs, but in how the results of the tests were used and in the resulting accountability system (Education Week, 2018). The TEA website (2021a) said, “ESSA provides a unique opportunity for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to chart a path for shifting key decisions related to accountability, school improvement, teacher quality, and funding back to the state and local level.” TEA has developed a strategic plan, complemented by ESSA, which includes 1) recruiting and retaining educators and administrators, 2) building a foundation in reading and math, 3) ensuring college- and career-readiness, and 4) improving low-performing campuses. One result of this is that Texas is able to change how teacher certification is done in the state, and ESSA removed the highly qualified teachers requirement found in NCLB makes it easier to recruit teachers. I was not aware that this had occurred (TEA, 2017).

The school accountability system also changed in Texas after ESSA was enacted. The Exemplary, Recognized, Met Standards, and Needs Improvements categories were replaced with the A–F system. The A-F is based on three goals: 1) preparing students for success after high school, 2) reducing achievement gaps, and 3) informing stakeholders about district and campus performance. Schools are given scores and grades on five different domains (student achievement, progress, closing gaps, post-secondary readiness, and community/student engagement), which are then combined into a weighted average for the school (Garland ISD, 2017). While the A-F system seems like it should be easier for parents and community members to understand, it is actually very convoluted and misleading in many respects. For example, in one of the domains, a district would have to score in the 90-100 range to earn a passing grade (Garland ISD, 2017). An F would be assigned for grades less than 90, so if the school scored an 80 in this domain, it would be perceived as a much lower score by anyone not familiar with how the grades are calculated. A counselor at my school tried to explain it to us one year, and it was very complicated. I'm not sure any of us really understood it, or even do now. The goal of transparent and clear communication is definitely not met with this system! This video from Garland ISD does a great job of explaining the A-F system for school personnel. However, it would still be hard to explain to parents, community members and students. This is an area where community education is needed.

Assessing Texas Students - STAAR Test

Prior to the replacement of NCLB with ESSA, Texas transitioned from the TAKS test to the STAAR test in 2012. The STAAR was designed to be more rigorous with the goal of putting Texas in the top 10 states in terms of having college- and career-ready graduates by 2019-20. The STAAR tests were designed as a complete system with curriculum and standards that link backwards from high school to lower grades and project forward for post-high school readiness. Compared to the TAKS, the STAAR test has more questions that are of higher complexity. Reading tests are more focused on critical analysis, and math skills are assessed in context with more open-ended questions. TEA had an extensive strategy for bridging scores from TAKS to STAAR to identify the students who met standards for reporting Adequate Yearly Progress purposes for NCLB (Texas Education Agency [TEA], 2013; TEA, n.d.).

The STAAR tests are based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). These are divided into readiness and supporting standards for each content area. As a teacher, I regularly look at the TEKS and know that the readiness standards are assessed at a higher frequency than the supporting standards. However, prior reading the TEA Vertical Scaling Technical Report (2013), I had never heard a good description of the differences between them; This report described these types of standards as follows:

Readiness	Supporting
Essential for success in current course	Only introduced but not heavily emphasized in current course
Important for being prepared for subsequent courses	Reinforced in current course after being taught in a previous course
Support post-secondary readiness	Play a minor role in preparation for future courses
Require in-depth instruction	Are narrow in scope
Broad and deep

Both the grades 3-8 STAAR reading and math test are based on a common vertical scale, which allows student test scores across grade levels to be compared for each subject. High school courses and 3-8 grade science, social studies and writing tests do not have vertical scales (TEA, 2013). Prior to my research this week, I did not know that the scale scores for the 3-8 reading and math tests were linked to each other. After reading the articles, I understand much more about how growth goals are determined for these courses.

The STAAR test has changed somewhat since it was launched in 2012. Many of the tests now have fewer numbers of questions, and due to ESSA, high school students have far fewer tests to take. The original performance levels attached to STAAR scores were Level III - Advanced, Level II - Satisfactory, and Level I – Unsatisfactory (TEA, 2013). These have since been replaced with Masters Standards, Meets Standards, Approaches Standards, and Below Standard.

The tests have been converted to computer-based assessments, and many schools are now giving the tests online. Beginning in 2022, TEA has contracted with Cambium to administer the online administrations of the STAAR tests (TEA, 2021b).

A big STAAR redesign is scheduled to be implemented in the 2022-23 school year. This redesign includes 1) fully online assessments, 2) different types of questions with multiple choice questions not to exceed 75% of the test, 3) writing tests will no longer be standalone tests for 4th and 7th grades, and 4) reading-language arts passages will have more cross-curricular content. Transitioning to online tests will allow for faster scores, reduced complexity and wastes, better security, ability to customize for different question types or assessments, and equitable access to accommodations. Allowing for varied question types is expected to increase student engagement and allow additional ways for students to demonstrate their knowledge (TEA, 2021c). Here are a few videos from the TEA website that describe these changes. I have heard changes are coming, but other than that, I have had no training for how to prepare for them. Districts and teachers need to start working on this now, so they are not surprised next year.

References

Education Week. (2018, June 12). What ESSA means for testing and assessments. YouTube. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNRejn5ns60.

Garland ISD. (2017, January 10). TX A-F Accountability Overview (recorded 01/06/2017) - youtube. YouTube.com. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEQMEyisGjE.

Texas Education Agency. (n.d.). State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness Bridge Study for AYP. tea.texas.gov. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/2011-STAARBridgeStudy.pdf.

Texas Education Agency. (2013, June). State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Vertical Scale Technical Report. tea.texas.gov. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/2013-STAARVerticalScaleTechReport.pdf.

Texas Education Agency. (2017, July). Every student succeeds act - state overview. YouTube. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/?gl=DE.

Texas Education Agency. (2021a, April 9). Every student succeeds act. Texas Education Agency. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/laws-and-rules/essa/every-student-succeeds-act.

Texas Education Agency. (2021b, July 23). New Texas Assessment Program Vendor Information. Texas Education Agency. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/new-texas-assessment-program-vendor-information.

Texas Education Agency. (2021c, September 27). Staar redesign. Texas Education Agency. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/assessment-initiatives/hb-3906/staar-redesign.

U.S. Department of Education. (2016, December 7). Assessments under Title I, Part A & Title I, Part B: Summary of Final Regulations. https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/index.html. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essaassessmentfactsheet1207.pdf.