Tell me again...How many do I have to get right to pass the STAAR?

Hello! I hope I’m not sounding ignorant, but I am trying to figure out how many questions the students have to get right on the English I & II EOC.  Can you help me?  Also I have been working on the composition rubric with my kids that ranges from 1-4, but I have been pulling up STAAR rubrics that show the composition  score ranging 1-8.  Now I am confused.  Can you help me figure the rubric for the composition and how questions are needed for passing?  Thanks, XXXXXXXXXX

Interesting question. It’s not ignorant at all. I’m going to CC Sherry on this one to make sure I don’t mess this up. It’s complicated.

Basically, it depends.

1. It depends on what they make on the essay.
2. It depends on what the state decides is the difficulty range of the text and test itself compared to previous years (how they scale the test and select the cut points)
3. It depends on whether the kids took the test on paper or on computer. It depends on what accommodation features for the version of computer test they take. (There's a different scale for each version of the test.) 
4. It also depends on what level you are wishing them to achieve: meets approaches, exceeds.
5. You also have to attend to growth in scale score required from the previous year’s individual test results.

To start, you look at the raw score conversion tables to get a guestimate on what might be required. Last year, they had to get 39 correct to pass. (Sort of. More on that later.) Other years it is more. Sometimes less. Usually within 3-5 items. You also have to account for the essay score. Here is the link to 2017-1018: 

For the Essay

For the essay, you are correct in both statements. Yes. The scores are 1-4. Yes. You will see ranges from 1-8. Confusing for sure. Each paper is scored two times. Each person gives the paper a score from 1-4. Then those scores are added together to reach a total from 1-8.

As if that’s not confusing enough, to calculate passing for the whole test, the total score for both raters (1-8) is multiplied times 2. So for English 1 and 2, the essay is worth up to 16 points.

Weighting

Now you add in another factor: the weighting.

The written composition is worth 24% of the test. So they can bomb the essay or write nothing and still pass.

Revising and editing is worth 26% of the test with 18 questions.

Reading is worth 50% with 34 questions.
And then you add in the  10 or so field test items that will be for revising and editing as well as for reading.

Playing Games

You can start playing games like: I’ll get half of the reading questions correct for 25% of the test and nail the 26% for the revising and editing and get a 2 from both raters and multiply that times 2 for a total of 8 which would now make my essay worth half of the 24 points and have 64 percent passing rate. I’d have 18 plus 17 plus 8 to get a raw score of 43. Which would mean I would pass if the cut scores are the same as last year. Maybe. IF the questions I am counting on getting correct are NOT the field test items. So, ultimately, it is impossible to predict how many items they will have to get correct to pass.

Don't Count Items

Which means…drumroll…you can’t count up questions kids think they are going to get right so they know if they need to keep working. I don’t think we want kids spending time counting percentages and numbers of questions and raw score cut points to see if they are going to pass. They’d be better off reading and writing and thinking and doing a two finger check on their answer document.  

From Sherry Clark: 

Shona is correct in the information she provided.  Basically, there are 68 possible points to earn on the English I and II EOC tests.  The multiple choice items are worth 1 point each, where the composition is worth 16 points. 

For 7^th grade writing, there are 46 possible points.  The composition score is doubled, so it accounts for 16 of the 46 points.

For the 4^th writing, there are 32 possible points.  The composition score is not doubled, so it accounts for 8 of the 32 points.

Here’s a short table to summarize:

But remember - there are weighting charts for 4th and 7th grade too. 

Classroom Visit: Discussion Chips for Outside Reading Project

In this classroom, students must read one book outside of classroom time each grading period. Usually, there is some type of project students must complete. This time, students had to use the Kagan chips to have a discussion with their small group. They drew the chips, and had to answer the questions from the perspective of the main character or concept addressed in their book.

Classroom Visit: Media Annotations

This is an excellent example of annotating media and reflecting on the implications

Classroom Visit: Reader Response Dialogue to King Arthur

Students were about to read Sir Gawin and the Green Giant. They realized that they didn't know much about King Arthur. Instead of "giving notes", the teacher allowed students to conduct their own inquiry. They created presentations, shared them with their small groups, and then completed written dialogue exchanges. You gotta read this first one.

Classroom Visit: Annotations Example

While visiting a classroom, I saw some amazing things. I thought these ideas were well worth sharing so that you could have models of student work.

New ELAR TEKS: Ideas and Implications for School Leaders

The New ELAR TEKS are different. If someone reads them and tells you that's what we've always done, they are delusional.

As an administrator or curriculum leader, there are some important things you need to know and ways you can begin to prepare. PLC Discussion about the Introductions

It's important to spend time in PLC's reading and discussing the introductions to the new TEKS. These seven paragraphs establish why the strands are included and how they "embody the interconnected nature of reading, writing, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking" (TEKS Introductions, Section 110.) Simply put, the introductions guide the form and function of the TEKS. 

PD2Teach recorded a sample PLC to guide leaders in what these discussions can look like and to identify the most salient points that could result from such discussions.If you are interested in viewing the the recording, please join TCTELA at this link.  The video is available to members at http://at.bulb.re/r5n PD2Teach will be recording discussions for each strand and provide important resources to give exemplars of what instruction can look like for each grade. 

Bring your teachers together to read and discuss the introductions to the TEKS. You can find copies at this link.  

To help you, PD2Teach has created a document that summarizes the main points that teachers should glean from their discussions of the new TEKS. 

Implications for Planning and Budgeting

As you plan ahead for implementation, there are several implications for the differences in the new TEKS. 

1. Teacher Assignments:  Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Thinking, and Research will all be connected. If you have one teacher assigned to reading and another to writing, it will be almost impossible to separate the TEKS into two separate courses. 

2. Scheduling Implications: The new TEKS reflect what we know about best practices in ELAR instruction. This takes TIME. Many schools implement balanced literacy and guided reading in the lower grades. The problem, is that teachers do not have enough time to get all of their groups covered and still have time for grade level instruction. This causes serious problems because instruction always focuses on catching students up that are behind and never gives teachers the time to focus on teaching grade level TEKS. Teachers in K-5 will need a minimum of 120 minutes to teach a blended Reading and Writing Course. Teachers in 6-12 will need a minimum of 90 minutes to teach a blended Reading and Writing Course. 45 minutes is not enough time. I'm not sure how you fit that into the master schedule with orchestra and football, but a key principle in promoting success is to structure the time needed for it (STOIC model). Teachers aren't using time as an excuse. It's an authentic handcuff to accomplishing our goals for literate, empowered citizens.

3. Testing Implications: The new TEKS were completely rewritten. The test will need to be changed. Commissioner Morath talked about his new vision of what the development process could look like. I don't know what it will look like, but I'm pretty sure we won't have a separate reading and writing test. 

4. Budgeting Implications: Self-Selected Reading and Writing are HUGE core beliefs that drive the new TEKS. Teachers will need money for classroom libraries that match the reading interests of their students. Teachers will also need significant staff development and support to understand the conceptual differences in moving away from teaching specific cannonized texts. Teachers will need significant staff development and support to understand how reading, writing, discussion, and research are all blended together and not siloed into isolated units. 

5. English III and IV: English III and IV are no longer solely focused on British Literature and American Literature. Get ready for some angry faces. But you can also count on kids being more engaged in reading. 

6. Spelling and Phonics: Say goodbye to the Friday spelling test - which we have known for YEARS is an abusive practice. Teachers (and parents) will need help in understanding the shift and knowing what to do instead. 

4th Grade STAAR Review Materials

Here are several lessons and resources to help you with STAAR Review. To complete the activities, I did an open sort on all the release questions.
By doing so, I was able to break up the misconceptions and further delineate areas where minilessons
could be taught to address specific categories implied in the TEKS, but not so explicitly stated in our test
prep practices. Identifying these common characteristics was insightful in figuring our what we needed
to teach in light of both our reading and writing practices.
(Be sure to look in the notes sections of the PowerPoints for additional commentary and explanation.

4th Grade:

Revising:

Inserting, Adding, and Deleting

Clarity

Combining

Structure, Focus, Coherence

Editing

Commonly Misused

Sentences: All the Wrong Ways

Spelling: To Double or Not

Cartoon Dialogue