Student assessment
Under the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) program, students in grades 3-11 are tested annually, and the exit-level exam is administered in 11th grade. Detailed information on TAKS is available online at the TEA website at www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/taks/index.html.

Legislation passed during the 80th legislative session provides for extensive changes to the state testing system, beginning with students entering 9th grade in the 2011-12 school year (see related article on page 5).

Legislation passed in 2007 requires that schools administer annually and at state cost a nationally norm-referenced preliminary college preparation assessment (i.e., PSAT, SAT, ACT) to students in the spring of 8th grade and in 10th grade. Additionally, schools are required to administer a reading assessment (adopted by the commissioner of education) at the beginning of 7th grade to each student who did not demonstrate proficiency on the 6th grade reading TAKS.

New legislation also prohibits schools from administering local assessment instruments (benchmark tests) to any student on more than 10 percent of the instructional days in any school year.

Legislation passed in 2007 establishes a grant program in which participating school districts administer international assessment instruments to students in the district. The commissioner of education will compare the performance of Texas students with students of the same grade level in other countries.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is required by law to set a college readiness score on the exit-level math and English language arts tests; it is 2200.  Students who meet this score will be exempt from the Texas Higher Education Assessment, which is required by most colleges and universities for entrance.

Measure of annual improvement
Legislation passed in 2006 requires the commissioner of education to determine the method by which TEA can measure annual improvement in student achievement from one year to the next on an assessment instrument. TEA will report the student’s expected annual improvement to the district, which, in turn, must provide such information to the teachers and parents. There are no other accountability requirements for its use.

Special education students
A new slate of tests (TAKS-Inclusive, TAKS-Alternate and TAKS-Modified) have replaced the State Developed Alternative Assessment (SDAA) and Locally Developed Alternate Assessment (LDAA) as follows:

TAKS-Inclusive (TAKS-I): This test is for students receiving special education services for whom TAKS, even with allowable modifications, is not an appropriate assessment. Students may only take TAKS-I tests at their enrolled grade level.

TAKS-Alternate (TAKS-Alt): The federal NCLB Act puts a cap of 1 percent on the number of special education students who can be tested on an off-grade level test and still be counted as proficient for purposes of meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP). Only students who are “significantly and cognitively disabled” can be included in this group. The TAKS-Alt is an assessment currently being developed to meet federal requirements for these students. The TAKS-Alt will replace the LDAA for grades 3-9 reading; grades 3-10 and exit-level math; grades 4 and 7 writing; grades 5, 8, 10 and exit-level science; grades 8, 10 and exit-level social studies; and grade 10 and exit-level English language arts. TAKS-Alt is designed to measure the academic progress of students who meet participation requirements.

TAKS-Modified (TAKS-M): Federal regulations under the NCLB also allow states and local school districts to count as proficient for purposes of AYP the scores of up to 2 percent of students who are assessed on modified achievement standards that are aligned with grade-level content standards. Thus, the scores of a total of 3 percent, or roughly 30 percent of a state’s student population who take an off-grade-level test or are tested on modified achievement standards, can count as proficient for purposes of AYP. The TAKS-M is an assessment developed to meet federal requirements for these students.

Limited English Proficient students

Spanish-speaking Limited English Proficient (LEP) students who are not otherwise exempt can take the TAKS in Spanish for up to three years in grades 3 through 6. All LEP students can be exempt from TAKS for up to one year after initial enrollment in a U.S. school if they have not demonstrated proficiency on the reading proficiency in English exam. If the exempted student also is a recent unschooled immigrant or is in a grade for which no TAKS in his/her primary language is available and the student has not demonstrated proficiency on the reading proficiency in English exam, the student can be exempted from TAKS for an additional two years. Finally, the law defines “recent unschooled immigrant” as someone who initially enrolled in a U.S. school not more than 12 months prior to the administration date of TAKS and who has inadequate schooling outside of the U.S., and lacks the necessary foundation in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) as determined by the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC).

TAKS key to advancement with Student Success Initiative

Texas’ Student Success Initiative, which prohibits the social promotion of students, places emphasis on the TAKS test for determining whether a student advances to the next grade level. The initiative’s requirements and procedures include:

• Since the 2002-03 school year: a 3rd grade student must pass the reading TAKS test to be promoted to the 4th grade.
• Since the 2003-04 school year: a student must pass the 11th grade exit-level TAKS test in order to graduate.
• Since the 2004-05 school year: a 5th grade student must pass the math and reading TAKS tests to be promoted to the 6th grade.
• For the 2007-08 school year and beyond: an 8th grade student must pass the math and reading TAKS tests to be promoted to the 9th grade.

The first time a student fails the TAKS, he/she must be provided at least two additional opportunities to retake the test. On the third try, the district may administer an alternative assessment approved by the commissioner of education, and the student may be promoted if he/she performs at grade level on the alternative assessment instrument.

Each time the student fails the TAKS, the school district must provide accelerated instruction in the applicable subject area. Progress of the student is monitored during the year. The maximum class size for accelerated instruction classes is 10 students per instructor. After a student fails the TAKS a second time, a grade placement committee (GPC) shall be established to prescribe the accelerated instruction program the student must receive. The GPC is composed of the principal or designee, the student’s parent or guardian, and the teacher of the subject of the failed TAKS test. In the case of a special education student, the GPC is the Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) committee. If the student fails the TAKS a third time, he/she shall be retained unless the GPC unanimously determines that if promoted and given accelerated instruction, the student is likely to perform at grade level. In this case, the student must be provided with accelerated instruction, even if promoted.

All requirements are contingent on the availability of state funds each year to administer the accelerated instruction classes that accompany this program.

Test security
Recently passed legislation makes it a Class C misdemeanor to intentionally disclose any portion of a test which is likely to affect the individual performance of one or more students on the assessment.

Test release schedule
New legislation changes the schedule for release of tests to every three years.

Scheduling during TAKS testing week
UIL competitions may not be scheduled on Monday through Thursday, or the last testing day, of the primary TAKS assessment week. This provision does not apply to retesting.

TCTA offers an online continuing professional education seminar relating to TAKS. Members can earn 1.25 CPE credit hours by taking “TAKS and the Student Success Initiative,” online.

*Students enrolling after January 1 of the school year in which the student is eligible to graduate in Texas public schools for the first time, or who have been absent at least four years from any Texas public school, can take/pass a norm-referenced test in lieu of the exit-level TAKS.

Source: TEA Student Assessment Division

Web posted: 08/02/07