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AISD students' STAAR scores exceed state averages
By Conner Hammett, chammett@starlocalnews.com
Results released this week show Allen ISD students outpacing average statewide scores for the state of Texas' new standardized test, though the transition to the new system is far from over.
The State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), first administered in March, is designed to be more rigorous than the prior testing system, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS).
While changes are supposed to be minimal for grades 3-8, high school students must now pass a series of end-of-course (EOC) exams in order to progress to the next grade and must meet a minimum cumulative score on all tests in order to graduate.
Scores ranged from 82 to 98 percent in these subjects, with the highest scores coming from Algebra I tests and the lowest in Writing I.
"So much of a new testing system is just the angst of not knowing what it's going to be about or how well your students are going to do," said Beth Nicholas, AISD's assistant superintendent of learner services, "so I think there's definitely relief that we've gotten through the first round and we did better than expected."
But the district can't rest on its laurels yet. Starting in 2014, the passing standard will increase for all school districts, Allen included.
"That's our biggest focus, and we're also looking at innovative ideas with technology to work with kids, getting them to think at higher levels," Nicholas said, "because if they can critically think and analyze and problem solve, they're going to be able to apply their learning in different situations, and we really feel like that's the key."
The district is also trying to step up its intervention efforts to ensure students do not get bogged down with retakes during their senior year. Testing days have already doubled for ninth graders, and they're likely to go up even more as this year's freshmen begin to revisit prior-year tests to meet the cumulative standard, Nicholas said.
"If you don't pass exams and you go forward and you don't pass another exam, it's going to snowball on a student, and then they can all of a sudden be a senior and need multiple exams in order to meet their score requirements to graduate," she said.
Another concern is the so-called 15 percent rule, which dictates that EOC exams must count for 15 percent of a student's final grade. The requirement was deferred for the 2011-2012 school year by Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott in February but is set to take effect in 2013.
"We're hopeful that the legislators will revisit that issue, because we just feel like the students don't need that to make it high stakes," Nicholas said. "It's high-stakes enough to have to pass 15 separate exams and meet a cumulative score in four content areas."
Some information on the tests is still unknown even to districts. The scores for students in grades 3-8 will not be known until a passing standard for those exams is established by TEA in January, and this year's tests will not be made available by the agency until 2014.
Beginning in the fall, students in grades 5 and 8 must meet a satisfactory standard on math and reading to advance to the next grade.
When the statewide results were released, Scott said the early returns were about as expected.
"While we know there is always an adjustment period for students and teachers in a new testing program, results from the first STAAR assessments are encouraging overall, showing that students generally performed as expected or better and that educators focused intensely on the state curriculum," Scott wrote on the TEA website. "These results give us the opportunity to focus on subject areas that need improvement, and we will continue to work with school districts, teachers and parents to ensure we continue to improve education for Texas students."
Staff writers Bill Conrad and Chris Roark contributed to this story.
At a glance: Allen ISD EOC scores
Algebra I: 96
Biology: 98
Reading I: 89
Writing I: 82
World Geography: 94
Statewide average EOC scores
Algebra I: 83
Biology: 87
Reading I: 68
Writing I: 55
World Geography: 81
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