GISD prepares students for STAAR exam changes

Graham ISD advised parents at the beginning of November that the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) and End of Course (EOC) exams will be administered online as well as include formats other than multiple choice. GISD sent a notice to parents and guardians Wednesday, Nov. 2 regarding the changes.

The STAAR redesign is a result of House Bill 3906 passed in the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019 to be administered in the state summative assessments in the 2022-2023 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency. TEA has worked with stakeholders on a way to launch the changes in an instructionally supportive approach.

The redesign includes online testing, new question types, cross-curricular passages and evidence-based writing. The online requirement, enacted in House Bill 3261 by the 87th Texas Legislature in 2021, will be implemented at all grade levels, from 3rd grade through 11th grade.

“The challenge to this requirement for districts is how to prepare students (especially our youngest students) to take online assessments. Students need practice to effectively use the online tools available to them,” the district wrote. “Graham ISD teachers are regularly using online testing in classrooms to provide this practice.  Also, each campus in Graham ISD will participate in state developed interim assessments to experience these online tools exactly as they will appear on STAAR/EOC.”

According to TEA, the online administration of the exam allows accommodations for those with specific learning needs, provides faster test results, improves test operations and allows for new non-multiple-choice questions.

For the full story, see the Saturday, Nov. 12 edition of The Graham Leader.