State Assessment News & Updates

• TODAY, Monday & Tuesday - I'm at my desk! Feel free to call.
• Sept. 24 & Sept. 26 - Interims & TIDE Training (register in Kickup)
• Sept. 29 - Out of office at R13 for training
• Sept. 30 - Work Session
• Oct. 20 - HOLIDAY!
• Oct. 24 & Oct. 27 - State Assessment Accessibility Training (register in Kickup)

Planning for Interims (Window 2) for Science & Social Studies should be well underway at this time.

• Key Dates for Interims
• Campus Planning Guide

This morning (Friday), I have 19,000+ test attributes processing in TIDE for about 2600 students. I'll continue adding these next week. You should see these later this morning.

Accommodations for EB students will likely need to be manually added/updated in TIDE.

Each campus coordinator is required to attend Interims/TIDE training on 9/24 or 9/26.

There is space for one additional attendee per campus. You are welcome to invite another attendee to register for a different session. You should not register for the same session to avoid having multiple staff off campus at the same time.

As always, be sure the verify the date, time and location in Kickup before you head to the session.

Those listed below are those who are registered for our upcoming training on either 9/24 or 9/26. If you are not listed, please register in Kickup right away. This list is accurate as of Thursday afternoon.

Give me a call if you have questions no later than 1 day prior to the session.

• BANKS, DAVID ✅
• BONILLA, LISA ✅
• BURLESON, CHERYL ✅
• CARLSON, FRANK ✅
• CATTERTON, KELLY EILEEN ✅
• CHAPA, INA ✅
• GABBERT, CARI ✅
• LATTORRE, STEPHANIE ✅
• LEDAY, PAMELA ✅
• MATYSEK, ANGELA ✅
• MOYER, NICOLE ✅
• OKPALA, JACQUELINE ✅
• PAYNE, MELISSA ✅
• PEREZ, MILTON ✅
• PITCHFORD, D'JON ✅
• RANGEL, MELISSA ✅
• ROBERTS, LESLEY ✅
• ROBERTS, LESLEY 😮
• SCHUSTER, ELIZABETH ✅
• Smith, Christie ✅
• STARNES, VALERIE ✅
• STELLY, CHRISTOPHER ✅
• TORRES, KIMBERLY ✅
• VELA, AMANDA ✅
• WATSON, TRISTAN ✅
• WILCOTT, DANA ✅
• WILLIAMS, LATOIYA ✅
• WILLIS, CRYSTAL ✅

Campus coordinators for state assessments should be reading the weekly Principals' Newsletter. Additionally, I will send a weekly email most weeks. Please be sure to schedule time to read each weekly email.

If you need to catch up on my weekly email, find links on the Resources page of our PfISD State Assessments website. You'll find last week's email there if you missed it.

Find the archives of the weekly PfISD Principals' Newsletter at this link. If you're not receiving these, ask your principal to get you added to the mailing list.

The campus coordinator is responsible for the appropriate use of user roles. Most campus users will be teachers who are attached to students via rosters created by the campus coordinator. A few examples of how user accounts may be configures is below.

• An LPAC or other program administrator will be assigned the Teacher (TE) user role and assigned to a roster with all students who participate in the program.
• Counselors will be assigned a Teacher (TE) user role and be assigned to a roster of grade level/alpha students.
• Interventionists may be assigned a Teacher (TE) user role and be assigned to a roster of the group of students that they routinely work with.
• The Campus Report Viewer (CRV) user role may be assigned to select staff who have an educational need to access results for students across the campus. This user role should be used sparingly.
• Only campus staff employed as principal, assistant/associate or administrative interns may be assigned the Principal (PR) user role.
• The campus coordinator is not authorized to assign the Campus Coordinator (CTC) user role.

Refer to the user role matrix to understand what each user role can access.

Campus Coordinators will refer to our Quick Guide for instructions on creating user accounts, rosters and other tasks in TIDE. Failure to adhere to these instructions can ultimately impact reporting of state assessment results that will impact accountability calculations.

The Quick Guide may need some minor updates after TIDE's recent refresh, but the gist of the detailed instructions remains the same.

To maintain your user account in TIDE, complete the trainings noted below.

Returning Campus Coordinators

• "What's New for 2025-2026 in TIDE and TDS" (11 minutes)
• Managing Secure Test Materials (12 minutes)

Campus Coordinators Who Are New to the Role in PfISD

• TIDE Module 1: Systems Overview and User Management (18 minutes)
• TIDE Module 2: Preparing for Testing (34 minutes)
• TIDE Module 3: During and After Testing (24 minutes)
• Managing Secure Test Materials (12 minutes)

Additional trainings in the LMS are available and you are welcome to complete any that you are interested in.

The Departments of Curriculum & Innovation, Counseling, College & Career Readiness & Accountability & Assessment are collaborating on a districtwide plan to ensure equitable access for PfISD students to meet the TSIA2.0 College Readiness benchmark.

All high schools will administer TSIA2.0 according to our TSIA 2.0 Protocols & Procedures. The P&P include a worksheet each campus will use to plan the upcoming administration that will be scheduled September 22 - October 30. The worksheet for general planning is due completed no later than Friday, September 12.

Additional information, including a communication plan, will be shared in September.

If you're a high school campus coordinator, you are invited to share this with the person who will oversee TSIA2.0 if it's not you. This information will also be shared in tomorrow's weekly email to campus administrators.

As the campus coordinator for STAAR, you have already marked training dates on your calendar based on the schedule I have shared.

New coordinators for STAAR have been invited to an introduction at the end of August. No registration is necessary for this session.

Registration is now available in Kickup for the following sessions:

• Interims & TIDE, Sept. 24 & 26
• Space available for more than 1 person from each campus if registered in different sessions. We will not have multiple people from the same campus attending the same session. This session is not for those with classroom teaching duties.
• Work Session, Sept. 30
• Accessibility, Oct. 24 & 27
• Space available for more than 1 person from each campus if registered in different sessions. We will not have multiple people from the same campus attending the same session. This session is not for those with classroom teaching duties.
• December STAAR EOC (High Schools only), Oct. 30
• Work Sessions, Dec. 12 & 15

TIP: Search "State Assessments" in Kickup to find these sessions.

The day prior to each session, please confirm time and location in Kickup. If you export the event to your calendar, any changes in Kickup will not be reflected in your calendar.

Resources for upcoming trainings as well as other resources for use during each administration are available and periodically updated.

Be sure you have this site bookmarked.

For all state assessment programs, each student will test on a PfISD managed device. Chromebooks are preferred. Devices used for state assessments should be routinely used in class. No installation is required for Chromebooks, and the Secure Test Browser is accessed as noted on the document linked below.

If additional devices are needed, Windows devices (laptops, desktops) may be used. The campus coordinator is responsible for installing the Secure Test Browser for 2025-2026 on Windows devices. Installation is completed once (according to the instructions below) in the current school year and is effective for all administrations.

✅Each campus coordinator for state assessments is expected to be knowledgeable of all devices, including headphones and headsets, on campus. Routine technology checks throughout the school year are encouraged to ensure all devices are accounted for and in working order.

Testhound staff will be in Pflugerville ISD to offer live in-person training! Join us.

• September 30, 9-12 - This is a work session, and in-person help will be provided on request. Use this time to get set up in Testhound for Interims, PSAT or another campus administration. (The work session is full day, but Testhound support staff will be present in the am only.)

Bring your questions or anything you have wondered about and Ros will be available to help!

Find the link and/or preregister at this link (must be logged in to Testhound).

When logged into Testhound, click "Help" to find more information and links to register or access recordings.

• From "Help", navigate to
• "Register for a Live TestHound Educational Session" or
• "Watch a Recorded Testhound Educational Session.

Upcoming Sessions

• Campus Exclusions (High School) - Sept. 24, 10-10:30
• Getting Ready for December STAAR EOC (High School) - October 15, 10-10:30
• Testhound Tune-Ups (live work sessions, bring your questions)
• Mondays, 2:30-3pm
• Thursdays, 9-9:30am

"Like the rest of your organs, the brain requires energy to complete its dizzying number of functions, the primary source of which is the food you consume.

Nutrient-rich ingredients provide the brain with the resources it needs to protect itself from oxidative stress, rebuild cells, maintain cognitive functions, and control the production of neurotransmitters, which play a crucial role in mood regulation and emotional well-being." Learn more.