• Good news! You should be able to catch me at my desk over the next few weeks! ☎️
• February 24 - March 12 - TELPAS
• March 15-23 - SPRING BREAK 🌹
• March 27 - Work Session (register and confirm details in Kickup), See some suggested tasks at the end of this email 💻
• April 18 - HOLIDAY! 🐰

If you need to catch up, find links to this newsletter on the Resources page of our PfISD State Assessments website.

STAAR coordinators will receive a delivery via campus mail by Friday of this week. This delivery will include SECURE STAAR Alternate 2 materials and STAAR Test Administrator Manuals.

Please make sure your staff in the main office has been trained and submitted oaths so they can receive the materials and temporarily secure them for you. Do not assume you will be available to receive because the driver will not wait for you. The courier will snap a picture to document the materials were delivered, and you must have someone who can grab the box(es) to temporarily secure until you are available. You will secure in your designated file cabinet/drawer.

Boxes will vary, but will look something like the photo (upper right). Boxes are marked "Pearson" and are addressed to Kelly Bertholf with your campus listed on the shipping label. We will add a label that includes your name.

😮❗If you have not submitted your Secure Storage form, you will not receive SA2 secure materials, and will need to schedule a time to pick these up after your form has been submitted. Confirm your form has been submitted at this link.

Boxes will not look like these...

There are 3 required steps to ensure materials are properly received and inventoried.

STEP 1: Confirm Shipping Notice & Box Contents Match

STEP 2: Verify Labels on Packets & Confirm Contents of Each Package Match

STEP 3: “Receive Materials” in Testhound

• You will need a bar code scanner for Step 3. Each campus was issued or purchased a yellow/black Testhound barcode scanner. However, most bar code scanners will work. You may be able to borrow one for a brief time from your librarian.

Each principal and campus coordinator is responsible for ensuring that all eligible students participate in the TELPAS & STAAR administrations, including alternate assessments. For students who do not participate, usually due to an absence in Skyward, we are required to retain auditable documentation for 5 years.

<<LINK INCLUDED HERE IN YOUR THE EMAIL YOU RECEIVED on 2.20.2025.>>

“S” (for score) is automatically assigned to a test submitted by a student with no further action required by the campus coordinator. All other tests require documentation that is auditable.

The deadlines are very tight with absolutely no flexibility due to TEA's deadlines. All score codes are required to be submitted in TIDE no later than:

• TELPAS & TELPAS Alternate – due March 12
• STAAR Alternate 2 – due April 13
• April STAAR RLA – due no later than 4pm on April 17 (BEFORE April 18 holiday)
• April STAAR SC/SC – due no later than noon on April 25
• May STAAR Mathematics – due no later than noon on May 2

Detailed instructions are included on the first tab of the document linked above.

You may want to train another administrator or trusted staff person to help monitor attendance, prepare for make-ups and maintain this documentation for each day of testing. While score codes will be submitted in TIDE only at the very end of the administration, you will not wait until the end of the administration to begin putting this documentation together.

It is imperative that great care is taken when documenting score codes in TIDE. Making corrections is not always possible, and score codes impact state accountability calculations.

Score code documentation and submission in TIDE is a priority, as noted above. After score codes are documented and submitted in TIDE, the campus coordinator will ensure required documentation is saved in the designated locations. Required documentation is due no later than:

• TELPAS – due March 12
• Check-in Form is available on our PfISD State Assessments website. Find it on the "Administrations" menu by expanding TELPAS.
• STAAR Alternate 2 – due April 13 (or April 2 for Early Birds)
• April STAAR RLA – due no later than noon on Monday, April 21
• April STAAR SC/SC – due no later than noon on Monday, April 28
• May STAAR Mathematics – due no later than noon on Monday, May 5

Each campus has a "Documentation" folder that includes subfolders by administration with subfolders for each of the required documents. Refer to your check-in document for instructions.

Find your folders here: S:\StateAssessments\<<YOUR CAMPUS>>\2024-2025\Documentation

FYI - Google has resolved this issue.

Some users are receiving a "sso4.cambiumast.com is blocked" error when logging into various modules of TIDE (LMS, CRS, etc...).

In TIDE, you may see a banner with a link to a survey. "The Student Assessment Division at the Texas Education Agency is seeking your input on reporting products provided to districts and campuses for the Texas Assessment Program. This information will assist us in making future enhancement decisions."

The survey is specific to early, preliminary and final reporting files. If you don't know the difference in these reports, your input may not be helpful. If you choose to submit the survey, please ask for the following 2 things in the comment box at the end:

1. Include Rosters with Preliminary Reports (rather than Final).
2. Add state level data to Item Analysis.

I will continue adding students in TIDE, with an emphasis on EB students almost daily. Find the lists of updates/deletions at this link and check your email for any campus-specific notices I may have shared.

If you must manually add a student, use our "Quick Guide..." available at this link.

🚫❌Campus coordinators will not adjust eligibility for alternate tests, and will not change EB indicator in TIDE.❌🚫

TELPAS updates will be shared with TELPAS campus coordinators daily. A weekly update will be shared with a larger audience, including campus principals and district leaders, on Thursday.

You can review the updates at this link.

Thank you for completing "years" in TIDE last week. Please continue to verify and/or complete "Years in U.S. Schools" in TIDE for new students as they enroll. Instructions

If you have a newly enrolled/identified student who is not available to you in TIDE and/or is not identified as EB in TIDE, please add your student to this list below for further review. Check the list daily for updates.

Campus coordinators are not authorized to add or change the EB field in TIDE.

Campus coordinators will upload holistic ratings into TIDE. Instructions and a template will be shared soon. Watch your email for your template.

Please use the "Advanced Search" function in TIDE to confirm students identified by ARD committee to participate in STAAR Alternate 2 are properly marked in TIDE to participate in TELPAS Alternate.

Do not make any changes to Alternate fields in TIDE. Contact Kelly if you identify a student who is not properly marked in TIDE. Be sure to have the TSDS ID handy when you call.

The Test Administration Manuals state that, "For EB students who request assistance, test administrators are allowed to paraphrase, translate, repeat, or read aloud these directions and the directions that introduce particular test sections or question types, as long as the substance of the directions is not changed."

In Pflugerville ISD, on test days, we will only allow translations by the test administrator, as stated in the manuals. If a teacher routinely translates directions for a student, please be sure the assigned test administrator is also able to translate on student request. (The student must make the request on test days.)

For students who routinely request directions to be translated and use other means (not the teacher) during instruction, you may choose to translate test administration directions in the weeks prior to testing for a teacher to review with the student prior to the day of the test. This includes the use of an online translation. This must be done by a trained test administrator or the campus coordinator who is responsible for the accuracy of the translation. These directions will not be used on the day of the assessment.

To ensure each campus is well-prepared to begin the upcoming administrations, here are some technology-related tips that may be helpful.

Did you know I receive an email any time a student types alarming text on a state assessment, including interims? The text can be a constructed response or on the sticky note or note pad tools.

If I receive an alert for a student on your campus, I try to notify the campus principal and STAAR coordinator. In some cases, I also include a counselor. You'll receive an email similar to this:

Constructed text a student submits on state assessments is flagged if the text raises a concern for the well-being of the student or others. This includes text in constructed responses as well as the embedded sticky notes and notepad features

Please review the attached text (highlighted in the last column) and follow-up appropriately. How you choose to follow up will depend on prior knowledge of this student.

At the very least, please let the student know that all responses and text on the embedded notepad or sticky notes are read, taken seriously and referred for follow-up if needed.

Reminder: In an effort to assist you in meeting the Safe & Supportive Schools reporting requirements, this incident may need to be documented and reported.

Please respond to this email to confirm that you have reviewed the alert and taken action as you see necessary. (I only need one person to respond.) I do not need to know what action you have taken, just that you have received this alert and followed up appropriately.

STAAR Alternate 2 & STAAR test administrator trainings must be documented here.

Slides for STAAR Alternate 2 Test Administrator Training have been posted. Test administrators should participate in training February 18-28. Training documentation is due complete no later than February 28.

Slides for STAAR Test Administrator Training are posted. Campus trainings for STAAR will not begin before March 25. All trainings and documentation should be complete no later than April 11 (or April 25 for STAAR Mathematics).

Find training slides on the Trainings & Security menu of the PfISD State Assessment website.

STAAR Alternate materials that each campus will receive are listed on this document. Please review this list to ensure you are receiving sufficient materials for all students identified to participate in STAAR Alternate 2. Use the "Enrolled Campus Expected Shipment" column.

👉NOW is the time to place an order for additional materials. Orders are due no later than noon on March 5. You will need to identify the proper form number from your Materials List (shared above) and also provide the local ID # for each student for whom the materials are being requested. These materials will be available sometime after spring break.

I have ordered reference materials to be copied and delivered to the campus coordinator by April 1. Please mark your calendar to expect these in March and notify me no later than April 1 if you do not have these in your hands. (I said at training you would need to order these, but it seemed like everyone wanted copies, so I have already submitted the order.)

You should be prepared to make additional copies if you do not receive sufficient quantities. Find the materials at this link to make copies AFTER you receive the quantities I have ordered.

ES - Mathematics reference materials by grade enrollment and grid paper; a small quantity of Spanish have been ordered for bilingual campuses

MS - Mathematics reference materials by grade enrollment and grid paper; Algebra 1 reference materials by enrollment and grid paper; science reference materials by grade

HS - Algebra 1 reference materials by enrollment

Do you have something to share? Send a photo or video with text!

Always check here first when you are looking for something that I have shared.

Resources from recent trainings as well as other resources for use during each administration are available and periodically updated. Be sure you have this site bookmarked.

👉Ellevation Update:

I've finally found a process that prevents Ellevation from sending accommodations to Testhound. Here's what happens:

• An LPAC administrator asks teachers to make recommendations for accommodations in Ellevation.
• When the teacher goes into Ellevation and makes recommendations, these recommendations override what was previously marked and NOTHING IS SENT TO TH.
• Your LPAC administrator has to go into Ellevation and accept those recommendations.
• When this is completed, TH will receive an update (overnight).

Upcoming Training Opportunities - Preregister at this link (must be logged in to Testhound).

• Testhound Tune-Ups (live work sessions, bring your questions)
• Thursday, February 27, 9:00-9:30 AM CT
• Monday, March 3, 2-2:30 PM CT
• Thursday, March 6, 9-9:30 AM CT
• Monday, March 10, 2-2:30 PM CT
• Thursday, March 13, 9-9:30 AM CT
• Test Attributes Report, Wednesday, February 26, 10-10:30 AM CT
• Scanning Test Books Back to Boxes (STAAR Alt 2), Wednesday, March 5, 10-10:30 AM CT
• Test Configuration - Assign by Period, Wednesday, March 12, 10-10:30 AM CT
• Test Configuration - Assign by Capacity, Wednesday, March 19, 10-10:30 AM CT
• Filter by Accommodation, Wednesday, March 26, 10-10:30 AM CT
• Consolidating Rooms on Test Day, Wednesday, April 2, 10-10:30 AM CT

WLES students welcoming Testhound and celebrating Black History Month. 🐶

Share your puppy pics here, please! Include the name of your campus when you save your photo in the designated folder.

Thursday, March 27, Confirm time and location in Kickup

Individual assistance as needed. TIDE & Testhound support available at all sessions. Attendees may come and go at any time, but all must register in advance. Bring laptops and other necessary resources. Confirm time and location in Kickup.

Suggested Tasks: Final preparations for April/May STAAR administrations