State Assessment News & Updates

• Jan. 30 or Feb. 2 - STAAR Campus Coordinator Training (register in Kickup)
• Feb. 3/4 - STAAR Field Test
• Feb. 6 - 🆕 BONUS Work Session! (register in Kickup) 🆕
• Feb. 24 - March 11 - PfISD TELPAS Window (note this window is different across the state)
• March 27 - Work Session (register in Kickup)

Reach me at my desk most days from about 7:30-4:30. I'm always happy to stay later if you let me know you need help after 4:30pm.

💬Gmail Chat??? I'm trying to learn. Feel free to give it a try, and I'll do my best!

Please be familiar with the information I shared last week about Hotline Direct.

I'm running a little behind in setup, but will have everything ready to go for TELPAS in the next few days.

Next week (Feb. 2-6), watch for an announcement about TIDE & TELPAS. I'll have it ready soon and user accounts will be accessible for TELPAS CTCs who have completed the required training (see slide 125 from our training).

If you receive any requests from anyone not enrolled on your campus to participate in Spring STAAR, please refer the request to Kelly.

SPRING 2026 STAAR ADMINISTRATION

For STAAR end-of-course (EOC) assessment retesters, Cambium Assessment, Inc. (CAI) will set the Retester fields to “Spring” and the Spring EOC Eligibility fields to “Yes” in the Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE) on January 22. CAI will also set the EOC Previously Passed flags for all students who passed any EOC assessment during the December 2025 administration. Eligibility for first time testers must still be set by district personnel prior to the administration.

Many campuses launched the spring window with RLA last week. Please make sure all tests have a status of submitted when the window closes on Feb. 19.

Shout out to HHS, CMS, WMS, CES, PES, JCES, VMES, WLES, CWES & SHES for administering 2,884 RLA assessments since last week. Some of those are still in progress.

And, CMS, PCMS, WMS, CES, WES & ROES have 920 math tests submitted or in progress...most of those happening today!

Students are permitted 2 attempts for interim science and social studies assessments as long as they are 60 days apart. For our students who tested in the October 14-16 window, 60 days has expired, and students should have access to one reattempt if the campus chooses to use this option for instructional purposes.

The window for science and social studies is open through April 3.

Excellent Question Received - Why would we use the reattempt option? I don't really have a good reason, and I'm not recommending that you make use of the reattempt, just letting you know it exists. If you have another source for sound instructional data, I would choose that over having students spend time taking a test they have already seen.

• Next step will be to review Materials List that will be available in January. This is your opportunity to verify that you are receiving appropriate materials. You may need to place an additional order at this time if there have been changes since verification.
• Find your list of materials here.
• Wait for further instructions on requesting additional materials. An order form will be provided in the next few weeks. I cannot place an order at this time.
• Do not provide notice that you're receiving "extra" materials. These are the materials you are receiving and that cannot be changed.
• Additional materials requested will be available AFTER the start of the SA2 administration window.

Campus training slides are posted on our PfISD State Assessments website. Find these on the Trainings & Security menu.

A reminder that all students in grades 3, 5 and 5 who are scheduled to take STAAR Spanish in Spring 2026 are required to participate in the field test. See page 6 of the manual for more information.

TIDE is not set up for TELPAS at this time, and campus coordinators are not authorized to work on TELPAS in TIDE until further notice. You may work in Testhound. Follow instructions below to gain access.

• Years in U.S. schools was due complete and verified in Skyward by January 23. I will be pulling this information and adding to TIDE this week. I will provide instructions for you to verify in TIDE next week.
• Email Kelly if you're a prior user and are not attached to your campus when you log in to Testhound.
• Call Kelly if you're a new user and need to set up a new user account. New user accounts will not be set up by email request.

STAAR assessments, including accommodated versions, and TELPAS listening and speaking assessments and reading and writing assessments are administered online. However, some students might be eligible for special paper or holistic administrations in rare, unavoidable circumstances where students cannot access an online assessment or a testing accommodation cannot be provided in an online setting. Find more information in our State Assessment Accessibility Training slides.

Requests for TELPAS are due December 18.

Requests for Spring STAAR administrations are due January 26.

Eligibility Requirements (with examples)

Accommodation Cannot be Applied

✔️a student requires braille materials for Interims (does not require TEA approval for STAAR)

✔️a student accesses accommodations via technology that is not embedded in the Secure Test Browser

Unable to Participate in One Domain of TELPAS

✔️a student communicates with eye blinks and ARD committee has determined the student cannot be assessed by an online speaking assessment (TELPAS), student will be holistically rated in listening

✔️a student is deaf and ARD committee has determined the student cannot be assessed in listening, student will be holistically rated in speaking

Technology Access is Precluded

✔️a student experiences adverse health (seizures, spasms, headaches) when exposed to certain types of monitors

✔️a student is participating in an assessment in a setting that does not offer reliable internet access
✔️a student is precluded by a court order from accessing the internet

Be aware:
🚫A special administration will not be approved because a student knows very little English.

🚫A special administration will not be approved because a student has limited exposure to computers.
🚫A special administration will not be approved because another mode (paper, holistic) is preferred.

What is your plan to ensure technology is in good working order, updated and ready for test days? Routine technology checks are recommended. Schedule a day for everyone to launch the Secure Test Browser (or something else) in class and establish a reporting system for teachers to document the check. You'll need to have a system to capture any problems and submit "Technology Help" requests if any devices are not functioning properly.

Schedule your campus technology checks at least 4-6 week prior to a test administration to allow time for any repairs or troubleshooting.

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.

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 Auto-Pilot - February 11, 10-10:30
• Setting up Rooms & Test Administrations - February 25, 10-10:30
• Testhound Tune-Ups (live work sessions, bring your questions)
• Mondays, 2:30-3pm
• Thursdays, 9-9:30am

Click the photo below to play NYT Connections. It drives me crazy, but I managed to complete today's puzzle.