State Assessment News & Updates

• April 2 🐦 - STAAR Alternate 2 Early Bird Check-in
• Time expanded to 8:30am-11:45 and 1-3pm
• April 13 - STAAR Alternate 2 Check-in
• April 14 - First Day of STAAR RLA Administration
• 2 weeks from yesterday!
• April 17 by 2pm - All RLA score codes documented on Google sheet & submitted in TIDE

(Check-in form said 1pm, but adjusted to 2pm)

• April 20 by noon - All RLA documentation saved in designated folders
• April 24 by 2pm - All SC/SS score codes documented on Google sheet & submitted in TIDE

(Check-in form said 1pm, but adjusted to 2pm)

• April 27 by noon - All SC/SS documentation saved in designated folders
• May 1 by 2pm - All M score codes documented on Google sheet & submitted in TIDE

(Check-in form said 1pm, but adjusted to 2pm)

• May 4 by noon - All M documentation saved in designated folders

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. On STAAR test days, I'm usually available a little earlier & a little later.

I uploaded several updates into TIDE last week - students and test attributes. I know many of you are putting your finishing touches on everything, so I will not upload test attributes again. I will update students next week (April 6-10) to catch anyone who has recently enrolled.

You may continue to add new students as needed according to the instructions on our Quick Guide. You may also use the request form below. You are not authorized to edit EB, SE or SA2 fields in TIDE.

🔥Hot tip: If the student was previously enrolled in another Texas campus or district, including within PfISD, call me with the student's TSDS ID. I can very easily transfer the student for you. This can help to avoid mistakes.

Please clean up your rosters in TIDE to ensure RLA, math, science and social studies teachers are attached to their students so they will have access to STAAR results when those are published in May/June. Additional rosters can be deleted. If rosters were created only for the purpose of printing tickets, please delete those rosters.

Let teachers know they will continue to have access to their accounts through June.

In July, I will begin updating access for the next school year.

I'm looking forward to seeing many of your to check-in for SA2 tomorrow. Last minute additions are welcome. The more people that check-in tomorrow, the better for all of us.

Please make sure your checklist, linked below, is accurate and complete before you arrive.

Please bring your laptop in case corrections are required.

A few things that can cause delays:

🚫 cards are packed in sealed boxes with test booklets
🚫 Non-embedded Supports are not entered on student's profile in TIDE (see photo below)
🚫 all student booklets and teacher booklets are not green in Testhound

Call me today if you have questions about checking in tomorrow. Do not save your questions for the day of your scheduled check-in.

During the Test window, March 24 - April 13, test administrators are allowed to check out materials and keep them in their room while they are being used. When not in use, materials must be returned to the campus coordinator.

Test administrators are not allowed to keep STAAR Alternate 2 materials overnight. All materials must be signed in by the campus coordinator at the end of each day.

All campuses should be 40% complete Thursday with tests completed this week submitted in TIDE. If your test administrators complete some tests Thursday, you can enter those Monday. Please do not stay late on Thursday to work on this.

I argued with myself about where to post this on the website, and I lost the argument. In the meantime, find the checklist at the link below. I know many of you like to have the checklist in hand before the administration begins.

No one reached out to say they did not receive this order from the Copy Center, so I will assume these are in your hands by now.

Every student taking one of these tests will receive a hard copy of these reference materials. For math, students will also receive the grade-appropriate grid paper.

Important: If you happen to have old copies laying around, be sure to destroy any copies of the grade 8 science reference materials. This year's version is updated to reflect the new TEKS, and it's important you use the updated version.

If you need to make additional copies, find them at this link. (Please don't run copies now! Wait to receive your delivery.)

Access Key Date below to keep your work on schedule. Please check the document periodically for updates. A printed copy is not your best friend.

When you copy seating charts to save in your designated folders, please ensure they are legible. If the writing is light, you may need to darken the copies. Colored paper can also be problematic. Please make sure these are legible before your save them in your folders.

I have updated a set of generic seating charts that you can use for consolidation. You'll want to print these to have available.

You may also choose to reassign students in Testhound and print a new seating chart. However, this is not required!

These seating charts are only allowable for consolidated test sites.

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.

Considering sharing the documents linked below with hall monitors or a few of those folks on your campus who are good at 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.

The campus principal and testing coordinator will establish a plan to communicate state assessment results in a confidential and timely manner. Staff who have an educational need to access results should be attached to a roster of students in TIDE.

TEA has provided this informative document to explain the reporting process.

Instructions for families are available here.

Campus coordinators have access to tools in TIDE to help. See "Family Portal Access."

All campuses should plan to participate in the Student Success Tool (SST) Stand-Alone Field Test scheduled for February 1-5, 2027. Field testing is usually limited to a single day, but this administration may require participation in multiple subjects over multiple days. Detailed selections for each campus are expected in August 2026.

From TEA: Building on STAAR's core strengths, SST, scheduled for implementation in 2027-2028, draws from an item bank vetted by current Texas public school teachers, with all items approved by grade- and subject-specific committees to ensure rigorous TEKS alignment. It maintains the most comprehensive set of universal accessibility accommodations available, closely mirroring those used during everyday instruction. Together, these features establish a strong foundation for Texas's transition to a new, student-centered assessment system.

Find more information here.

Please give me a call if you're having any problems in Testhound. You may notice some alerts that popped up today and yesterday as I was working on a specific campus issue with math. The solution to these problems varies by campus, so it's important that you report any problems to me so I can take a look. I expect most problems have been resolved by now, but quirky things can pop up.

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

• Testhound Tune-Ups (live work sessions, bring your questions)
• Mondays, 2:30-3pm
• Thursdays, 9-9:30am
• Bonus Wednesday session this afternoon (April 1) - not fooling

As you're putting the finishing touches on your STAAR prep, take some time to consider how you can make things easier for everyone. Most of the supplies needed for testing can be made accessible and reduce the need for you to personally respond. Save your energy for the issues that truly require your attention.

Below is a picture of Tiffany Greene's "TESTING TROLLEY" to help you think creatively. If you have another example, send me a picture! No pictures received, so this is a repeat!