2. What assessments will grade 3-8 students who are enrolled in one or more high school courses with a STAAR EOC assessment need to take?

EOC for Grade 8 and below

Students in grades 3-8 who are also enrolled in a high school course with a STAAR end-of-course (EOC) assessment will take that STAAR EOC assessment. Local district policies will determine whether students in grades 3-8 who are also enrolled in a high school course with STAAR EOC assessments are required to take the corresponding STAAR grade-level assessment. However, they must take all other subject area STAAR grade-level assessments. For example, a grade 8 student enrolled in Algebra I will take STAAR grade 8 reading, science, and social studies as well as STAAR Algebra I. Local school district policy will determine whether this grade 8 student will also take the STAAR grade 8 mathematics assessment.

The bridge studies will identify the existing TAKS performance standards on the new STAAR EOC assessments for English I reading and Algebra I for enrolled grades 8 and lower. The STAAR EOC English I reading and Algebra I for enrolled grades 8 and lower will be bridged to TAKS Met Standard for grade 9 reading and mathematics. Students in grades 3-8 will be considered passing on the STAAR EOC assessments for AYP purposes only, if those students meet the TAKS grade 9 performance standard mapped onto the STAAR assessment.

A very small number of Texas students in grades 8 and below may be enrolled in a high school course other than English I reading and Algebra I. End of course assessments for these students include English II reading, Geometry and Algebra II with performance standards measured at the STAAR phase-in standard as required for graduation. Texas will include each of these assessments in the evaluation of AYP Reading or Mathematic results for students in grades 8 and below. Note that it was not possible to establish a TAKS equivalency standard for these assessments since there was not sufficient content alignment or overlap with a corresponding TAKS high school assessment.

3. How will the EOC tests be used in 2012 AYP?

The STAAR Bridge Study for AYP was approved by the USDE on February 17, 2012. Because of this approval, the STAAR EOC tests of grade 3-8 students enrolled in high school courses will be used for 2012 AYP. It should not be necessary for these students to take both the STAAR EOC and STAAR grade level tests for AYP purposes.

If local districts require students to take both the STAAR EOC and STAAR grade-level test, the passing assessment result will be used for AYP calculations in the case where a student passes only one of the two assessments within the same content area.

4. What are the assessment and performance standards for 2011-2012 AYP Evaluations?

Assessment and Performance Standards for 2011-2012 AYP Evaluations

Enrolled Grades	Assessment	Performance Standard Planned for AYP Calculations
Grade 3-8	STAAR (English and Spanish) reading and mathematics*	Bridged to TAKS Met Standard
	STAAR Modified reading and mathematics	Bridged to TAKS-M Met Standard
	STAAR Alternate reading and mathematics	Bridged to TAKS-Alt Met Standard
	STAAR EOC English I reading and Algebra I*	Bridged to TAKS Met Standard for grade 9 reading and mathematics
	STAAR Modified EOC English I reading and Algebra I	No Standard Available - performance results not included in AYP. Students counted as participants only.
	STAAR EOC English II reading, Geometry and Algebra II*	STAAR Phase-in Standard**
	STAAR Modified EOC English II reading and Geometry	Not operational / results not included in AYP
Grade 10	TAKS and TAKS (Accommodated) ELA and mathematics*	TAKS Met Standard
	TAKS-M ELA and mathematics*	TAKS-M Met Standard
	STAAR Alternate EOC English I and Algebra I	Bridged to TAKS-Alt Met Standard for grade 9 reading and mathematics
	STAAR Alternate EOC English II and Geometry	Bridged to TAKS-Alt Met Standard for grade 10 reading and mathematics

                  *   Includes linguistically accommodated assessments, where applicable
                **   A small number of students in middle school grades enrolled in high school courses
                      are required to meet the STAAR phase-in standard to satisfy their
                      End-of-Course testing requirements for graduation.

Upon approval of the USDE, Texas will use the assessments above to evaluate 2012 AYP.

5. When will the performance results used for 2012 AYP be reported to districts?

The bridge study will be conducted following the Spring 2012 STAAR administrations. Districts will receive an electronic student level data file, including results of the bridge study, as shown in the table below.

For detailed information on reporting dates for STAAR assessments, including bridge study results, see the Student Assessment website.

Data Reported to School Districts

Enrolled Grades	Assessment	Data File Provided to Districts
Grades 5 & 8	STAAR (English and Spanish) reading and mathematics*	May 25, 2012
	STAAR Modified reading and mathematics
	STAAR Alternate reading and mathematics	June 29, 2012
	STAAR EOC English I reading and Algebra I*
	STAAR Modified EOC English I reading and Algebra I
	STAAR EOC English II reading, Geometry and Algebra II*	June 8, 2012
	STAAR Modified EOC English II reading and Geometry	Not operational / no results reported
Grades 3, 4, 6, & 7	STAAR (English and Spanish) reading and mathematics*	June 29, 2012
	STAAR Modified reading and mathematics
	STAAR Alternate reading and mathematics
	STAAR EOC English I reading and Algebra I*
	STAAR Modified EOC English I reading and Algebra I
	STAAR EOC English II reading, Geometry and Algebra II*
	STAAR Modified EOC English II reading and Geometry	Not operational / no results reported
Grade 10	TAKS and TAKS (Accommodated) ELA and mathematics*	May 23, 2012
	TAKS-M ELA and mathematics*
	STAAR Alternate EOC English I and Algebra I	June 29, 2012
	STAAR Alternate EOC English II and Geometry

                  *   Includes linguistically accommodated assessments, where applicable

6. When will information about the approved 2012 Texas AYP workbook be posted on AYP's website?

Information on the approved 2012 Texas AYP Workbook will be posted on this website as soon as approval is received from the USDE.

7. Will the STAAR Bridge Study for AYP provide sufficient information to measure improvement in student performance from 2011 to 2012? Will school districts receive that information? New!

Yes, the bridge study results will allow us to evaluate Safe Harbor/Improvement for the 2012 AYP calculations. As in previous years, the 2012 AYP data tables will display the performance gains in the percent of students meeting the 2012 estimated TAKS standard compared to the percent of students who actually met the TAKS standard in 2011.

The student data files that districts receive from Pearson by June 29 (see Question 5 above) will contain a field associated with the TAKS Met Standard outcome (Met Equivalent Standard in TAKS Reading and Met Equivalent Standard in TAKS Mathematics). These data may be used by the district to compute additional summary results of STAAR performance that can be compared to prior year TAKS performance.

Additional summary reports of the STAAR results bridged-to-TAKS standards will not be provided to school districts.