| Division
of Accountability Research
The Division of Accountability Research publishes annual
reports on secondary school completion and dropouts,
grade-level retention, college entrance examinations
(SAT and ACT), and Advanced Placement and International
Baccalaureate examinations, and a biennial report on
enrollment trends. The division also publishes the Comprehensive
Annual Report to the legislature on Texas public schools.
In addition, the division is responsible for governance
of data submissions to the Texas Education Agency.
Performance
Reporting Division
Performance Reporting is responsible for determining
district and school accountability ratings as well as
Gold Performance Acknowledgments. These are based largely
on student performance on different tests. Performance
Reporting also produces the Academic Excellence Indicator
System (AEIS) reports, Snapshot, Pocket Edition, and
the School Report Card.
Research
and Evaluation Division (now Division of Accountability
Research)
Student Assessment Division
The Student Assessment Division manages and oversees the development, administration, scoring and analysis of the statewide assessment program. The statewide assessment program includes the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), including TAKS (Accommodated), TAKS-Modified (TAKS-M), TAKS-Alternate (TAKS-Alt), the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS), and the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS).
Tests Administered by TEA
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)
In 1999 the 76th Session of the Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 103, mandating implementation of a new statewide testing program. The new testing requirements, subsequently named the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), were implemented in spring 2003. TAKS includes an accommodated form called TAKS (Accommodated) for students served by special education who meet the eligibility requirements for certain specific accommodations. The TAKS (Accommodated) form includes format accommodations and contains no embedded field-test items. TAKS and TAKS (Accommodated) are available in Spanish.
TAKS-Modified (TAKS-M)
TAKS-M is an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards and is designed for students receiving special education services who meet participation requirements for TAKS-M and for whom TAKS is not appropriate. TAKS-M covers the same grade-level content as TAKS, but the assessment itself has been simplified through modifications in format and test design.
TAKS-Alternate (TAKS-Alt)
TAKS-Alt is an alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards and is designed for students with significant cognitive disabilities who meet the participation requirements. Unlike other statewide assessments in Texas, TAKS-Alt is not a traditional paper or multiple-choice test. Instead, the assessment involves teachers observing students as they complete teacher-designed activities that link to the grade-level TEKS curriculum. Teachers then score student performance using the TAKS-alt rubric and submit results and evidence through an online instrument.
Linguistically Accommodated Testing (LAT)
LAT is a special administration of TAKS for LEP-exempt recent immigrants. Linguistic accommodations are made in order to assist students in overcoming language barriers and to provide a meaningful assessment of academic knowledge and skills.
The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS)
TELPAS is designed to assess the progress that limited English proficient (LEP) students make in learning the English language.
End-of-Course Assessments
Senate Bill (SB) 1031 mandates the development of end-of course (EOC) assessments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, Algebra II, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, English I, English II, English III, world geography, world history, and United States history. The purpose of the new EOC assessments is to measure students’ academic performance in core high school courses and to become part of the graduation requirements starting with the freshman class of 2011-2012. The EOC assessments for lower-level courses will include questions that determine readiness for advanced coursework. The assessments for higher-level courses will include a separate series of special purpose questions that measure college readiness and the need for developmental coursework in higher education. In addition, the score a student achieves on each EOC assessment will be worth 15% of the student’s final grade for that course.
Tests NOT Administered by TEA
Advanced
Placement Program
The Advanced Placement Program® is a cooperative educational endeavor between secondary schools and colleges and universities. It provides motivated high school students with the opportunity to take college-level courses in a high school setting. Students who participate in the Program not only gain college-level skills, but in many cases they also earn college credit while they are still in high school. Typically, courses and examinations are taken by 11th and 12th grade students.
ACT Assessment®
The ACT Assessment® is designed by ACT, Inc. (http://www.act.org)
to assess high school students' general educational
development and their ability to complete college-level
work. Participation is voluntary. The test is generally
administered six times a year. Students can choose to
take the test multiple times. The examination covers
four academic skill areas: English, Mathematics, Reading,
and Science Reasoning. The scores for each section range
from 1 to 36.
Participation in and performance on the ACT are indicators in the Texas public school Academic Excellence Indicator System.
Examination
for the Certification of Educators in Texas (ExCET)
General Educational Development (GED)
General Educational Development's mission is to build a capacity for consistent testing services throughout the state in order that all eligible candidates may have an opportunity to earn high school equivalency credentials based on the General Educational Development (GED) Tests.
International
Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate Organization's Diploma Program was created in 1968 and provides a demanding pre-university course of study that leads to examinations that are recognized in over 100 countries around the world. It is designed for highly motivated secondary school students in their junior/senior years. Schools wishing to offer IB courses must go through an application process and be approved by IBO.
SAT®
The SAT® is developed by the College Board (http://www.collegeboard.com)
to assess high school students' readiness for college-level
work. Participation is voluntary. The examination is
generally administered seven times a year. Students
can choose to take the test multiple times. The SAT
I: Reasoning Test consists of three sections: Critical Reading, Writing and
Mathematics. The scores for each section range from
200 to 800.
Participation in and performance on the SAT are indicators
in the Texas public school Academic Excellence Indicator
System.
Texas
Examination of Current Administrators & Teachers(TECAT)
Contact TEA
Web Administration with questions about this page.
This page last updated
October 14, 2008
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