Testing at Moreno

Introduction

This page was especially designed for parents of students at Joe E. Moreno Elementary who are interested in learning about tests their children will be taking during the school year 2007 - 2008.
We will focus on state and national tests since these test results give us important information (data) to make better educational decisions at classroom and school level. We will also discuss briefly the basis of assessment which is another important part in the process of evaluating your child.
Parents, at Joe E. Moreno Elementary school, your child has several tests and assessments during the year as many other students in Texas and in the United States of America. The number and type of tests depend on your child's grade level and if he/she is in a regular or bilingual program.
It is very important that you as a parent understand what testing and assessment is and the impact that these test results will have on your child's education. The following information will help you to be aware of the importance of your support during the school year, not only to your son/daughter but also to your child's teacher.
You as a parent, play an important role in your child education especially when the time for testing is approaching. Please read the next information carefully and ask your child's teacher if you have questions or concerns.

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Definition of test and assessment

Tests are instruments or tools that help in the process of evaluating students, the curriculum (resources and materials used, and courses or lessons taught), and teaching methods.
Tests are:

	developed or selected,
	administered to the class, and
	scored.

Assessment is the information collected from tests and other measurement instruments like portfolios, checklists, grading scales, observations in the classroom, etc. This information is critically evaluated and integrated with relevant background and contextual information.
Testing is part of assessment. The purpose of testing is to collect objective information (tests) that may be used in conjunction with subjective information (assessment). Then, test results and assessment are used to make decisions about students (to assign a grade, recommend for an advanced program), instruction (repeat, review, or move on a lesson), curriculum (replace, revise), or other educational factors.

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DEFINITION OF SOME TYPES OF TESTS AND ASSESSMENTS
Teacher made Tests/Assessments are the tests/assessments created by the teacher according to the objectives (subject matter) that has been taught in the classroom.	Text Adoption Tests/Assessments are the type that come with the adoption textbooks or programs used in the classroom. These tests/assessments are designed to measure your child's achievement of the subject/matter studied using the textbooks or programs.
Norm-Referenced Tests: compare a student's performance to a norm table based on a nationally representative sample, called a norm group or normative sample, of students in the same grade and of a similar age. It means that your child's test results are compared to other student's results across the country in the same grade and of similar age. They help educators to make decisions using the data obtained, and find out what students know and are able to do. The content of these tests is broad, covers many objectives.	Criterion-Referenced Tests: are tests that have a criterion established directly from the instructional objectives. A criterion is a specific level of acceptable performance. In other words, these tests measure your child's performance in few, but important objectives for example reading comprehension. They give the teachers useful information they can use when planning activities and resources used in the classroom, or intervention strategies for your child when needed. The content of these tests is narrow. GO BACK TO TOP
Student Portfolio: is a planned collection of students achievement or success that documents what a students has accomplished and the steps taken to get there.	Classroom Performance: is your child's participation in class, work products, effort on completing tasks, team work, participation in class, etc.
Checklist: is a group of skills, abilities, or behaviors that your child shows in the classroom. They are scored as either present or absent. Checklist are better for procedures. Example: checklist for using a microscope.	Teacher Observations: is a group of skills or abilities observed by the teacher/evaluator that your child shows in the classroom through work products, assignments, team work, participation in class, etc. GO BACK TO TOP
Performance Test: use direct measure of learning rather than indicators that suggest cognitive, affective, or psychomotor processes have taken place. It can require five types of accomplishments from learners: products, complex cognitive processes, observable performance, habits of minds, and social skills.	Rating Scales: assign numbers to categories representing different degrees of performance and not just present or absent behavior as in a checklist. They are more suitable for attitudes, products, and social skills.
Rubrics: are scoring standards composed of model answers that are used to score performance tests. Student's performance is compared to samples of acceptable responses. Ex. In TAKS Writing test, teacher/rater uses rubrics to score student's essay.	Holistic Scoring: estimates the overall quality of a performance by giving a single numerical value to represent a specific category of accomplishment. Ex. In TOP test, teacher/rater uses holistic scoring to evaluate students.

Important dates for testing at Moreno Elementary
NOTE: click on the test name to get a brief description.
Start	End	TEST	Participants
2007
September 10	September 21	TPRI and Tejas-Lee	Grades 1 - 2
October 1	October 12	TPRI and Tejas-Lee	Kindergarten
November 5	November 9	NNAT	Grades K and 5
2008		GO BACK TO TOP
January 14	January 24	Stanford 10 and Aprenda 3	K, 1, 2, 3,4, and 5
January 23	February 5	TPRI and Tejas-Lee	Grades K, 1, and 2
March 5	March 5	TAKS Writing (English and Spanish)	Grade 4
		TAKS M Writing	Grade 4
		TAKS Reading (English and Spanish)	Grades 3 and 5
March 5	March 6	TAKS (English & Spanish) & TAKS M Reading MAKE-UP	Grades 3 and 5
March 5	March 6	TAKS & TAKS M Writing MAKE UP	Grade 4
March 17	April 11	TELPAS (RPTE and TOP) administration window GO BACK TO TOP	All LEP students in Grades K, 1, 2,3,4, and 5
April 1	April 14	High Frequency Words Exam	Grades 1 and 2
April 7	April 7	LAT Math	Grade 5
April 8	April 8	TAKS (English and Spanish) and TAKS M Math	Grade 5
April 15	April 28	TPRI and Tejas-Lee	Grades K,1, and 2
April 28	April 28	LAT Math	Grades 3 and 4
April 29	April 29	LAT Reading	GradeS 3, 4, & 5
		TAKS Math(English and Spanish) & TAKS M Math GO BACK TO TOP	GradeS 3, 4, & 5
			Grades 3, and 4
April 30	April 30	TAKS Reading (English and Spanish)	Grade 4
May 1	May 1	TAKS Science (English and Spanish)	Grade 5
May 1	May 1	TAKS M Science	Grade 5
May 2	May 2	LAT Science	Grade 5
May 13	May 13	TAKS Math (English and Spanish)	Retesters Grade 5
June 18	June 20	High Frequency Words Exam	Grades 1 an 2
To Be Designed	TBD	Summer School released TAKS administration Reading and or Math	Grade 4
TBD	TBD	High Frequency Words	Grades 1 and 2

TEST DESCRIPTION

TPRI (Texas Primary Reading Inventory) is a criterion-referenced test focused on reading and comprehension for students in regular classes grades Kindergarten through 2.

Tejas-Lee is a criterion-referenced test focused on reading and comprehension for students in bilingual classes in grades Kindergarten through 2.

NNAT (Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test) is a norm-referenced test that has seven levels and evaluates nonverbal (numerals or drawings) abilities without requiring the student to read, write or speak. It is designed for students in kindergarten through grade 12.

Stanford 10 is a norm-referenced test that has multiple choice questions and is used to measure achievement in Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies for student in regular classes, grades Kindergarten to 12. GO BACK TO TEST DATES

Aprenda 3 is a norm-referenced test in Spanish that has multiple choice questions and is used to measure achievement in Reading and Math for students in bilingual classes in grades K - 12.

TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) is a state test that measures the statewide curriculum in reading at Grades 3-9; in writing at Grades 4 and 7; in English Language Arts at Grades 10 and 11; in mathematics at Grades 3-11; in science at Grades 5,10, and 11; and social studies at Grades 8, 10, and 11. The Spanish TAKS in math and reading is administered at Grades 3 through 6; in writing at Grade 4; and science in Grade 5. Satisfactory performance on the TAKS at Grade 11 is prerequisite to a high school diploma.

TELPAS (Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment) is an assessment system that has two components: The Reading Proficiency Tests in English (RPTE) and the Texas Observation Protocols (TOP). Both Components are designed to assess the progress that limited English proficient (LEP) students make in learning the English language.

RPTE (Reading Proficency Tests in English). The RPTE are designed to measure annual growth in the English reading proficiency of second language learners, and are used along with English and Spanish TAKS to provide a comprehensive assessment system for limited English proficient (LEP) students. LEP students in Grades 3-12 are required to take the RPTE until they achieve a rating of "advanced". GO BACK TO TEST DATES

TOP (Texas Observation Protocols) facilitates the teachers to rate each LEP student's English language proficiency in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing holistically (using student's observation and information obtained in the classroom) by using the proficiency levels descriptors in the observation protocols in the Rater Administration Manual.

High Frequency Words is a list of frequent words designed to assess students ability to read the higher number of words in a specific time.

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