Texas Educators’ Ultimate Guide to Prepare for STAAR Testing

With making sure that you are staying on pace with curriculum guides, practicing test-taking procedures and strategies, and providing the targeted preparation and reinforcement individual students need, spring testing season can quickly begin to feel overwhelming for educators. The good news is that a little research and planning can go a long way toward ensuring that you’re able to provide the support students need to be successful on their State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). We’ve gathered all of the most useful, detailed, and relevant resources to help you put an outstanding test-preparation program into action.

STAAR Preparation resources from the Texas Education Agency

When it comes to testing, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the authority. And, the TEA has a great collection of free resources for educators! We’ve done the legwork of combing through the TEA library to find the best STAAR materials. First, get started by checking out the list of testing dates for the STAAR. For the latest resources, check out these pages:

Assessment Resources for Teachers and Administrators
This site is a great starting place for all things testing. As additional resources roll out, this can continue to be your home base. You can also sign up to receive state testing updates.

STAAR FAQ
Get your questions answered in this comprehensive FAQ document.

Released Tests
Educators can use and review these sample and released test questions with students. These test forms will ensure that students know what types of questions to expect on the assessment. The answer keys are provided as well.

Assessment Resources for Students and Parents
This page provides a host of resources for students and families.

STAAR Test-Preparation Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices for Classroom Teachers

STAAR prep doesn’t have to dominate your classroom agenda this spring. By getting started early, utilizing formative assessment strategies, and making the most of practice testing, teachers in the classroom can provide students with individualized support without sacrificing time from the standard curriculum (and of course, fun!). Check out these resources to get started.

[Classroom Practice] Are Your Students Using Effective Learning Techniques?
With so many study techniques out there, how do you know which ones work? In this post, we dive into the research and discover which techniques can improve knowledge attainment and retention, and which aren’t worth spending time on.

5 Proven Ways to Get the Most Out of Practice Testing
The old adage “practice makes perfect” is a familiar turn of phrase for a reason. Ensure that you’re getting the most out of every minute your students are spending on practice testing.

3 Ways Online Practice Can Support Your Test-Prep Program  
As you are considering different options to ensure that your students have achieved standards proficiency, it’s critical that you have a program that’s aligned to the TEKS. Consider this and other benefits of using an online program.

4 Best Practices to Use Midyear Benchmark Assessment Data
Like any assessment, midyear benchmarks are only as valuable as the strategies you employ using the data. Here are four ways to make these assessments a truly valuable exercise for you and your students.

Marzano-Validated Best Practices for Online Practice
The Edmentum research team was honored to have Marzano Research peer review a research project that we conducted for our classroom practice and assessment program, Study Island. Through that review, Marzano confirmed our findings about the effectiveness of Study Island, and we also uncovered four best practices to help students get the most out of online practice.

General Test-Prep and Test-Taking Tips for Educators

No matter the exact situation, testing is a stressful process. But successful test taking, beyond content knowledge, is also a skill that can be taught, acquired, and mastered. Here are some of our best resources on general test prep and test taking to help the STAAR assessment process go smoothly at your school.

8 Last-Minute Steps Districts Can Take to Improve Test Scores
Administrators may not feel like they have a direct hand in making sure that students are well-prepared for STAAR assessments. But, there is no shortage of steps administrators can take to ensure that their teachers and students have what they need for a successful testing season—even when it comes down to the wire.

6 Tips for Teachers to Help Students Manage Stress
Testing season inevitably means classroom stress will hit a new high. So, how can you keep anxiety levels in check and help your students stay cool, calm, and collected when test day rolls around? Here are six tips for a low(er) stress testing season:

8 Tips for Parents to Help Your Child Prepare for High-Stakes Tests
Parents and other caregivers are critical to every student’s education journey. So, get them involved in the STAAR preparation process! Share these eight simple tips with parents to help them support their learners on testing days.

Ready to take your STAAR preparation program to the next level? Check out Study Island, Edmentum’s online solution for classroom practice and assessment, and our extensive library of programs designed exclusively for Texas educators and students. You can even start your FREE trial of Study Island today!

This blog post was originally posted on January 25, 2019.