Summer 2024 TFAR Item Deep Dive
There are the four types of assessments that make up a balanced assessment system
Balanced
Assessment System
Interim
Formative
Diagnostic
Summative
Inform instructional choices, student supports
Inform instructional plans to meet individual student needs
Evaluate student mastery and effectiveness of programs
Monitor progress towards grade level mastery
Scope of the types of assessments throughout the school year
Start of School Year
Formative (ongoing)
Diagnostic
Interim
Formative (ongoing)
Interim
Summative
Formative (ongoing)
End of
School Year
What formative assessments can or cannot do
Purposes
Serve as an assessment FOR
learning, NOT of learning (e.g.,
check for understanding) Evaluate mastery of specific
standards; assessments are
deep and narrow Collect detailed information that
can be used to improve
instruction and determine what
small-scale adjustments need to
occur in the classroom Track student learning while it’s
happening
If and where student misunderstanding occurred
What it CAN tell you
If a student mastered a
particular standard/concept
How students can be grouped for intervention
What it CANNOT tell you If a student has demonstrated
growth from the beginning of
the school year to the end If students are on track to
achieving grade level proficiency
or meeting end-of-year goals
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TFAR’s homepage streamlines the process of creating and sharing items and tests
Dashboard has some tools which assist in managing formative assessments
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Build personal labels for items and tests and sharing workgroups
Single Sign-on
Options
Standards are accessed from the dashboard
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Available items and tests containing this standard are easily
accessed
COMING SOON - New science standards will be aligned to current items AFTER the system roll-over
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USED when no NEW TEKS is
available
NEW
Users can copy, and edit their item
based on the new standards
Available items and tests are sorted into libraries depending on origin
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Spring 2024 available 9/1
“Other” refers to TEA practice
items
Custom filters are available to narrow search for specific items or tests
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New Depth of Knowledge (DOK) filter can be used in item search if identified in properties
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NEW
DOK is only available if ITEM was imported with info
COMING SOON: Both filters' panels allow for users to easily identify items and tests with specific accommodations
ITEMS
NEW
TESTS
COMING SOON – Additional feature indicator in the item grid identifies the number of associated accommodations
NEW
Accommodations
Indicator
Specific item accommodations are identified when expanding the selected item properties on the dashboard
NEW
Thirteen templates provide detailed directions for user created items in English or Spanish
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When creating items, it’s important to remember that not all item types have been approved for all grade levels
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Currently some math items types are not
available
Mathematics related items can be created using PICTURES within other templates
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Picture in PROMPT of a Drag and Drop
template
Mathematics related items can be created using PICTURES within other templates
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Pictures in BOTH prompt and options in a Drag and Drop
template
All 13 templates provide detailed directions for user created items in English and Spanish and some can only be handscored
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Two templates allow multiple item types in one
question
Indicates
Handscoring ONLY
Simply Text Entry template provides opportunity to provide handscoring guidance for CRS
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CRS Rubric
language
Size of Text Box on screen NOT size of student response
Tests to score uses the scoring and rubric specifications set during item authoring
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Tests to score uses the scoring and rubric specifications set during item authoring
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Tests to score uses the scoring and rubric specifications set during item authoring
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Multi-Part item template allows machine scored templates to be hand scored when MORE than 2 parts is selected
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Hand Scoring is an option when providing ‘partial
credit ’
NOTE – only ONE scoring method can be used on the
entire item
All templates contain the resources to guide item development
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Item Specific Tutorial
Item Specific instructions from Help Guide
Image Max
1.5Mb or 600x600
Constructing answer keys ensures machine scoring functions properly
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“Maximum Matches” is the HIGHEST number of correct placements for
each option.
“Minimum Matches” sets the number of times a student must use an option. (“1” ensures they
use all at least once)
Max score >1 enables awarding
partial credit
Create preview in each ‘Point tab ‘ to show correct
answer that matches points
Tabs ‘sets’ machine scoring what to look for to award score.
NOTE: ALL partial credit options MUST be added
COMING SOON - Users can choose to mute text-to-speech for selected text in the passage set template
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NEW
For equation response items to score correctly, user must input all possible options into test keys for machine scoring
The item and test status function differently within the TFAR platform
Published Item
Content Status
Draft Item
TEA Item Draft Test Published Test
No
√ √
Sharable?
√
No
No
√
√*copy only
Copy and editable?
√
No
No
No
√
Deleted?
No No
√
Archived?
No
√
No, if linked to a
published test
No, if linked to a published test BUT Yes, if linked to
archived tests
After ‘Generating Test’ items can be previewed, added or deleted prior to publishing
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Add or Delete items from
test
Individual item properties can be viewed within the test preview window
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Available supports in TFAR differ between Authored and Released STAAR items when using a “template”
NEW
Embedded Supports w/ Template
Text-to-Speech Auto Text-to-Speech
Speech to Text
Content & Language Supports
ASL
ECR/SCR Co:Writer
Permissive Mode
Version Control
X
X*1 X*1
X*
User- Authored
Items
Released STAAR Items & “Some” Other TEA
items
X*
X*
X*
X*
X*
X*
X*
X
“MUTING” coming
Fall 2024
1
reads everything
NOT MUTED
*These supports must
be set in TIDE for eligible students
Prior to publishing by selecting a STAAR template students will receive TIDE accommodations and STAAR functionality
Subject specific templates connects to TIDE attribute
column
STAAR
Functionalities -8 Hour Pause -Skip question
Student experience differs when selecting options during publishing within the Test Properties tab
TIDE Accommodations***
Pause Rule / Skip Questions Skipping /Flagging Items
Reference Sheets, Calculator, Ruler ECR/SCR Text Box and Version Control
Dictionary, Thesaurus, Periodic Table
Highlighter, Line Reader, Zoom, Flag,
Note Pad, Stickie Notes, Graphing
Overlay
Available
Manually Selected No set size / Version Saving
Manually Selected
Test Tools Tab – w/o Template 20-Minute Pause / Force Complete Not available
TTS and Auto TTS for
Teacher Authored tests
Available
Manually Selected 1750 characters / Version Saving
Manually Selected
TDS View Tab – w/ Template 8-Hour Pause / Skip allowed Available
Students’ TIDE accommodations with
STAAR Released items only
(Computer will read everything NOT MUTED
including stimulus)
(TTS, Auto TTS, CLS, STT, Co:Writer, ASL)
*** Text Suppression Coming Fall 2024
COMING SOON - Calculator options will provide correct naming conventions and new dual calculator options to mirror STAAR
NEW
Sharing items or tests with other users requires users to select a destination
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End user permissions are determined by which TFAR sharing destination is selected
(View, Edit, or Publish depending on permission granted)
(View, Edit, Publish, Copy, or Label depending upon permissions
granted)
Distribute Draft or Published content
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End User conditions to Consider…
No
No
No
Share to
TDS
√ √ √
Share to
Authoring
No
No
No
√ √ √
Distribute BOTH tests and items
Content appears in TFAR
IDENTICAL test is given to all students
SCORES are aggregated together in CRS across
ALL test administrations
Test appears in TDS ONLY
Ability to share TFAR items and assessments depends on your assigned role in TIDE
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CTC
RCU/ERS
DTC/DTA/DCU
Roles in this column can share with roles in this row
TE
TE
CTC
Only via
workgroup
Only via
workgroup
DTC/DTA/ DCU
RCU/ERS
Only via
workgroup
Only via
workgroup
Only via
workgroup
√
Workgroup
Institution i.e., District/ Campus
Only via
workgroup
Only via
workgroup
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√ √
√
√
√
√
√ √
Ability to share TFAR items and assessments depends on your assigned role in TIDE
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CTC
RCU/ERS
DTC/ DTA/ DCU
Roles in this column can share with roles in this row
TE
TE
CTC
DTC/DTA/ DCU
RCU/ERS
Only via workgroup
Only via
workgroup
Only via
workgroup
√
Only via
workgroup
√
For example, if you havO
can sha√
en tlhy ev irao le of “TE”, you
re with otherw ToErsk garnodu pyour CTC. Yo√u
would ONLY be able to share with your Region
IF √you were part of √a workgroup
√
Workgroup
Institution i.e., District/ Campus
Only via
workgroup
Only via
workgroup
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√ √
Test Wizard creates tests by automatically selecting items based on standards
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24 ENGLISH items were found aligned to this
standard
Optional Test Properties opens selectable options prior to publishing
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Test Wizard pulls items from all libraries based on selected options
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NOTE: Select “Previous Step” if “Next Step” has been selected to add
more standards
Tests can be aligned to multiple standards
Item totals are edits from selected standards within the ‘Item Distribution’ section of Test Generator Wizard
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NOTE: Items are NOT viewable until Test is
Generated
35 is MAX number
of items allowed
Item totals per standard are easily edited
TFAR resources including connected platforms can be found in the online learning management system (LMS)
TFAR ‘Tests to Score” in CRS
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Additional TFAR resources and access to the TEA Help Desk are available on the TEA website
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Downloadable TFAR
Resources
Quick Linkto TEA Help Desk
TEA needs you to serve on an assessment division committee
Classroom teachers, instructional coaches, campus and district content specialists, and campus administrators can serve in a variety of ways:
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Educator passage review – each potential passage for the RLA test is reviewed and approved by a committee of Texas educators
Educator item review – each potential question for a state test is
reviewed and approved by a committee of Texas educators
Constructed responserange finding – educators are convened to set
the scoring boundaries for student essays based on the rubric
Subject-area advisory groups – groups of educators are convened to
provide feedback on subject-area-specific topics
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