Welcome to Assessment
The Academic Accountability department oversees all training, administration, and reporting for state-mandated and standardized assessments such as STAAR and NWEA MAP. Our team also assists department administrators in organizing the training, proctoring, and reporting of other assessments such as ASLAI and TSIA2. In accordance with TSD’s strategic planning goals, we collaborate with department administrators in the planning and implementation of systematic practices for data collection, data analysis, and goal-setting. We ensure timely upload of local, state, and national assessment data into our data systems and provide updated reports to principals and the school board on our accountability progress.
Classroom Assessments:
Teachers at TSD use a variety of assessment tools to help measure student progress. Formative and summative assessments are given to help monitor student progress with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Contact your child’s teacher to find out more information about the tools and assessments used in the classroom.
NWEA MAP: Northwest Education Association’s Measure of Academic Progress
Texas School for the Deaf has been using the NWEA MAP as our Texas Education Agency (TEA) accountability assessment since the 2017-2018 school year. Students in Elementary, Middle School and High School take MAP three times a year in the areas of reading and mathematics.
MAP is aligned with the TX State Standards TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) and is a computer adaptive test in which the computer adjusts the difficulty of questions based on student responses. This allows each student to take a unique test designed to identify what they currently know, and what they are ready to learn next.
In accordance with our MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with TEA, student reading and mathematics scores in grades 3 - 11 will be submitted for accountability purposes (note: students in 12th grade who are taking math and english courses will still take MAP in order to provide teachers with data to support instruction).
SELA: Special Education Language Acquisition
House Bill 548 of the 86th Texas Legislature (2019) requires districts to assess and report the language acquisition of students aged birth-8 years old who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) or deafblind (DB). The data collected from this annual testing will provide valuable insight into the language acquisition, education, and intervention for these students and will be used to improve services for students who are DHH or DB in the state. The data does not have any bearing on the students’ special education eligibility, grades, or promotion to the next grade level.
To meet this requirement, the Texas School for the Deaf's Early Learning Center will use the Visual Communication and Sign Language (VCSL) Checklist, while the Elementary program will be using ASL-VT (ASL Vocabulary Test) with students in kindergarten through age 8. The VCSL is a standardized, comprehensive checklist used to assist in tracking young children's sign language development from birth to age 5. The ASL-VT measures expressive and productive signed vocabulary knowledge. Results from the VCSL and ASL-VT will be reported to the state.
Students are tested on the STAAR in grades 3 - High School EOC (End of Course) assessments. Qualifying students with the most significant cognitive disabilities take STAAR Alt. 2. All students taking a STAAR assessment are assessed in specific content areas at different grade levels.
Each student in grades 3 - 8 are assessed in reading and mathematics. In addition to this, students in 5th and 8th are assessed in science, and 8th-grade students are assessed in social studies.
At High School, specific assessments are given which correlate with students enrolled coursework. The five required End of Course (EOC) exams included are: English I and English II (which include Reading and Writing), Algebra I, Biology and US History.
STAAR assessments are designed to assess student mastery of the TEKS. Students receive a scaled score that is linked to a proficiency level. For more information regarding the STAAR, please visit texasassessment.gov.
