STAAR Resources
Tools to better equip you to "practice perfect" for STAAR
Before I sit down to create any resource, I research changes and updates to STAAR, mirror trends in questions and prompts, and make clear and intentional connections to the test for students.
I hope this page of STAAR resources helps you do the same!
STAAR One-Pager
If everything students needed to know for STAAR fit on ONE PAGE (front and back!), what would it look like??
I tried to at least fit all of the essentials! This would be a great resource (along with your writing graphic organizers and PROVE testing strategy posters!) to send home with students, email parents/guardians, and/or turn into review stations in your classroom!
Released Prompts
I love keeping all of the released prompts in the same place so that I can look for patterns and trends as I design resources and update my writing processes, and I thought I'd share these as well! To create these resources, I went on a scavenger hunt through the online and paper practice tests, new item types, released scoring guides, and of course the released STAARs.
Academic Vocabulary
Tools to better equip you to "practice perfect" for STAAR
STAAR Question Stems Organized by TEKS
Members Only!
These STAAR released question stems took SUCH A LONG TIME to create, but it was SO WORTH IT! I always find it to be helpful to have all of the most recent STAAR question stems organized by TEKS when I design lessons. These stems would be great to add in to any of your test prep lessons right now! I went back through all of the released STAARs/EOCs from 2018 (didn't want to go too far back because question trends change over time) to create these resources.
STAAR Question Frequency
I took the STAAR/EOC questions over the past four years and categorized the question types for what students actually see in the question and not just what TEKS the state assigned to it. I love looking at trends in the STAAR/EOC as I begin deciding what the best use of instructional time is—spending more time teaching a category that typically has seven questions asked vs. a category that may only have one.
Revising Question Stems + Editing Questions Frequency
When trying to determine where to spend the most time with grammar, I thought it would be helpful to pull all of the revising questions stems and count the skill frequency in the editing question answer choices—since each editing question addresses four grammar concepts!
Released Tests Data Analysis + Question Breakdown
Members Only! On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you love data?? If you know me, you know that I’m an 11! I designed these data pages to help you intentionally plan your skills-based lessons through state testing. I took the 2023 STAAR, question by question, to create these personal, campus, or district data pages. I think it’s so beneficial to not just simply look at numbers on a spreadsheet to drive your instruction but to also directly tie these numbers to trends in questions, new item types, difficult stems, etc. If your students don’t take STAAR, I also created blank pages to be used for any assessment, including your own!
STAAR Encouragement Notes
These can take a little while to write out (especially if you have 140+ students!), but I COULDN’T RECOMMEND DOING THIS MORE!
It’s time-consuming but every bit worth it when you see how much it means to each student to receive a note of encouragement before STAAR (and maybe a new pencil or “lucky mint” taped to it!).
