Spanish Curriculum Standards Newsletter

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Today's newsletter provides information related to the following topics:

• 2021-2022 Reading Language Arts STAAR Assessment Resource Documents
• Assessment Educator Committees
• TEA Innovative Courses Update
• English and Spanish Language Arts and Reading TSDS PEIMS

• New Quality Reviews Available

• Apply to become a quality reviewer for the Texas Resource Review

2021-2022 Reading Language Arts STAAR Assessment Resource Documents

As a transition to the redesigned Reading Language Arts (RLA) State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) in 2023, a one-year modification to the RLA assessment transition will be implemented in 2022. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) for April through December 2022 will include only items that assess the current 2017 reading standards in grades 3-8 English and grades 3-5 Spanish and the reading and writing standards in English I and English II. The STAAR new item types, including short answer items and the new approach to assessing written composition in response to reading, will be implemented beginning in 2023.

TEA has posted the assessed curriculum documents identifying the standards eligible for inclusion in the 2022 assessments for English grades 3-8, Spanish grades 3-5, and English I and II end-of-course exams. Blueprints and test design schematics for 2022 are also now available.

Below is a list of the resources that are currently available for the 2021-2022 end-of-course exams:

• December 2021 English I and II assessed curriculum
• December 2021 English I and II blueprints
• December 2021 English I and II test design schematics
• April, June, and December 2022 assessed curriculum
• April, June, and December 2022 blueprints
• April, June, and December 2022 test design schematics

Below is a list of the resources that are available for STAAR Reading for English grades 3-8 and Spanish grades 3-5:

• 2022 English grades 3-8 assessed curriculum
• 2022 English grades 3-8 blueprints
• 2022 English grades 3-8 test design schematics
• 2022 Spanish grades 3-5 assessed curriculum
• 2022 Spanish grades 3-5 blueprints
• 2022 Spanish grades 3-5 test design schematics

If you have questions about the documents outlined in this communication, please contact the Student Assessment Division via telephone at 512-463-9536 or via email at StudentAssessment@tea.texas.gov.

Assessment Educator Committees

TEA is seeking classroom teachers, instructional coaches, campus and district content specialists, and campus administrators to serve on a variety of assessment-related committees. The involvement of Texas education professionals supports TEA in designing and building the best quality assessments. TEA is accepting applications for the following teacher committees:

• Early passage review meetings
• Educator item review meetings
• Essay rangefinding meetings
• Subject-area advisory groups
• STAAR redesign focus groups

Teacher and instructional specialists or coaches for the following grades and subject areas are encouraged to apply:

• English language arts and reading, grades 3–8 and English I-II
• Mathematics, grades 3–8 and Algebra I
• Science, grades 5 and 8 and Biology
• Social studies, grade 8 and U.S. History
• Spanish language arts and reading, grades 3–5
• Spanish mathematics, grades 3–5
• Spanish science, grade 5

To apply to participate in these committees, educators should complete the Educator Committee Application Form at https://www.txetests.com/edc/.

TEA Innovative Courses Update

Innovative Course Approval Process

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is now accepting applications for innovative courses for the 2022–2023 school year. The course application, procedures, and resources may be accessed via the Innovative Courses webpage.

Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Section 74.27, allows school districts to offer innovative courses to enable students to master knowledge, skills, and competencies not included in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Each innovative course must be academically rigorous and address the needs of students across the state. Innovative courses must be approved by either the State Board of Education (SBOE) or the commissioner of education. State-approved innovative courses may satisfy state elective credit toward graduation. The approval of the local board of trustees is required in order for school districts and charter schools to offer state-approved innovative courses.

TEA will review applications in the order in which they are received and make recommendations for approval. Applicants are encouraged to submit innovative course applications as early in the application window as possible. Applications for courses that do not fall within any of the subject areas listed in the foundation and enrichment curricula must be approved by the SBOE.

Expiring Innovative Courses

The list of innovative courses expiring at the end of the 2021–2022 school year is available on the Innovative Courses webpage. Should TEA not receive an application to renew, the agency may expire the course at the end of the current school year.

New Innovative Courses

The Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division has published updates to the Innovative Courses webpage for the current 2021–2022 school year. Updates include—

• a revised list of all currently approved courses;
• new course options in fine arts; and
• newly approved career and technical education (CTE) courses to address Programs of Study.

Complete course descriptions that include content standards, recommended resources, and educator certification requirements are available to download from the content area pages. As a reminder, school districts must have the approval of their local board of trustees to offer approved innovative courses, and innovative courses are eligible to meet state elective credit only and may not be used to fulfill any course-specific graduation requirement.

Questions related to current innovative courses, expiring innovative courses, or the course application and approval process may be directed to Kelsey Kling, Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division, by phone at (512) 463-9581 or by email at innovative.courses@tea.texas.gov.

English and Spanish Language Arts and Reading TSDS PEIMS

Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, the following changes have been applied to service IDs for both English and Spanish language arts and reading in the Texas Student Data Standards Public Education Information Management System (TSDS PEIMS) data standards, Code Table 22 (C022).

• Separate service IDs for English and Spanish language arts and for reading (a service ID for language arts and a service ID for reading) have been retired/eliminated from the C022 for kindergarten–grade 8.
• Integrated service IDs for English and Spanish language arts and reading (a single service ID for both language arts and reading) have been added to the C022 for kindergarten–grade 5 to replace the retired service IDs. An integrated service ID has also been added for Spanish language arts and reading at grade 6. Integrated service IDs for English language arts and reading are already in effect for grades 6–8 in the C022.

Please note the following for the 2021-2022 school year:

• For elementary grade levels (K–5), all LEAs will need to transition from separate service IDs for language arts and reading to the new, integrated service IDs.
• For the middle school grades, LEAs that have used separate service IDs for language arts and reading in previous school years will need to transition to the integrated service IDs. LEAs already using integrated service IDs for grades 6–8 language arts and reading will continue to do so.

These changes in TSDS PEIMS do not impact the ability of local education agencies (LEAs) to offer language arts and reading instruction in flexible learning arrangements to support student attainment of grade level standards (Texas Administrative Code, §74.2 and §74.3).

Questions related to these changes can be directed to the Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division via email at curriculum@tea.texas.gov or phone at 512-463-9581.

English and Spanish Language Arts and Reading Service IDs for Kindergarten-Grade 8, Beginning with the 2021-2022 School Year

Retired Service IDs No Longer in Use Beginning with the 2021-2022 School Year

New Quality Reviews Available

Explore Completed Texas Resource Reviews

The Texas Resource Review (TRR) website has been updated with quality review reports for Spanish prekindergarten systems, English language arts and reading, grades 3–8, and Spanish language arts and reading, grades K–5 programs.

The quality reports contain information that districts may find useful when evaluating material for local adoption. If you are looking for support in using the quality reports, please submit a TRR help desk ticket.

Apply to become a quality reviewer for the Texas Resource Review

Safal Partners, in partnership with the Texas Education Agency, is seeking Texas educators with expertise in English and Spanish phonics (grades K–3 only) to participate in the Texas Resource Review by becoming a reviewer of instructional materials. As part of this select group, reviewers will have the opportunity to broaden their impact, work with a talented group of peers in a supportive environment, and receive continuing professional education credit and a stipend (more details on stipend amounts and the timeline for reviews is here).

Reviewer spots fill quickly, so educators are strongly encouraged to complete the initial application as soon as possible to increase the likelihood of being selected for this competitive role. The application is the first step of the process and closes in December 2021. Qualified candidates will be asked to complete a performance task and interview. This rigorous process ensures the highest quality reviews of instructional materials.

Apply now to join this elite team!

Thank you for your commitment to serving Texas students.

Spanish Curriculum Standards Team
Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division
curriculum@tea.texas.gov
(512) 463-9581

The Texas Education Agency will improve outcomes for all public school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems.