Van Alstyne ISD reports higher scores after STAAR and TELPAS rescoring

Van Alstyne ISD wants families to understand how the state rescore process works for STAAR and TELPAS after the district requested human reviews of selected student responses, according to a Sept. 10 announcement.

After students complete testing, TELPAS and STAAR/EOC responses are first scored by machine. Districts can then request a second, human-read scoring. Van Alstyne ISD said it resubmitted the Speaking and Writing portions of TELPAS and the extended constructed responses on the reading language arts STAAR for students the district believed should have received a higher score.

The process is not free. Van Alstyne ISD said districts must pay $50 for each exam that comes back with no score change, which limits how many submissions fit inside the district’s allotted budget.

What changed for Van Alstyne students

Of 17 TELPAS exams submitted, 8 - or 47% - came back with a higher score than the student originally received, the district said. Of 84 STAAR/EOC exams submitted, 46 - or 55% - came back higher.

Van Alstyne ISD said all score changes are already reflected in student results. Families should not expect to see additional changes from this round of reviews.

Why the district keeps requesting reviews

Student growth is a priority, Van Alstyne ISD said. As long as the state continues to allow rescore submissions, the district plans to submit as many exams as possible - including for students who are not close to moving up a performance level.

The goal, according to the announcement, is to have more student responses evaluated by a human scorer and to help ensure that growth is reflected as accurately as possible.

That approach trades budget capacity against the $50 no-change fee. The district’s Sept. 10 figures show that a majority of the STAAR/EOC exams it chose to resubmit, and nearly half of the TELPAS exams, returned higher after human scoring.

Board meeting follow-up

Van Alstyne ISD said it will have more information on the rescoring process at its next Regular Board Meeting on Monday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. in the VAISD Board Room.

For local families, the district’s message is twofold: some scores already moved up after human review, and no further automatic changes should be expected from this submission cycle. Residents who want more detail can attend the Sept. 14 board meeting or review the district’s Sept. 10 explanation of the machine-score and human-rescore sequence.

The district’s explanation covers machine scoring first, optional human rescoring second, the $50 fee for unchanged exams, and the TELPAS and STAAR/EOC outcomes already posted to student records.

Sources

vanalstyneisd.org