By Ryan Otteson | Reporter
Students across the state from third grade to high school took the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test last week. According to the Texas Education Agency, the STAAR is an online assessment of multiple subjects administered to third graders up until high school. Students learning how to be teachers here at Baylor were not able to administer the tests this week, but are prepared to administer unit tests.
Clinical associate professor Sandra Talbert has a background as a superintendent, an English teacher and an assistant principal.
“You have to have certain qualifications to administer the STAAR test because it is such a high-stakes test,” Talbert said. “Generally speaking, certified teachers administer those tests.”
In certain situations, people administering the exam may not be a certified teacher but would have STAAR administration training to do so. In some schools, student-teachers are able to be present and serve as hallway monitors and other positions outside the classroom, but Baylor student-teachers this week were not able to be on school grounds on the testing days.
Talbert said having more people present during the STAAR can be distracting, and her students have several assignments to keep them busy while they are not actively in the classroom.
“I found that my students in the past two weeks have spent a great deal of their time teaching test taking strategies, or they might be teaching specific skills,” Talbert said.
While student-teachers are not able to administer the STAAR, they can help the students prepare by helping them with subjects that they know will most likely be on the test. Another way student-teachers can help during test week is to encourage the students, as some struggle with test anxiety or academic pressure.
According to Talbert, the STAAR is meant to measure the growth of the students but is mostly to keep schools and teachers accountable. Growth is the main thing that is measured, but there are so many variables involved because every student is different.
Austin junior Landrie Mays is a student-teacher and has taught second and third grade. While her students have not experienced the STAAR yet, she recognizes an important part of her role is encouraging her young students.
“I love getting to watch their little lightbulb turn on when they figure out how to solve something,” Mays said.
