Here’s hoping that all of you survived the recent round of TAKS tests and that your students did well. And here’s hoping that you can now at least occasionally get back to doing the kinds of things you would normally do in your classrooms, if you weren’t spending so much time teaching to the tests. Things that get kids excited about learning. Class activities that demand students really think, analyze and produce instead of filling in a bubble sheet. Class discussions and projects that allow students to express themselves in ways that can’t be measured by objective tests. You know, the kinds of things that made you want to become a teacher in the first place.
Unfortunately, TAKS tests aren’t over for the year, and you should be aware there may be conflicts for some regional academic qualifiers. The Exit Level Mathematics TAKS test (retest) is scheduled on Wednesday, April 19. TAKS tests on Thursday, April 20 include Grade 9 Mathematics, Grade 10 Science and Exit Level Science (retest for graduating seniors only). Grade 10 and Exit Level Social Studies TAKS tests are scheduled Friday, April 21.
We have worked with regional sites to eliminate or reduce conflicts wherever possible, but some regional schedules could not be modified due to commitments for facilities and personnel. Length of travel time may also create conflicts for some participants. Please check your specific regional schedule on the UIL web site at: http://www.uil. utexas.edu/academics/spring_meet/regional_directors. html. Regional hosts who have not yet posted their Regional Meet Handbooks and/or schedule will be doing so in the near future. Schools may submit a request to TEA for onsite testing or for a modified test schedule. Onsite testing requires the district to send a trained testing professional to the event. Regional hosts must be contacted if you will need a room for testing on site. A modified testing schedule only allows tests to be rescheduled sometime within Monday through Saturday of the testing week, not to some other week. All students taking the test must adhere to the modified scheduled, whether they are participating in the regional meet or remaining on campus. You may find the request forms on TEA’s Student Assessment Division web page at: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student. assessment/index.html.
Click on the A-Z Directory in the left hand column and then Alternate Test Date Request Form. Questions should be directed to TEA at (512) 682-2200.
District Academic Meets
District meets are just around the corner, and many schools are already entering students online. Coordinators, remember to do another eligibility check before competition! If substitutions must be made, anyone not listed on the original entry, as either a contestant or alternate, must present certification, signed by an administrator, that they are eligible to compete. A substitute form is posted on the UIL academic web page, but a letter signed by an administrator is also acceptable. District meet directors need to make sure that the correct date and time for each event has been entered into the online system. We’ve recently checked and many meets did not have that information posted yet.
If you don’t enter a date for each event, the system will default to the first day you entered when you set up the meet. You certainly don’t want buses showing up on the wrong day, so do a double check right away! And starting times are crucial, as well, so that schools can arrange transportation, etc.
If for some unforeseen reason the originally scheduled time for an event must be changed, make sure every school is notified. And don’t just send the information to the principal. Contact school coordinators so they can let all coaches and students who are affected by the change know.
Unless it is absolutely unavoidable, don’t change scheduled times once they are posted. When you get results from each contest director, use two people to enter the scores into the online system – one to enter and one to proof for accuracy.
Provide the contest director with the online ranking to use at verification. Only after verification should you then certify the contest results. Read the instructions on each screen carefully. It takes several ‘clicks’ to complete the certification process!
Then you must go back to the setup page for the meet, and change the status to “Meet results are posted and available for review.”
Contest Directors
We will post on the UIL academic web page the sections of the Spring Meet Manual that contain instructions for directors of each individual academic event. If you are directing a contest at district, please download the appropriate instructions and read them carefully well before the meet.
Make sure you know the process for briefing graders or judges, the forms you will need to complete, what materials are allowed into the contest room, and other such things.
Don’t wait until you get to the meet and pick up the confidential test material to review contest procedures. A knowledgeable contest director – and a friendly one! – is critical to a well-run contest that creates a positive atmosphere for contestants. Smiles relieve tension for those smiling and those who receive them.
Some kids and coaches will to be nervous and a little stressed out, and you can avoid all kinds of problems by being well prepared and therefore relaxed yourself.
If you believe there is an error in any district answer key, please contact the UIL office or the respective state contest director. While we do our very best to proof and double proof every page in every contest packet, we’re human. Mistakes do sometimes happen.
But more often than not, graders have thrown out questions because they thought the key was in error, when in fact the correct answer was provided as a choice.
To all meet directors, event directors and their assistants, graders and judges, tab room staff, administrators and support personnel, community volunteers, coaches, advisors, directors and contestants, we wish you a smooth and successful district meet! Have fun!