HISD's Advanced Academics Department uses the English-language Stanford and the Spanish-language Aprenda achievement tests to conduct districtwide kindergarten norm-referenced testing to identify students suited to the district's Gifted and Talented program. (Norm-referenced tests measure student achievement by comparing a student's performance with a "norming group" of similar students.) On the basis of the home language, teachers decide whether a student would perform better in his or home language or in the language of his or her instruction. Parents may decline (in writing) to have their children tested.
HISD's Advanced Academics Department tests students in kindergarten through grade 11 who are applying to the district's Gifted and Talented (G&T) program, potential G&T students, and new students who lack appropriate achievement-test scores and are seeking grade placement. G&T applicants are given the Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test and (depending on their home language) either the Stanford or Aprenda.
The HFWE measures first- and second-graders' proficiency in reading the most-frequently used words in English or Spanish. Students take it in the language in which their formal reading instruction is given, and they must pass it to be promoted.
The NNAT measures students' nonverbal reasoning and general problem-solving abilities, regardless of the language the students speak and the students' educational or cultural backgrounds. The 30-minute test is given to all students in kindergarten and grade 5, applicants to the Gifted and Talented program, and selected limited-English-proficient students in all other grades.
HISD developed the Primary Progress Report Program as an assessment and non-grade-based report-card program for students in prekindergarten through grade 3. A voluntary program that uses portfolios, record-keeping, parental support, developmental checklists, and both formative and summative evaluations, it is designed to increase student achievement and community support in schools with a more nontraditional assessment mode.
Required and funded by the state, the State-Developed Alternative Assessment II (SDAA II) tests students in grades 3–10 who receive Special Education services in public schools or district or state-approved charter schools and for whom any part of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), even with allowable accommodations, is not appropriate. SDAA II assessments cover mathematics, reading, writing, and English-language arts. Locally Determined Alternate Assessments test all subjects and are given to students for whom neither the TAKS nor the SDAA II is appropriate.
The Stanford-10 and Spanish-language Aprenda-3 tests measure student performance compared to the performance of similar students throughout the nation. HISD requires all students except those with severe mental impairment to take the test in grades 1 through 11 in the language of their instruction or (for those in special bilingual programs) their "target" language. The results of the tests, which have flexible time limits, are used as one of the passing criteria for students in grades 1–8, to measure a school's progress in meeting its accountability goals, and to aid in placement decisions for various programs.
The TAKS test measures students' mastery of the state-mandated curriculum and requires them to answer a specified number of questions correctly in each section of the TAKS to pass. State law requires all non-exempted students in grades 3–10 in public schools or state-approved charter schools to take the TAKS in either English or Spanish (grades 3–6) or in English (grades 7–10). Untimed tests on mathematics, reading, writing, science, social studies, and English-language arts (ELA) are given in various grades, and the TAKS Language Assessment Test (LAT) is given to students who are exempt from the TAKS because they are limited-English-proficient. TAKS scores affect students' promotion to the next grade in grades 3–8 and district and campus ratings in the state accountability system, and all students must pass the exit-level TAKS to graduate from high school.
Developed by the Texas Education Agency to meet requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law, the two-part Texas English-Language-Proficiency Assessment System measures the progress that limited-English-proficient (LEP) students make in learning English. The Texas Observation Protocols (TOP) and Reading Proficiency Tests in English (RPTE) annually test all LEP students in kindergarten through grade 12 in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing until they are no longer LEP.
The Texas Primary Reading Inventory and Tejas LEE (El Inventario de Lectura en Español de Tejas) measure young students' reading skills and comprehension development in English or Spanish to show where improvement is needed. The TPRI/Tejas LEE is given to kindergartners in the middle and end of the school year and to first- and second-graders in the beginning, middle, and end of the year. All limited-English-proficient students in kindergarten through grade 2 must take it in the language in which their formal reading instruction is given.
Academics 