Texas Formative Assessment Resource (TFAR)

This post is for Texas teachers who teach STAAR testing subjects (it may apply to other states as well but I’m not sure). I did my own research on how students can practice within the testing platform and I was pleasantly surprised when I found Texas Formative Assessment Resources. Testing anxiety is real and anything that I can do to help ease students' nerves, I will try!

The Texas Formative Assessment Resource (TFAR) is a free online platform that allows teachers to create and give formative assessments to their students. I found out about this platform mid-way through the year and started using it immediately. The main reason why I loved using this platform so much was that you can see the increase in students' confidence using the STAAR platform.

Students have been taking their assessments in Eduphoria for most of their educational journey and I think we can agree that it differs from the actual STAAR platform. Students were able to practice finding their tools and resources on the platform before testing day. 

• Go to https://www.texasassessment.gov/educators.html and scroll down and click on the “Texas Formative Assessment Resource” link.

• When creating a new test, you can either create your own question from a template or use the TEA item bank. Here’s an example of an “Equation Editor” question that I created. Be forewarned, it does take quite a bit of time to figure out how to create new questions but you will get faster with time!

• Click on “TA - Test Administration for Interim and Operational Testing” once you are ready to administer the “test”. 

• Students will sign in through the Secure Test once you have received the “Session ID”. I spent quite a time at the beginning of the school year creating Student TSDS ID cards. I create laminated notebook cards that have students' names and their TSDS ID. I treat this as a “secure test material” and collect after students sign in. 

  
  

  

  
  

• I use “Google Slides TFAR Instructions” the first couple of times students complete a  TFAR assessment. After a couple of times, students know the drill and I just have to post the session ID on the board. 

  
  

• Click on “CRS - Centralized Reporting System” to review the results. 

  

The only thing that students get frustrated with, is that the Desmos calculator does not shrink and move around like it does on the actual STAAR test day. Maybe this is just an error on my end though? 

If you made it to the end, thank you for reading! I wanted to make any Texas educators aware of additional resources that they can use to improve student achievement! :)

Click here for additional information: https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/assessment-initiatives/texas-formative-assessment-resource