Chris Castillo Comer

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The Texas Science Diagnostic System TSDS

• Chris Castillo Comer
• Director of Science
• Texas Education Agency

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Texas Science Diagnostic System

• The Texas Science Diagnostic System (TSDS) will
  be announced at the Conference for the
  Advancement of Science Teachers (CAST) Conference
  in Houston, Texas.
• TSDS is a web-based tool designed to increase
  student proficiency in science developed by the
  Texas Education Agency and Vantage Learning

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What is the Texas Science Diagnostic System?

• The Texas Science Diagnostic System (TSDS) will
  be available through the same interface as TMDS
• It will be a tool that teachers can use to
  diagnost gaps in student performance in science.
• TSDS is tailored for use in grades 4-5 at the
  elementary level, grades 6-8 at the middle school
  level, and the Integrated Physics and Chemistry
  (IPC) and Biology courses at the high school
  level.

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Texas Science Diagnostic System

• The goal of the TEA is to provide teachers and
  administrators with an innovative tool to
  continuously evaluate student progress in
  science.
• A flexible and user-friendly diagnostic
  instrument, TSDS is designed for multiple uses
  and will be intrinsically linked to the required
  Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
  measured on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and
  Skills (TAKS) tests.

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What is the Texas Science Diagnostic System?

• A series of preconfigured diagnostic tests will
  be available within TSDS for online or paper
  delivery.
• Immediate scoring and reporting will help science
  educators to develop and guide instruction
  accurately and efficiently.
• Teachers will be able to access in the fall of
  06, an extensive bank containing thousands of
  test questions in order to create their own
  assessments, quizzes, and/or homework
  assignments.
• Administrators can also use this item bank to
  create district or school-wide benchmark exams.

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What is the Texas Science Diagnostic System?

• In order to accommodate users with limited
  computer and Internet access, students will be
  able to take a paper and pencil test and then use
  the electronic bubble sheet to "click" in their
  answers directly into the program.
• Teachers with access to scanning technology will
  be able to scan penciled-in answer sheets
  directly into the system for reporting and
  tracking purposesthanks to the "state of the
  art" reporting capabilities of the program,
• Teachers will be able to obtain real time updates
  on student performance by grade and strand across
  the entire state, within each region, within each
  district and within each school.

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Why do we need TSDS?

• During the 1990s, many districts did not teach
  science at the elementary level, choosing instead
  to focus intensively on mathematics and reading.
• Since many students did not receive science
  instruction, teachers needed a tool that could
  help guide their instructional practices in
  science to accommodate the varying knowledge
  levels of their students.
• Without comprehensive knowledge about gaps in
  their students' science knowledge, teachers had a
  difficult time informing their science
  instruction.

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How will TSDS benefit students?

• A comprehensive, flexible tool that assesses
  students' knowledge and skills providing
  educators with a profile of student performance
  to effectively intervene to strengthen
  instructional programs.
• Teachers can also identify areas needing early
  intervention to target instruction to
• specific areas
• customize science materials
• design intervention strategies
• create student portfolios, and
• view and analyze student results over time.
• TSDS will individualize science instruction to
  meet specific student needs, leading to a
  decrease in achievement gaps and ultimately
  ensuring student success, both academically and
  beyond!

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TMDS main web page www.accesstmds.com
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Example of class summary report teachers can
create after administering a diagnostic to
students. Report summarizes individual student
performance by math strand and aggregate class
performance
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Teachers can drill down into individual student
performance on a diagnostic and see graphical
representations of performance by math strand and
can conduct item by item analysis of student
performance. System can compare performance on
repeated assessment administrations also.
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Teachers can also see TEKS descriptions behind
each question on an assessment.
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TMDS and TSDS

• Improvements and features were added to TMDS with
  
• two major goals in mind
• to expand the program's diagnostic content and
• to make the program even more user-friendly.
• Science Training to Vantage lead to various
  improvements
• User feedback was collected and thoroughly
  reviewed to identify the current application
  strengths and weaknesses in order to offer a
  number of
• enhancements in the following areas

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Reporting Options

• CAT Report! Once students take a CAT exam,
  teachers will be able to view their scaled score
  results in an online report complete with
  proficiency statements that will help teachers
  interpret their students' performance and current
  ability level.
• Redesigned State Report! The main menu from which
  users select their reports will be improved and
  reformatted to allow an easy selection process to
  narrow down the type of report that is desired.
• Expanded Reports for High School and Science!
  With the recent addition of high school level
  content as well as the forthcoming science
  content, all of the reports will be modified to
  accommodate the additional field choices and data
  results.

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• Diagnostic Content

• Two Programs in One! TMDS will have a science
  component available through the same homepage -
  the Texas Science Diagnostic System (TSDS). You
  will begin to see the science framework within
  the application immediately, while the item bank
  and test forms will be available in the fall of
  06. Both TMDS and TSDS will be free to all new
  and existing users and are based on the same,
  easy-to-use functionality.
• Test Form E 2005-06! Over 40 new pre-configured
  tests will be available in both English and
  Spanish for mathematics gr 3-12 for use in both
  on and offline testing. All existing test forms
  will remain accessible within the application.

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Functionality Improvements

• Difficulty Levels! All items in the bank will be
  tagged with their appropriate difficulty levels
  of easy, medium or hard.
• Improved Search Ability! Fewer required fields to
  select before searching for items and users will
  be able to refine their search by language
  (English or Spanish) and by difficulty level
  (easy, medium or hard).
• Archive Filter! Teachers will be able to
  customize their group center by choosing to show
  only current groups, archived groups or a
  combination of both.

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Functionality Improvements

• Friendly User Interface! The homepage for TMDS
  will be given a major overhaul with bright,
  colorful graphics to promote the addition of TSDS
  and allow a single user interface for maximum
  usability. Users only need to remember one
  username and password!
• Fun Icons! Rather than overwhelm teachers with
  several text options in their group and
  assignment centers, easy-to-understand icons
  represent the options available.

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• Coming soon!

• Computer Adaptive Testing! Available in English
  for grades 4 - 8, Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT)
  provides an extra option for diagnosing student
  ability level. Teachers will be able to use CAT
  tests to quickly and accurately estimate the
  performance level of their students through a
  series of items chosen specifically during the
  test, based on the correctness or incorrectness
  of the student's answer.
• Teacher Assessment Plan! This useful resource
  will offer guidance and suggestions to teachers
  on how and when to use CAT and linear tests to
  help meet their specific goals. Example plans
  will be included along with worksheets for
  teachers to create their yearly assessment plan.

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Science List Serve
www.tea.state.tx.us/list/
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Contact Information
Chris Castillo-Comer Director of
Science chris.comer_at_tea.state.tx.us
Irene Pickhardt Asst. Dir. of Science irene.pickha
rdt_at_tea.state.tx.us
512-463-9581