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For a student who meets the eligibility criteria, this designated support may be used on:

• STAAR, including STAAR Spanish

• TELPAS

This designated support allows a test administrator to provide a student with individualized structured reminders to stay on task during a test administration beyond what is required or allowed for any student during standard administration procedures.

A student may use this designated support if the student routinely and effectively receives individualized structured reminders during classroom instruction and classroom testing.

• The STAAR Non-Embedded Supports or TELPAS Non-Embedded Supports field must be updated in the Non-Embedded Supports panel in the Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE) before the end of the specific testing window to indicate that this support was made available to the student.

• For a student not receiving special education or Section 504 services, the decision is made by the appropriate campus-level team (e.g., Response to Intervention [RtI] team, student assistance team) and documented according to district policies. The decision should be based on the eligibility criteria and aimed at addressing a student’s consistent academic struggle in a specific area even after intensive instruction and remediation.

• For a student receiving Section 504 services, the decision is made by the Section 504 committee based on the eligibility criteria and is documented in the student’s individual accommodation plan (IAP).

• For a student receiving special education services, the decision is made by the admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee based on the eligibility criteria and is documented in the student’s individualized education program (IEP).

• In the case of an emergent bilingual (EB) student with a disability, the decision is made by the applicable group in conjunction with the student’s language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC) and documented in the student’s permanent record file and IAP or IEP.

This designated support includes but is not limited to:

• more frequent or less frequent reminders of time left to test than required in the standard administration procedures;

• structured reminders that are part of a behavior plan;

• personal timer or clock set to remind a student to move on to the next question, page, or section or to remind a student to stop at preestablished times during the test;

• index cards that have handwritten or color-coded reminders to continue working; and

• paper clips or adhesive notes used to divide paper test booklets into sections.

• A student who uses this designated support may need to complete the test in a separate setting to eliminate distractions to other students and to ensure the confidentiality of the test.

• General reminders to stay on task (e.g., test administrator taps student on the shoulder, test administrator verbally reminds student to continue working) are accessibility features available to any student who needs them. When a student requires more individualized structured reminders, the appropriate campus-level team needs to determine eligibility and document the decision in the appropriate paperwork. 

• Because these reminders are meant to be individualized to the needs of a particular student, it is not appropriate for a reminder that is not already an accessibility feature to be provided to all students in a testing area. Providing supports to students who do not meet the eligibility criteria is considered a testing irregularity.

• Any type of administration in which the test administrator must view a secure state assessment requires that the test administrator sign a specific part of an Oath of Test Security and Confidentiality. Responding to test questions, making notes about test questions, and discussing test content at any time are prohibited.

• Some students might need assistance with certain reminders (e.g., inserting paper clips for paper tests, setting the timer). This type of assistance is allowable; however, it is preferable that the student, rather than the test administrator, direct or control the use of the reminder when possible.

• For TELPAS grades 2–12 assessments, individualized structured reminders apply only to the paper reading test, the online reading and writing test, and the online listening and speaking test. This designated support does not apply to any holistically rated domain, since those are assessed during authentic classroom activities and the same accommodations routinely used during classroom instruction are acceptable.

District testing personnel should contact the Student Assessment Help Desk with any questions.