1. Implementation Approach: Ways to Use Sirius Programs in Your Instruction

Ways to Use Sirius Programs in Your Instruction

A Concise Primer on Implementing Sirius

Sirius Educational Solutions programs have been designed to meet the needs of all students preparing for success on the STAAR Test both online and in the classroom. This document aims to describe how educators can effectively use Sirius Programs flexibly and effectively according to student need.

Program Design

Available online and in print, educators and students can use Sirius Programs as:

• Supplementary text for all students for STAAR-focused review and reinforcement.

• Primary text for struggling students for TEKS instructions and STAAR Practice by topic

• Both primary and supplementary text for TEKS/STAAR instruction, practice and review by selecting content by student needs, by topic, or by TEKS

Delivery Timelines

Sirius may be delivered across the school year in a variety of ways:

• Full year, integrated into your curriculum, with whole class or pullout/instructional groups

• Intensive: Three to six weeks intensive review and reinforcement

• Immersive: One to three weeks immersive for retesters

Customizable Approaches According to Need

Sirius may be customized according to both need and schedule:

• Timeframe approach: different time frames for different abilities; two weeks to full year

• Ability levels approach: select content by topic, TEKS, or individual student needs

• Instructional groups approach: individuals, partners, groups, full class

Adaptable According to Timeframes

Sirius may be adapted for delivery as:

• Daily supplement: warm ups, transition activities, mixed review, check-out questions, games

• Weekly review and reinforcement: 1 day per week

• Monthly spaced review or unit summary: 1 or more days per month

• Intensive STAAR Preparation: 1-3 weeks for STAAR camps based on needs

Grouping Strategies

According to performance on diagnostic assessments, students can be grouped according to:

• Whole class: traditional instruction

• Small groups: such as one day each week

• Partners: one or more days each month

• Individuals: two or more weeks, as in Summer EOC camps

• Combinations of above groups within the same class

Maximize Uniqueness of Sirius

Taking full advantage of the uniqueness of Sirius programs, tap into and extend the following opportunities in course planning and implementation:

• Matches STAAR: create an environment in which students practice for STAAR with a user experience that mimics the STAAR testing experience, especially in accordance with tools and accommodations that level the playing field.

• Combines instruction with practice: Scaffolded lesson work and practice gently move students from concept to successful production of correct responses.

• Supports teachers in giving students live, actionable feedback as they practice building skills and knowledge

• Three-step approach to individualize remediation: 1) Diagnostic tests to identify needs; 2) Focused intervention with lesson instruction and STAAR practice; 3) Post test to monitor progress.

• Easy to use to use and adapt for different needs

2. Instructional Flow Overview

Diagnose, Instruct, Practice, Assess

Sirius Instruction Online and in Print

When used for intervention in the diagnosis of weaknesses, implementation of Sirius Programs typically involve three main stages: 

1. Diagnostic Tests to identify needs

2. Lesson instruction and STAAR practice

3. Assessments to monitor student progress over time and at the end of the determined period of instruction

Teachers, however, may decide to enter the instructional flow at any point or suggested stage along the way, and the implementation of instruction is supported through flexible assignment making online and/or in print. 

Key to your use of the instructional flow stages hinges on how you plan to use your Sirius programs’ resources, including diagnostic tests.

• If you are using them for intervention or test preparation, you will likely more closely follow the stages described below in order. 

• If you are using diagnostic tests and other resources with other instructional goals or targets in mind, you might deviate from these stages and come up with your own pathways through your Sirius program resources vs. lesson by lesson.

Sirius Instructional Flow Stages

Let’s begin with a diagram containing instructional flowstages along with core actions that instructors consider as they deliver instruction to students, including the following actions: diagnose, analyze, plan, teach, practice, reteach, and assess.

1. Diagnostic Tests

Instructional Goal Determination for Diagnostic Tests

How do you plan to use the diagnostic test(s)?

• To diagnose needs, weakness, and strengths with intervention in mind?

• As a pretest to establish a baseline among other understood data points?

• As a general test of knowledge with the goal of creating instructional groups (homogeneous or “like” students, or heterogeneous groups to inspire other types of learning)?

• As an additional end of semester post-test (along with practice tests) to determine progress?

• As a means to determine how students engage in online learning, and to determine opportunities for improving their ability to engage leading to greater learner?

Diagnose

The first step in our sequence is to assign and administer an auto-scored Diagnostic Test under simulated testing conditions. You’ll find one or more diagnostic tests in theTable of Contents or Main Menu of your program. For example, Math programs may have one central diagnostic test, while RLA might have several according to grade level and associated TEKS/Standards.

To learn more about navigating Sirius Online as well as making and managing assignments, please refer to our Sirius Online ©2024–25 How to Use Guide: Teachers, Co-Teachers, Tutors (061024).

Note: Sirius Online offers computer-scored diagnostic assessments inTest Mode, a mode in which students do not receive feedback as they work on items. Contrast that toPractice Mode, one in which students receive rich feedback in support of their learning.Sirius Online records ‘first tries,’ time on task, and the use of blue button scaffolded supports (Hints, Sample Answers, etc.) as a key element of engagement so that instructors gain deeper insights into areas in which students need additional instruction along with how they engage interactively in their learning.

Other Considerations

• Administer tests as if students were taking the actual STAAR Test for real.

We encourage use of Diagnostic and Post Tests under conditions as similar as possible to the actual STAAR test. This can include the physical setting. The goal is for students to feel a similar stress/anxiety as when taking the actual test. This also applies to the Cumulative Review, Post Test, and especially the full-length Practice Test.

If you’d like to gain even deeper insight into student performance, you can assign post tests from the previous grade level early in the new school year.

• Observe student behavior while they test. 

Teachers should carefully observe students during their work on Diagnostic tests  to identify their test-taking behaviors. For instance, consider the following questions as you observe students: 

• Do students write on the test items or use mark up tools online as they work? 

• Do they rush or go very slowly? 

• Do they change their answers often?

• Do they skip over items? 

• Do they flag skipped items and return to them later? 

• Do they check their work? 

• Do they eliminate wrong answers, and if so, are they doing so systematically or playing guessing games? 

• Do they make careless mistakes?

The first step in helping students address harmful behaviors is to identify them, and then work individually with students to help them cope with their unique anxieties, fears, etc. Just raising observations to students can help them become more self-aware and composed during test taking.

Analyze

In order to gain a deeper understanding of your students’ performance on diagnostic tests or any other test or practice activities, access their work in the assignment summary Scorecard, grade manual items that cannot be computer scored for reporting, and then review live, dynamicStandards and Course reports which offer deeper metrics relating to student performance, usage, engagement, and engagement. 

To learn more about reviewing student work in the Scorecard as well as releasing scores to reports, please refer to our Sirius Online ©2024–25 How to Use Guide: Teachers, Co-Teachers, Tutors (061024).

Note: Please reference our more in-depth Sirius Online: Sample Teacher Reports for more information about reporting as well.

Direct link: https://publisher.content2classroom.com/api/publicRedirectToResource?contentItemId=95D3029F2A404F03BFF32F5BBBE08BF4

Note: Sirius Online allows you to review Item Analysis raw scores by class via export to CSV in the Scorecard, along with student performance reports based on computer-scored items.

2. Lesson Instruction 

Before you begin:  Sirius Programs offer lesson work in print workbooks or online through the use of interactive activities. Students can highlight text, create notes, mark up, or erase their mark up on the lesson content. Teachers examine and score student work in the Scorecard and they can view performance reports against the work that they have scored and released to reports.

Plan: Create an Action Plan

As you examine student performance on diagnostic assessments―including use of test-item analysis data from previous STAAR tests, if available—you should plan concrete goals for each day and week.

Be sure to assign the Sirius Tools Tutorial (available for all Sirius courses) so they understand that their online or print experience is representative of what to expect on STAAR, including the newest changes to the STAAR Testing Platform (Cambium) and new interactive test items.

Other Considerations

• Focus on high priority readiness TEKS available in your programs.

• For weaker students, focus on their strengths. 

For especially weak students that will have a hard time improving their scores enough to pass, remediation should focus on the TEKS that they appear to already know. This allows these students to reinforce and clarify what they already know, and to build upon their strengths. These students need to show progress in their test scores by getting additional items correct. For such “reluctant” students, extra efforts to encourage them by focusing on their attitudes and affective needs (like low self-worth, etc.) can often make a significant impact on their retest performance.

• For average students,  focus on their weaknesses.

Many students only need to get a few more test items correct to pass. Because of the limited preparation time, these students would ideally focus on the TEKS that they most need help with—their weaknesses. Nevertheless, it can be helpful for them to begin with lessons that they likely know. Then the students can transition into lessons they need to relearn by focusing on TEKS that they most need help with.

For additional considerations on this topic, refer to our two-page document titledImplementation Approach: Ways to Use Sirius Programs in Your Instruction.

Teach: Deliver Instruction/Learning

Based on the needs of your class, groups within classes, shadow partners, and individuals, work with your students according to your best practices for delivering instruction with student learning in mind. That may be teacher-led, activities done in collaborative groups, self study, or when students themselves take the lead on delivering instruction to their classmates. 

Readiness lessons review the TEKS content in a non-STAAR format. This can be helpful for many students. But these lessons can be skipped or replaced by teachers. The goal of these lessons is to prepare students for the STAAR Practice items that are similar to what students will see on the actual test. Therefore, the bulk of class time should be focused on solving STAAR test items.

Other Considerations

• Start with reviews of core concepts in each lesson or skill area.

• Create project teams who work collaboratively together (live or in breakout rooms) so that students can share ideas and understanding with one another.

• Once you’ve got collaborative groups set up and they’ve worked with the topics at hand, it is time to assign STAAR practice work to your class or student groups to gain deeper understanding and to bridge gaps.

3. Lesson Practice 

Practice

Assign STAAR practice following or during instruction. STAAR practice is delivered in Practice Mode (vs. Test Mode) with the goal of providing students with rich feedback based on their initial and subsequent responses as they work with STAAR-formatted practice questions.

Note: In Practice Mode, the technology behind the scenes tracks first responses as right or wrong, time spent working on each activity, students’ use of blue button feedback or scaffolded supports, annotation tools, resources, and language tools. Though students may eventually get correct answers in practice mode, only their first response is scored and tracked in the scorecard (be sure to remind students of that!).

Other Considerations

• Prioritize the easy and medium difficulty STAAR practice Items

For students who are new to STAAR or need to retest, we recommend focusing on the easy and medium difficulty level STAAR Practice items (approximately the  first two-thirds of the items in each lesson). Teachers should guide students with additional feedback about what they should work on because the current version of Sirius Online assigns and grades all test items. The first third is easy and builds confidence. The last third of the items is difficult and likely to be particularly challenging for most students.

• Take advantage of scaffolded instruction for problem solving.

First, encourage students to use the STAAR tools such as the highlighter, sticky notes, and eliminator, and to flag items to come back to later. Using annotation tools can help many students read problems more carefully and boost their comprehension

To help students take the time to think, we need toslow them down. One suggestion is to have them highlight the “given” information in one color and what the question is “looking for” in a different color. Additionally, students can write sticky notes directed to teachers, which teachers can respond to as they review student work.

Students should use Hint and Try Again as scaffolded instruction to help them actively “work” problems. Additionally, some students make careless mistakes and should be encouraged to check their work. One strategy is to have them have the computer read the question using text to speech, including their answer selection, before pressing Submit.

Finally, help students take breaks to stretch and clear their minds. This is a habit that can help them focus while solving a problem as they learn to relax between problems. This technique is also helpful on test day as it can be both a physical and mental marathon!

Reteach: Cumulative Review

After analyzing and interpreting student progress reports, especially individual Student Performance and Standards reports against trends in your class, plan activities and projects around re-teaching the most difficult skills. 

Other Considerations

• Prepare students for exposure to random or illogically-sequenced questions.

STAAR tests items appear randomly sequenced, meaning that they do not follow any logical order. This means students cannot predict what the next test item is going to be about, and it requires students to be flexible and change gears as well as apply different problem solving skills (including identifying what the question is asking and what they are looking for). 

• Set up formal administration of Cumulative Reviews under representative testing conditions.

Your Sirius programs may contain one or more Cumulative Review assignments. In Sirius Online, Cumulative Review assignments are delivered in Test Mode where students get one attempt, and do not receive any immediate feedback, hints, or other feedback supports.

The format is powerfully similar to the actual STAAR test (except that text-to-speech and translate are available as defaults).

• Encourage students to review their practice and cumulative review work in depth.

For students to fully benefit from the Cumulative Reviews, we encourage them to review and analyze the items that they got incorrect and to see the full solution. They can also see any sticky notes or feedback as comments from the teacher, along with any follow-up practice or lesson work that the teacher has suggested or assigned.

4. Practice Tests 

Assess: Post Tests and Full-length Practice Test Dress Rehearsal

The final stage in our process involves assigning Post Tests and Practice Tests.

We encourage teachers to use Post Tests and our full-length Practice Test in a way that represents STAAR testing conditions whenever possible. If time is available, students can use Post or Practice Test results to review either TEKS lessons with which they still have difficulty, or new lessons that they did not review based on the initial diagnostic test results. Students should carefully review their work to ensure that all test work and practice become a learning opportunity for them.

Other Considerations

• Practice as if they were taking the STAAR TEST, especially the Practice test.

Tell students to think of their final practice as a dress rehearsal for a performance or a scrimmage before the first game of the season. Remind them that the post and practice tests can help them build physical, mental, and emotional test-taking “muscles,” if they give it their best effort!

• Analyze performance on test items following post and practice tests.

• Plan more than one hour for students to carefully analyze the test items that they got correct (ensuring they fully understand it with the sample solution) and items that they got wrong. Remind students that reviewing the test will help them score higher on the actual STAAR test by avoiding making the same mistakes on test day.

Final Reteach

For any groups of students who need more instruction, zero in on specific skills or concepts that need to be reinforced. For students who attain mastery of the material, provide them with extensions to their learning, or involve them in diverse groups as helpful participants in new group assignments.

 3. General Tips for Helping Students Gain Successful Test-taking Behaviors, Skills,  and Strategies 

PART 1: General Preparation During Initial Course Implementation

General

1. Focus on success. Students need to respond correctly to a portion of questions on the STAAR test and can do so by learning and practicing what they need to know and do on the actual STAAR test.

2. Not all content is equally important. Readiness standards are tested at least two times more often than supporting standards. Focus on readiness standards.

3. Empower students. They need to know that the work they put in can make a difference.

4. Focus on where students can make improvements by identifying needs (both strengths and weaknesses) and monitoring their progress as they learn and practice.

When Using Diagnostic and Post Tests

1. Make test-taking a “dress rehearsal” whenever possible. We strongly encourage the use of Diagnostic and Post Tests under conditions as similar as possible to the actual STAAR test. 

2. Observe students carefully. Teachers should carefully observe students during the Diagnostic Test to identify their test-taking behaviors.

3. Identify student behaviors and work to address negative ones. Just raising observations to consciousness can help students be more self-aware and composed. (e.g., suggesting students  are not taking their time.)

4. Help average students focus on weaknesses. Many students only need to correctly answer a few more test items to pass, and it can be helpful for them to begin with lessons that they likely know. 

5. Help weak students focus on strengths. For especially weak students that will have a hard time improving their score enough to pass, remediation should focus on the TEKS that they appear to already know. 

When Using Cumulative Reviews

1. Make Cumulative Review a learning experience. For students to get the full benefit from the Cumulative Reviews, we encourage students to use Review Only mode to analyze the items that they got incorrect and see a full solution, including the ability to see any sticky notes or comments from their teachers.

When Using Lesson Instruction and STAAR Practice Items

1. For Math students: help students prioritize the easy and medium difficulty STAAR Practice Items. For short-term interventions such as retests, we recommend students focus on the easy and medium difficulty level STAAR practice items, which make up the first half or three-fourths of the STAAR Practice items. 

2. Help students become better STAAR test item solvers. STAAR test items are word problems, including applications and even multi-step problems; encourage students to take time to think, keep at it, and consider all options carefully.

3. Use Sirius Online Skill Reviews and Practice (formerly Zingers). We encourage the use of the math and science Problem-Solving, social studies Reasoning, and RLA Build and Review Skills assignments as powerful resources that provide scaffolded instruction and practice in solving commonly missed STAAR test items.

Part 2: Focus on Practice Testing (One or More Weeks Prior to STAAR)

While Using Sirius Practice Tests 

1. Practice test-taking “dress rehearsals” with even greater focus to build mental and physical stamina. Encourage students to use the STAAR Tools as well as paper and pencil, because most students cannot think through many STAAR test items in their heads.

2. Take breaks during Practice Tests. Make sure to guide students in taking breaks to stretch and clear their minds. 

3. Review and analyze Practice Test results/feedback. Plan one or more hours for students to carefully analyze the test items that they got correct (ensuring they fully understand them with the sample solutions) and items that they got wrong.

4. Challenge students in Test Mode with the accommodations they should expect on STAAR. 

5. Once again, observe students carefully for signs of negative test-taking behaviors and anxiety.  Negative test-taking behaviors include working too quickly (perhaps guessing without thought), changing answers, and skipping around the test. Signs of anxiety include sweating, nausea, headaches, shaking, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, ticks, and flush skin color.

After Using Sirius Practice Tests

1. Celebrate your students' efforts. Help your students celebrate their efforts to prepare for the actual STAAR test by trying to give the Sirius Practice Test their full attention, enthusiasm, and focus.

2. Analyzing test items and responses one-on-one with students. To get the full benefit of the Practice Test, plan to spend at least one hour helping students carefully analyze their performance on specific test questions. 

3. Review test-taking strategies. Discuss test-taking strategies to help students become more conscious test-takers; help them identify ways to improve.  

4. Help students with their test anxiety.  Among a long list of strategies, emphasize that some anxiety is natural and helps them be mentally and physically alert while they test.

5. Have students do an expressive writing for five to ten minutes before STAAR. Free writing is a research-proven strategy that reduces students’ anxiety and leads them to perform better on tests. 

6. Reappraise student anxiety. When students feel physical symptoms like a faster heartbeat, sweaty or hot, they can change their inner dialogue from “I’m nervous” to “I’m excited to show what I know.”. 

7. Export and review student test data. Export student test performance and usage data for the Practice Test in the Course Reports to analyze scores on items, independent of the Sirius Online Reports.

8. Predict STAAR performance levels. Use the Practice Test percent correct from the Sirius Online Course Report to identify the corresponding performance level against the “cut score” of your discipline/subject test.

Sirius Online Uses STAAR Cut Scores

Sirius Online Performance Reports use the following course-specific cut score percentages that are based on actual STAAR tests cut scores for its four performance levels: Does Not Meet, Approaches, Meets, and Masters grade level. Sirius Online Standards Reports lets teachers quickly identify student performance by TEKS with respect to these four performance levels as actually measured in STAAR. This can sometimes be confusing because Algebra I and Biology require only 34% and 26% correct respectively for Approaches grade level, which is a percentage many interpret as a failing grade.

STAAR 2.0 Cut Scores (based on Spring 2024)
Percentage of correct points

4. Appendix: Other Topics in Instruction/Links

1. STAAR Test Prep and Practice

2. Accelerated Instruction

3. TEKs Instruction and STAAR Practice

4. Assessment Bank and Test Builder

5. Retesting and Summer Learning

6. Blended Learning