How to Help My Child Prepare
A Parent’s Checklist
The STAAR Alternate 2 assessment is written specifically for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who learn in unique ways. Meet with your child’s teacher to learn about resources that support your child’s unique learning mode.
Home to School Connection
The home to school connection is critical to achieve student success. Frequent two-way communication is necessary to offer feedback, share strategies that are working, determine if student support is sufficient or determine whether additional supports are needed.
Review Sample Alternate 2 Content
Take a look at sample test questions and test forms to know what your child can expect long before the testing date.
Go to Sample STAAR Alternate 2 Content
Don’t Stress; Do Your Best
Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities are most successful at school in an environment with a familiar and routine schedule. STAAR Alternate 2 can be administered in short sessions that can be imbedded into the school day. However, even small disruptions to a routine school schedule may be difficult for some students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
Parents Can Help To Prepare Students for the STAAR Alternate 2 Window By:
- Reviewing expectations prior to schedule changes. A simple social story is an easy way to review expectations prior to the testing window.
- Use simple relaxation strategies to help reduce anxiety prior to the change in routine such as using stress balls, fidgets, or a favorite transition item.
- Show students video modeling to review expected behavior prior to a change in daily schedule.
- Praise and reinforce student effort. Encourage students to “do their best” every day.
- Model positive words and actions towards the assessment. Explain it is just one way the teacher can find out what your student knows to better help with learning.
- Inform the teacher of recent behavioral or physical changes that would help the teacher choose the best days for testing.
Review Your Child’s STAAR Alternate 2 Report Card
See how your child did this year as well as his or her STAAR Alternate 2 score history. You will learn how they are progressing and help them do their best.
Tools and Resources to Help Your Child Get Ready
STAAR Alternate 2 Released Test Questions
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) releases two types of test questions for the STAAR Alternate 2 program — sample questions and test forms.
- Sample test questions are small subsets of test questions released from the STAAR Alternate 2 test banks. These test questions may have been previously administered.
- A test form is a set of released test questions previously administered together to Texas students, which reflects the STAAR Alternate 2 test blueprints.
Helpful Links
Check out the links below to quickly get where you need to go:
STAAR Alternate 2, TELPAS, and TELPAS Alternate Resources
Special Education Information and Call Center
Supplemental Special Education Services (SSES)
This program gives one-time $1500 grants to families of students served by special education.
