After a year off due to COVID-19, STAAR testing resumes Tuesday (English I) and Thursday (English II), with pandemic protocols in place on campus. 

“Due to Covid, we will be testing in classrooms with 20 or less students rather than mass testing in the gyms,” campus testing administrator Ashley Stipe said. “I have had to rely on email and school newsletter to communicate with virtual students. Students will have to take snack breaks in the hallways rather than eating snacks in the testing rooms.”

English teachers have been working on advancing student’s writing skills and reading comprehension the entire school year, in order to prepare them for the upcoming exams. 

“This year, we started with the basic assertion & thesis statement,” English Vanessa Melvin said. “From there we added evidence and then our commentary. With each skill, there were scaffolds and models in place to help students build on their writing. They’ve probably written at least 6 STAAR style essays in the past couple of months on top of the REAL essays they’ve written prior, and now we are going back and perfecting our planning process.”

For many students, such as freshman Olivia Reeves, these in-school teachings have helped solidify past knowledge. 

“In class we have been writing essays over a few prompts and been doing some practice tests in order to help,” Reeves said. “I’m confident about being able to use the skills I’ve learned in class to help me on the test, and the only thing I’m worried about is being able to keep my attention on the test and not getting zoned out.”

With approximately half the school’s students learning from home, Melvin says she’s been impressed with most of those that have kept up with their work. 

“I will say that there are some troubles with preparing online students as there have been some difficulties with self-discipline and motivation,” she said. “It’s very easy to get side-tracked at home and lose focus. However, the majority that are staying on top of their work have impressed me with their writing, and I’ve always seen improvement in those students’ work-even after being introduced to new styles.”

For others such as sophomore Riya Khosla, the pandemic hasn’t changed much.

“Honestly, I don’t feel COVID has affected this process greatly, if at all,” Khosla said. “What we’ve been doing to prepare for the English EOC is quite similar to what I’ve done in the past so I don’t feel like much has changed. However, the material we are being tested on is a bit more broad simply because not much information about the EOC has been released, so I’m definitely covering more information while preparing for the EOC.”