TEKS TOOLS [Grade 3]

Since the 2022 STAAR redesign, aka STAAR 2.0, a noted increase in complexity has emerged. Students are asked to think and solve in ways that even cause some adults to pause. Rather than more drill and test prep, a more nuanced approach is needed to ensure student success. Each year's test brings new surprises, and it's necessary for us to equip them with better tools to make sense of the problems.

Process standards

Instead of prepping them based on what the test looked like last year (or the year before that), the process standards can give them them the strategies needed to understand and solve a plethora of problems. Specifically, TEKS 3.1:

• (C) select tools, including real objects, manipulatives, paper and pencil, and technology as appropriate, and techniques, including mental math, estimation, and number sense as appropriate, to solve problems;

• (D) communicate mathematical ideas, reasoning, and their implications using multiple representations, including symbols, diagrams, graphs, and language as appropriate;

• (E) create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas;

• (F) analyze mathematical relationships to connect and communicate mathematical ideas;

STAAR analysis

In considered the 90 items that have been released from 2023-2025, a pattern emerges. Specifically, three types of thinking predominate the test. Moreover, each problem type can be solved using what I am calling TEKS Tools.

While these tools will not solve every problem, they will give students the skills needed to solve an abundance of new and unique problem types.

• Strip diagrams - representations used to understand part-whole, equal groups, and comparison relationships

• Number lines - representations used to understand the relationship between fractional quantities, number pairs, or as a tool for rounding and estimation

• Place value charts - graphic organizers to compose, decompose, compare, and order numbers and understand place value magnitude

For each test, I've annotated what percent of problems could be solved with these TEKS Tools.

Tool	2023	2024	2025
Strip diagrams	43%	40%	33%
Number lines	20%	17%	30%
Place value charts	13%	10%	17%
TOTAL	77%	67%	80%

These three TEKS Tools can consistently support students to achieve at the Meets and Masters levels. You can see my item analysis of how each tool could be used to solve Grade 3 STAAR items here. The items are hyperlinked in the various tabs and contain representations of the appropriate TEKS Tool.

Series

I am exploring each TEKS Tool in a series of blog post that can be access below.

• Strip diagrams

  • Part-whole

  • Equal groups

  • Comparison

• Number lines

  • Fractions

  • Number pairs

  • Solving problems

• Place value charts

  • Place value relationships

  • Comparing/Ordering