Common Mistakes School Districts Make With TSI Prep

School districts across the state of Texas are focused on increasing the passing rates of students on the TSI

The TSI, or the Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA), has become a vital component of the new Texas educational accountability system. House Bill 3 (HB3) has also included TSI completion rates as an essential measurement for teachers and school districts to maximize the revenue they can pull in and take advantage of the state's incentive program. ISDs all over Texas are beginning to expand TSI preparation in a multitude of ways. Let's take a moment to discuss the most common mistakes we see school districts making as they build their strategic plans to boost TSI passing rates with their students.

MISTAKE #1: SCHOOL DISTRICTS LOOK AT ALL NON-PASSING TSI STUDENTS AS A "ONE SIZE FITS ALL."  

Many times we walk into a school district to see their current prep as somewhat of a shotgun approach. A campus administrator gets a list of 50 students who haven't passed the TSI and assigns all of them to attend a three-hour prep camp. Unfortunately, that approach can cause more harm than good. In that group of 50 students, there may be a handful of students who are only one or two questions away from passing. Mixing them with 20 other students who are 10 to 12 questions away from passing creates a dynamic in the boot camp in which the teacher ends up focusing all their attention on the students in the prep who are 12 questions away from passing. The students who were on the precipice of passing don't get their needs met, and the frustration mounts. Instead, a more effective way is to gauge the students based on their previous TSI scores, and group students accordingly to mastery levels. By grouping students based on similar test results, administrators can maximize teachers' efforts and hone in on the one or two skills some students need to master to push them across the line. 

MISTAKE #2: SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE STUDENTS IMMEDIATELY RETAKE THE FAILED TEST

It seems like a smart tack; a student is one or two questions away from a passing grade, and maybe with a little luck, can pass a second time through. But the data shows that it doesn't work. Moreover, think about the mindset of the child who, having just failed a test, is ordered to retake the TSI without any additional study or preparation. This approach establishes a dangerous precedent with the student because all you're doing is telling this child, they're not ever going to be college-ready. If you have ever tried to work with seniors who have failed a TSI multiple times, the battle is not over the content, it's over the mindset that they should try harder and engage again with the exam. Breaking through that is extremely difficult, and it is the result of not putting the work in to help these students become more effective test-takers.

MISTAKE #3: STUDENTS TAKE MULTIPLE TSI EXAMS ON THE SAME DAY

One TSI exam is exhausting by itself. Some students are expected to take the TSI reading, the TSI writing, and a TSI math all on the same day. Research shows people have an average of two hours of peak performance of our mental capacity. A single TSI exam is a three hours long endurance session (as our staff can attest to having taken all these tests multiple times). Taking a single examination and students are already expanding vast amounts of cognitive functioning time. Taking all three subjects on the same day means two of the three subject areas will not be taken with their peak performance. Instead, space these tests out one day at a time. Why not do TSI reading on Monday, TSI writing on Tuesday, and TSI math on Wednesday? It requires more scheduling and logistics, but if you want your students to pass, treat the TSI with the respect it deserves.

MISTAKE #4: MAKE SURE THE TEACHERS THAT YOU HAVE TRAINING THE STUDENTS THEMSELVES CAN PASS THE TSI

This rule may sound silly because it seems so obvious, but many school districts do not recruit their top teachers to help their students with the TSI. When SureScore trains teachers who will be using our materials in the classroom, we make teachers take a practice TSI assessment as part of the experience. On average, about 30% of the teachers we are training do not pass the TSI benchmark during their first attempt. If your TSI instructors don't have mastery of the TSI content, they are going to be challenged to help students pass a specific TSI Section. On the TSI Math Section, the test covers Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry. Make sure your TSI Prep Teachers have a firm grasp of Algebra I and Algebra II. Equally, on the TSI Reading Section, your teachers need to know how to help students master inference questions. If not, both the school and the students are going to experience a high amount of frustration.

MISTAKE #5: INITIATING TSI PREP WITHOUT ENGAGING CAMPUS AND DISTRICT ADMINISTRATORS

Teachers often do a great job of working with students and helping them understand the TSI. But, your teachers are also aware of what's essential based upon the presence of administrators. It always amazes me when a district administrator claims the importance of the TSI and during the teacher training they are too busy to even pop in to say hello much less attend the sessions. Recently, we have started doing administrator training, and at some of the some school districts we even have the Chief Academic Officers and campus principals attend training sessions so they can be brought up to speed on the TSI. This is vitally important. We've had school districts, after participating in the training say, we need to bring certain concepts down from Algebra II to Algebra I so we can get more students to pass. It's not until administrators are willing to go through our training and invest their time and effort do they get to reap the benefits of a comprehensive TSI preparation initiative where everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction. If students passing the TSI is truly important, then prove it! Spend your time, effort, and your intellectual capacity on understanding this test. Become an expert in the TSI concepts, and it will help principals, assistant principals, and district personnel create the right preparation strategy for your students.

SureScore is a college prep company with 25 years of experience in the state of Texas, working with SAT, ACT, and TSI prep initiatives. SureScore consults with school districts to help them identify the best practice model for their district and gain an understanding of how to bring an institutional approach to any prep college initiative. At the end of the day, any strategy is only as effective as that strategy is implemented.