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Student preparedness for STAAR™ End-of-Course assessments, STAAR™ middle school assessments, and college and career readiness are the focus of the OnTRACK project, which is funded by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Customized online resources are being developed to support student success in math, science, social studies, and English. OnTRACK materials are aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR™), or the College and Career Readiness Standards and Cross Disciplinary Standards. Close to 1000 lessons have been developed for Algebra I and II, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, U.S. History, World History, World Geography, and English I, English II and English III. Additional lessons are under development for grade 8 ELA. Materials are available in Project Share, and additional resources will be made available as they are developed.
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In partnership with TEA, the Institute for Public School Initiatives seeks to achieve three primary goals through the OnTRACK project.
- Provide middle school students with the tools needed to become algebra ready.
- Help high school students exceed the minimum score required on each End-of-Course assessment in order to meet graduation requirements.
- Prepare all students to meet the performance indicator for post-secondary on the STAAR™ End-of-Course assessment for Algebra II and English III.
State legislation requires the phase-out of high school TAKS assessments and replaces them with twelve End-of-Course (EOC) assessments. New EOC exams were created beginning in 2009, with the last to be implemented in 2012. College and Career Readiness Standards have been incorporated into the TEKS for math, science, social studies, and English language arts. "College readiness" is the level of preparation a student must attain in English language arts and mathematics courses to enroll and succeed, without remediation, in an entry-level general education course for credit in that same content area for a baccalaureate degree or associate degree program (House Bill 3, Section 39.024a).
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OnTRACK materials for high school are organized into ten courses, one for each subject area (Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, U.S. History, World History, World Geography, and English I, II, and III). OnTRACK materials for middle school are organized by grade level, beginning with Grade 8 Mathematics, Science, ELAR, and Social Studies. Within each course are dozens of lessons that align with the STAAR™ requirements. Each lesson includes content written by Texas classroom teachers, opportunities for interactive learning, assessments with meaningful feedback for students, and additional resources.
The following courses have been released to the service centers and are ready for distribution to districts.
- Algebra I
- Algebra II
- Geometry
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- U.S. History
- World History
- World Geography
- English I
- English II
- English III
- Grade 8 Math
- Grade 8 Social Studies
- Grade 8 Science
- Teacher Facilitated Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry (Credit Recovery)
Remember, the OnTRACK courses are free for districts to use. To receive copies of a course for use in your district contact the Project Share representative at your service center.
OnTRACK lessons are written by Texas classroom teachers. Curriculum experts who are former Texas teachers are working to closely align the lessons with State standards, assure the quality of the content and assessment items, and organize the learning materials for online delivery.
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OnTRACK materials are available to teachers and students through Project Share, the Texas Education Agency's online learning community, where educators collaborate and share resources. You can view the OnTrack Lesson Samples if you click here. While logged into your Project Share account, search for "OnTRACK" to find available materials. For more information on Project Share, and to gain access to OnTRACK and other materials, contact your Texas Education Service Center (ESC) or email Project Share.
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The goal of the training process is to enable teachers to effectively use OnTRACK materials with students struggling with math, science, social studies, or English. Teachers will learn how to engage students through the use of interactive media in a non-linear learning environment. OnTRACK training opportunities will be delivered through the regional ESCs.
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Paula Moeller, Ed.D. |
Director,
College Readiness Initiatives |
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Karen Nelson |
Director,
Academic Foundation Initiatives |
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Gary Cosenza |
Project Manager |
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Paul Gray |
Project Manager |
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Maggie Sheppard |
Project Manager |
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Faith Stevens |
Project Manager |
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Toni Baxter |
SCS* - English |
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Jill Burkart |
Technical Team |
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Brandon Cornell |
Technical Team |
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Stephanie Edwards-Hunt |
EMT** - Social Studies |
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John Ezzell |
Content Specialist |
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Jenni Freeman |
Technical Team |
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Christine Gorychka |
SCS* - English |
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Margie Harris |
Technical Team |
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Ryan Hill |
Technical Team |
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Martha Lee |
Executive Master Teacher |
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Allen McMurrey |
EMT** - ELAR |
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Sonia Mercado |
Technical Team |
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Terri Perez |
Senior Content Specialist |
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General Information |
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* - Secondary Content Specialist
** - Executive Master Teacher
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