TESTING CENTER

The Testing center administers all standardized tests required by the state and assists with Advanced Placement and school exams. As test dates become available they will be posted here and on our website calendar. When the majority of the school is testing, we run an adjusted bell schedule and seniors who do not need to test may have different arrival times. Please check the weekly news and calendar for information and updates.

TAKS: Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills; required by the State of Texas for 9th, 10th and 11th (Exit Level).  The Exit Level is required for graduation from high school.
LAT Exams: Linguistically Accommodated TAKS
STAAR: The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR™) will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), which is the criterion-referenced assessment program that has been in place since 2003. STAAR™ includes the 12 end-of-course (EOC) assessments mandated by SB 1031 in 2007 and will be implemented in the 2011–2012 school year.
PSAT/NMSQT: The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude/National Merit Qualifying test is a standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT Reasoning Test™. It also gives students a chance to enter National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) scholarship programs. We administer the exam to juniors (fee applies) and freshmen and sophomores take a practice PSAT (paid for by a grant).
TELPAS: Under the NCLB, TEA has developed as assessment designed to assess the progress that limited English proficient (LEP) students make in learning the English language.
LTF YES (Laying the Foundations Year End Summative Assessment): Exams are given to students in Pre-AP Math, Science and English to provide feedback regarding student progress.
Advanced Placement Exams: refer to AP page link for information on tests and registration
Semester Final Exams: Exams at the end of the semester over the entire curriculum.  The exams are 25% of the semester average.

PREPARING FOR TEST DAYS
To do your best on test days, you should always get a good night sleep and eat a good breakfast.  The cell phone policy is strictly enforced during all types of tests and students are required to turn in their cell phones to the test administrator before testing begins.  The phones are returned before the students are dismissed from their testing locations.

TESTING DATES

PSAT, SAT AND ACT
Westside administers the PSAT on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 (freshmen-juniors), the SAT (for juniors) on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 and selected Saturday SAT and ACT tests noted below.
Students must register themselves at www.collegeboard.com for the SAT or at www.actstudent.org for the ACT. Please visit these websites for more information or check our College Center webpage.

For your convenience, we have listed the 2011-2012 test dates below but please refer to the applicable website for registration deadlines, fees, testing centers, etc.