The high-stakes accountability ratings of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam should be suspended through May 2021, according to state Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van).
STAAR results are used to evaluate performance in reading, writing, math, science and social studies for 3rd- through 12th-grade pupils.
“It is important students take the STAAR test in May 2021," Flynn said. "However, the state has admitted there are already identifiable learning gaps due to the COVID-19 quarantine. It is the utilization of these results for high-stakes decisions such as teacher and principal evaluations, student grade promotion, and high school graduation that is unjust and unfair given the current national crisis.”
Gov. Greg Abbott suspended the controversial testing program in May due to the COVID-19 shutdown.
“It made sense to suspend the STAAR due to the uncertainty of the times,” said Tera Collum, executive director of the Travis Institute of Educational Policy, an education advocacy organization in Texas. “Likewise, we do not know what the future holds. Districts across the state are still in the planning stages for what the new school year will look like. It would be prudent to reduce the stress of giving the STAAR and concentrate on making sure students have regained any ground that was lost due to the stay at home order.”
Prior to the COVID-19 plague, STAAR was already under scrutiny, according to media reports.
“High-stakes testing has overall put an undue amount of stress on teachers, students, and parents,” Flynn told the Lone Star Standard. “It has taken the focus off of learning and instruction and shifted it to a test that is not required to apply for college, university, trade school, a job or the military.”
Instead, Flynn proposes allowing parents to interpret the results rather than the bureaucrats and privatizing public education.
“Since private and homeschoolers are not subject to the state testing mandate, many utilize several types of achievement tests, that have stood the test of time, to measure the academic growth of their students,” Flynn said.
Currently, there are 5.4 million students in Texas, according to the Texas Education Agency.
“I definitely believe that the STAAR is not the answer,” Collum told the Lone Star Standard. “Allowing teachers to teach students in a way that builds foundational knowledge, not just teaching to a standardized assessment. To allow those teachers to evaluate their students in a way that will show actual progress is the best solution.”
Implementing a portfolio system or allowing accurate grade reporting by teachers is one way in which schools can be held to reasonable accountability standards while the nation recovers from the coronavirus and its resulting shutdown, according to Collum.
“Making sure that the student's report card accurately represents the student's achievement and documents any deficiencies,” she said. “This will allow teachers to target the needs of the students and develop an action plan for their students.”
