Reprieve is a pause, not a stop on testing
Testing
mine how much the test score should matter in the course grade.
“It’s a recognition that a number of members have been hearing from their constituents and certain members of leadership would like for us to take a pause — not a moratorium, not a stop, but a pause — so that everybody can get here in January and rethink this issue,” Williams said.
Gov. Rick Perry and other legislative leaders on Thursday asked Williams to grant the deferral. In a flurry of showmanship, Williams signed the deferral in front of hundreds of school administrators, who cheered and gave the commissioner a standing ovation.
Susan Kellner, a Spring Branch parent who helped launch Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment, said she appreciated the decision to defer the 15-percent provision, but she said it doesn’t address the parents’ biggest concerns.
“We knew that was going away. Now, we need to focus on the real issues, which are the overtesting and the misuse of it,” Kellner said.
The 15-percent requirement was included to ensure that higher performing students had a stake in doing well on the end-of-course exams. But school districts found that implementing the requirement was a logistical nightmare, and parents recoiled upon learning that the new tests could affect a student’s grade-point average and, in turn, college admissions.
The uproar from the parents last spring prompted the Texas Education Agency to defer the 15-percent rule for the 2011-12 school year. Williams’ move on Friday extends the break to the current school year.
Williams, appointed by Perry in August, said he had spoken with about 150 school superintendents during his short tenure and they have all bent his ear on testing and accountability.
State law requires high school students to take 15 end-of-course exams, which are intended to measure a student’s college- or career-readiness. The Class of 2015 — current 10th-graders — took the exam last spring and results were dismal. About half of the test-takers failed at least one end-of-course exam, which means they have said he believed he had a valid defense for speeding on Interstate 35 in North Austin. While driving in the left lane, he said, an emergency vehicle pulled behind him looking like it needed to pass, even though its overhead lights were off. Meyers said he sped up to let the vehicle by, and that’s when he was caught going 79 mph in a 60 mph zone.
In hindsight, however, Meyers acknowledged that the effort spent fighting what began as a $193 ticket was out of proportion.
Municipal court officials declined to comment on Meyers’ letter but confirmed that he hand-delivered it to court offices Thursday.
A search of court records, however, showed that Meyers hadn’t yet paid a $75 fine, plus a $25 late fee, after an Austin red light camera photographed his car running a stoplight in January 2010. Meyers previously said he will investigate the matter and pay any fine he owes. fallen off the graduation track.
Superintendents who have testified in recent weeks at a school finance trial say they worry that those students will drop out of high school if they fall too far behind.
Conversations are swirling around this issue in advance of the legislative session, which begins Jan. 8. Some legislators have called for a full moratorium on high-stakes testing, a suggestion that Williams cautioned against.
Instead, he urged all the players to “pump your brakes” so they can “find creative and smart ways to fix the system.”
“At some point in time, after we’ve been in this for a while, everybody will relax because there will be a sense of confidence that this pipeline is aligned just right,” Williams said.