STAAR gets support
Business leaders join 14 Texas superintendents to advocate holding state exams but suspending ratings based on results
Fourteen Texas school superintendents, including those leading Dallas, Fort Worth and Aldine ISDs, joined with several business and education advocacy organizations Thursday tovoicesupport for continuing to give standardized tests to students in the spring.
The announcement came one day after 70members of the Texas Houseof Representatives issued a bipartisan call for state leaders to take steps toward canceling the annual exams, illustrating the split over a hot-button education issue that has riled teachers and families.
In a letter to Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, the superintendents, business leaders and education advocates said they “believe strongly in understanding where Texas students are in their learning journey.” The group argued the exams would provide vital data to helpmeasure students’ academic achievement and growth amid the pandemic.
“We think it is critical for government leaders and policy makers to fully understand the extent and the disproportionate nature of COVID-19 learning loss that has likely occurred for our communities from limited income homes and our communities of color,” the letter read in part.
While education and business advocates encouraged giving the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, commonly known as STAAR, they did not support continuing to grade schools and districts based on the results. The Texas Education Agency’s academic accountability system results in A-through-F letter grades to campuses and districts largely tied to STAARscores.
In arguing against accountability ratings, the superintendents and advocates said it would be “almost impossible to assign A-F ratings in a fair and equitable way.”
“We respectfully request that academic accountability for school and district ratings be placed on pause for the 2020-21 school year, and that superintendents and school leaders are given this information as soon as possible,” the group wrote.
Morath told the State Board of Education earlier this week that several options for testing and accountability remain under consideration. He did not provide a timeline for making a final decision.
The U.S. Department of Education must issue waivers to states wishing to eliminate standardized tests in the spring of 2021. President-elect Joe Biden’s administration has not announced whether it will support those waivers.
The education and business advocates included several leaders who have worked collaboratively with Morath in recent years. Morath and other state leaders frequently praise Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, whose district has modeled education practices that resulted in new state laws in recent years.
Aldine ISD Superintendent LaTonya Goffney was the only Houston-area district leader to sign the letter. The Greater Houston Partnership and education advocacy nonprofit Good Reason Houston also joined.
Several of the state’s largest employee organizations and unions, who often clash with Morath and his agency, have called for canceling the 2021 STAAR exams and accountability ratings. The group of legislators issuing an identical call Wednesday included 50 Democrats and 18 Republicans, who argued the standardized tests would provide invalid results and divert needed attention away from more pressing needs.