TCTA testifies at STAAR implementation hearing
TCTA testified at the first House Public Education Committee hearing of the 2011-12 interim to urge committee members to examine whether the time, effort and money expended on our state assessment system are worth the costs, both tangible and intangible. The committee held the hearing in response to an interim charge issued by the Speaker of the House, which required the committee to monitor the impact of the new STAAR system on students, instruction, teachers, and graduation or promotion rates.
TCTA testified that despite much attention being focused on smaller issues such as logistical problems with the law’s requirement that end-of-course (EOC) grades count for 15% of students’ final course grades, the committee should not lose sight of the larger and more important issue – the undue influence that our state assessment system has on the education of Texas students.
TCTA reminded the committee of the high level of emotion on the House floor last session during debate on HB 500, a bill that sought to mitigate the impact of STAAR on students and schools. During that debate, numerous legislators expressed doubt and frustration about the efficacy of our state testing system. Although the bill easily passed the House, it was rebuked by the Senate and failed to pass. Nonetheless, concern among House members about our overreliance on standardized testing continues to build.
TCTA suggested that the committee look at ways to lessen the impact of standardized testing, such as scaling back the number of tests students are required to take to at least the minimum required by federal law. We also pointed out that when we compare ourselves to high performing countries across the globe, we should take note that top performers like Finland deliberately avoid standardized testing in their education system, and credit that decision as a factor in why Finnish students perform so well on international benchmark tests.
Other witnesses at the hearing echoed the sentiment about our overreliance on state assessments, but most of the testimony centered on what many perceived to be the fundamental inequity in holding students accountable for the new tests via the 15% course grade requirement while exempting schools from accountability ratings on the new test during this transition year. Most of the concerns had to do with how the 15% requirement would affect students’ GPAs and college admissions.
Committee members discussed the fact that, although school districts have total discretion about whether to use course grades incorporating EOC test results in calculating GPAs, they were sympathetic to the inequity of holding students, but not schools, accountable for the new test during the transition year. However, given the fact that the committee is limited in actions it can take when the legislature is not in session, there did not seem to be a clear resolution about how to delay imposition of the 15% course grade requirement for this year’s 9th graders. What does seem clear, though, is that legislators are poised to take action next session to address some of these issues.
