On Monday, the Texas House successfully passed House Bill 4 that proposes to overhaul STAAR testing in Texas schools. The bill faces a harder crowd as it is presented to the Senate, seeing that both the House & Senate have proposed legislation for this same initiative. The STAAR test is the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness standardized test that is administered in grade 3-12. It is designed to assist schools and their districts in “monitoring student learning and teacher performance” (Texas Tribune).
Majority approval for standardized testing seems to be diminishing rapidly – read on to learn about current motions and a general overview of standardized testing in American schools.
RECENT MOTION IN TEXAS
Following an earlier submission of HB 4, the Texas House has rewritten and passed the bill with a unanimous vote to ultimately revamp STAAR testing in Texas schools. Representative Brad Buckley, a co-author of HB 4, testified that STAAR testing has been largely ineffective and discouraging for students, teachers and school districts while “increasing anxiety in the classroom”.
The desire to either renovate or abolish standardized testing has been tossed around for a while now, and Texas legislatures have begun curating a list of amendments to make that desire a reality. First of all, they want to implement a shorter test that will provide teachers with better apportioned time for instruction. Buckley projects that teachers spend around 10% of the year preparing their students for the STAAR Test that is issued only in April. Instead, the House wants the new assessment to be administered three times throughout the school year.
Secondly, the test’s grading scale A-F is wanted to change. Critics of STAAR say that it is too rigorous to accurately reflect grade-level standards, as it aims to track students’ academic performance and mastery of certain skills and/or information. The purpose of this grading scheme is to compare schools against other schools and their previous scores. This way, “less affluent” districts with poorly-rating schools are subjected to penalties to encourage improvement (Texas Monthly). In order to reform this, the House suggests that student outcomes ought to be compared to that of their national peers.
Third, Texas legislatures wish to improve the scenario for teachers. In addition to their regular curriculum for the school year, teachers find it difficult to balance this with STAAR prep so that students are fully prepared for the test in April. They also say that the test results are nearly impossible to use to improve their plans and identify specific areas of need amongst their students. This is because the results aren’t released until somewhere between 9-14 weeks after the initial testing day and generally, the results are simply complicated to comprehend. A new spread-out assessment aimed at assessing students’ capacity for critical thinking and real-world problem-solving would provide results that are comprehensible in identifying students’ needs, as well as institute an efficient release of results.
OPPOSITION TO STAAR
Opposition to STAAR testing and standardized testing in general has begun establishing roots amongst the general public. Texas Monthly reports that in 2023, 45% of public-school parents along with 81% of current/former public-school teachers are not confident in the exam’s “ability to measure student learning.” For students, the outcome of their scores determines whether they will be able to advance to the next grade even though the scores aren’t released until after the school year has concluded. In some cases, these scores may determine their eligibility for a high school diploma.
The cost of administering the test is of priority amongst critics. The State of Texas is charged hundreds of millions of dollars to make it happen. In 2021, Texas AFT found that a 4-year contract for the development and administration of the STAAR test cost $388 million. None of this money was sent to the classrooms, nor was it applied to improve curriculum.
Even so, Texas has continued to circulate through different methods of implementing standardized testing in schools. Beginning in 1979, a law was enacted which required that basic skills of comprehension in math, reading and writing in the 3rd, 5th and 9th grade be tested. In 1980, TABS was created to assess minimal skills in math, reading and writing. In 1986, TEAMS was established as the first state-wide assessment that was required to be taken by all high school students in order to receive their high school diploma. In 1990, TAAS was made to assess students’ academic skills instead of their minimum skills in reading, writing and math. This test was administered in grades three, five, seven, nine and eleven. In 1999, TAKS replaced TAAS. In 2000, the Reading Proficiency Tests in English were administered for English Learners (Els) in 3rd – 12th grade. Then in 2012 STAAR came to replace TAKS and was administered in 3rd – 8th grade as well as in high school. At the time it provided students with an assessment in 15 areas including: Algebra I & II, Geometry, English Reading I & II & III, English Writing I & II & III, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, World Geography, World History and U.S. History.
OPPOSITION TO STANDARDIZED TESTING
It’s not just the STAAR Test that many people disapprove of – it’s also standardized testing overall. Many groups, organizations, and individual people argue that these sort of tests are inaccurate, inequitable and ineffective (National Education Association).
However, there are few that still support this method of assessment in schools. It is believed that standardized testing was developed in order to eliminate subjective bias within educational assessments by implementing a consistent scoring system, and equal measures of time to ensure fairness and equality. In this argument, people point to the fact that universities require students to take the SAT and ACT for admission; likewise, law schools require the LSAT and medical schools require the MCAT.
Here are some basic pointers that are publicized in favor of standardized testing: It establishes a universal educational standard, demonstrates student progress, holds education stakeholders accountable, identifies and addresses educational disparities within schools, and provides data research for policymaking initiatives concerning education. However, there are some pitfalls to standardized testing: the questions and format of the testing may be predictable for students, it doesn’t necessarily measure students’ practical intelligence, the environment on testing days and the pressure it advertises may harm students’ self-esteem, and it forces a narrow focus on curriculum so teachers can prepare students for the test (Education Advanced).
Those in opposition to standardized testing believe that there ought to be a performance-based assessment created as an accurate measurement for student growth. This would demonstrate students’ capacity for “critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, applicable knowledge to real-world situations.”
For teachers, this is also a preferred method of testing where they could better engage with material and have a better opportunity to address areas for improvement amongst their students. The National Education Association lists ways that this sort of test may be administered, through open-ended short response essays, having students develop an analysis through an essay, have students conduct a laboratory experiment, create a student work portfolio, conduct an original research paper, etc. The goal would be to implement hands-on experience in the form of an assessment. Ultimately, this seems to be what the Texas House is beginning to work toward.
OPT-OUT
Many states have authorized the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that allows parents to opt-out of having their kids take standardized tests. These include Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, North Dakota, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin.
What do you think? Have your kids thrived in taking standardized tests? Should education be supervised and analyzed on a national basis? Do you believe that the STAAR test accurately assesses students’ success in education?
RESEARCH
Texas Tribune
Community Impact
Texas Monthly
Texas AFT
National Education Association
Education Advanced
FairTest
Fort Worth Star Telegram