Superintendents of the Bryan and College Station school districts applauded Friday’s announcement that the new STAAR standardized tests will not count 15 percent of a student’s grade this school year.
College Station ISD Superintendent Eddie Coulson says a statewide grassroots effort by “moms and dads across the state of Texas is what changed this rule.”
WTAW’s Bill Oliver visits with Eddie Coulson.
Bryan ISD Superintendent Tommy Wallis says “Superintendents, school boards, parents, and educators across the state of Texas have had enough of testing. And I think they (the Texas Education Agency and state lawmakers) know there’s more than one way to assess a child’s learning other than a test.”
Bill Oliver visits with Tommy Wallis.
Coulson and Willis are hopeful the Legislature will completely abolish the 15 percent provision during the upcoming session that starts in January.
More information from the Associated Press:
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams has deferred the requirement for schools to count new end-of-course exams as 15 percent of a student’s grade this school year.
Williams made the announcement Friday after Gov. Rick Perry suggested the deferral. Perry appointed Williams in August.
Parents and many conservatives have complained about the new standardized STAAR test that came into use for the first time last year. Under a new testing regime, students must pass the exams at the end of each semester in order to graduate from high school, and for the first time the exams were to count as part of a student’s grade.
Teachers and parents complain they have not had enough time to adapt to the new system and test results were not part of grades last year.