On February 27, 2012, the CCISD Board of Trustees called on the Texas Legislature to reevaluate the purpose of standardized testing in Texas. As a result of a new system composed of multiple assessments. The district submitted this resolution to demand a reversal in the growing trend of testing and to redirect resources towards the improvement and modernization of teaching and learning. 

STAAR tests are designed to be more challenging than TAKS or other standardized testing predecessors. The questions on these exams are more complex and focus on what the state believes students need to grasp from their courses. Each student, with the exception of those with IEPs or other accommodation plans, is given only 4 hours to complete the test, a huge transition from the un-timed TAKS tests students are accustomed to. For grades 3rd through 8th, students will take grade level tests in various subjects with more questions and writing prompts than the TAKS tests. As for high school students, 10th and 11th graders will still take TAKS this year only while current 9th graders will begin the transition from TAKS to End of Course (EOC) exams, which will be course based rather than grade level based. 

However one of the most common and concerning misconceptions about the STAAR tests is that it does not affect a student’s final grade. CCISD released a statement in late February confirming that the STAAR test would not count as 15% of final grades, but for this school year only. Despite this waiver, the STAAR tests will still count towards students’ cumulative score over 12 years that determines if students’ have met the State graduation requirements for the minimum, recommended, or distinguished plans. While the tests may not directly affect students’ grades for the 2011-2012 school year, by taking these exams lightly, students may lower their accumulated number of points based on their testing performance. 

“We agree with Robert Scott, Commissioner of Education in Texas, when he stated that the state accountability system has become a ‘perversion of its original intent’,” CCISD Board of Trustee President Dee Scott said. 

In the resolution, CCISD expresses the numerous concerns with the STAAR testing and state’s with the academic expectations requiring students to essentially gamble with their chance at graduating on one test on one day. CCISD also stresses the restraints standardized testing has put on teachers and students to spend class time memorizing and relentlessly preparing for standardized testing instead of focusing on what will prepare students for college and future careers. CCISD feels these restraints and the state’s loss of focus on the individual student do little more than “[steal] the love of learning” from its students and encourage a “superficial level of learning.” The resolution calls on the Texas Legislature to reexamine what can be done in the classroom to raise academic standards, to effectively evaluate students on their course work, to use more cost-effective methods of testing, and encourage a “love of learning” in Texas students. 

“The intent of assessment should be to diagnose gaps or gains and prescribe intervention or acceleration. However, the State has lost sight of this purpose with new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) system where a student’s score on a single test on a single day may determine whether he will graduate. I applaud the Board of Trustees for giving voice to the mounting concerns of parents, teachers, and students,” Dr. Greg Smith, Superintendent of Schools, said. 

The full-length resolution along with related press releases and more information regarding STAAR testing can be found online at the CCISD website: www.ccisd.net.