This is a public post because it is really important.  As Opt Out groups have proliferated the quality control of these groups is increasingly poor.  To the extent that parents get a lot of bad, or more often, woefully incomplete advice.  Then when they fail in their opt out because they have not been properly prepared, their bad experience rebounds back against all of us.

This video addresses a trend I’ve seen increase significantly this year.  It’s the advice to “just be absent” for the assessment and makeup day.  Parents are touting this as if it is a panacea, and if that is the extent of their plan 90% of them will fail.  This video tries to explain the problems with simple absence as a tactic.  It’s not bad advice as far as it goes.  But it is so, so incomplete, that it almost guarantees failure.

Be educated.  Be prepared.  Be Ready.  Be successful.

We get this question all the time, so this is a public video. If it helps, please support us on Patreon. If the truth is too hard, then support us anyway. We tell you the truth whether it’s good or bad.

ACTION ITEM – COMMENT ON HB 1416 – Must be done by Monday night!!! (March 13)

HB 1416 is a bill that amends accelerated instruction and explicitly creates an opt out process for parents. It also preserves the no loss of electives rule. Because it creates a different process for creating AI plans for kids who have failed for two years, there is some confusion over whether all these limitations on schools apply to the second year and into the future. I think it does, but it could use clarification.

PLEASE – Make Comments on HB 1416 by going to https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c400and clicking on HB 1416 for comment. My comment is below. After re-reading the bill, I think that is intends to affirm an opt out right for all accelerated instruction, and the specifications for students who have no passed for two or more years is really just about how to develop a plan. But, I know schools will try to make it more than that and overreach by denying opt out and stripping electives. We need to get the committee to address this, either by adding a section to the bill specifying that (a-1) to (a-10) apply to all accelerated instruction, or noting that in their legislative reports. My comment is below. You can steal it or you can write you own. The key points are:

1. Schools have overreached by ignoring the TEA and denying parental opt out.
2. Schools have ignored the legislature by continuing to deny electives.
3. The legislature must support parents and parental rights by making clear that (a-8) and (a-3) apply to all accelerated instruction, without exception.

You can also go to https://house.texas.gov/committees/committee/?committee=C400 to email individual committee members.

COMMENT:

I am writing to express my concerns of HB 1416 as written. I think we can all agree that the accelerated instructions provisions of HB 4545 enacted in 2021 were not smoothly implemented and caused great confusion and frustration for parents and schools alike. As a parent, one of the most frustrating circumstances was the failure of many schools to follow the clear guidance from the TEA and Commissioner Morath about parental rights.

Although the TEA put together written direction affirming that parents can opt out of Accelerated Instructions, and even though Commissioner Morath testified directly to the State Board of Education that as the final decision maker for their child’s education, parents have the right to decline accelerated instruction for their children, many schools imposed their own interpretation, believing they know better than parents and can overrule the parental decision for any reason they wish. One district has even gone so far as to require a parent to go through three levels of grievance and appeal to the State Office of Administrative Hearings in an effort to have the district recognize her parental rights.

For this reason, I was thrilled to see that HB 1416 adds (a-8) explicitly recognizing the Opt Out right that Tex. Educ Code 26.010 creates. However, I am concerned that the bill does not specify that all of the restrictions of (a) also apply to accelerated instruction requiring an accelerated instruction plan under (b) and (f). It seems self-evident that (a) is the basis for and source of the requirement for all accelerated instruction. However, my experience school districts leads me to believe that it must be explicitly stated that (a) to (a-10) applied to ALL accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211.

I would second that concern as to section (a-3), which assures that a student does not lose core classes, enrichment classes or physical activity for accelerated instruction test prep. Many schools have continued to try to do this, and only relent if parents complain. I anticipate that schools will attempt to force loss of electives and take the position that (b) and (f) allow them to do so. This is strained construction, but schools believe they hold the power over parents and do not hesitate to do outrageous things.

PLEASE make it clear in this bill that (a-1) to (a-10) apply to ALL accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211. If you don’t do it in the bill itself (preferred), please do so in the reports and analysis so that the legislative history is clear on this, because there will be continued efforts by schools to deny parental rights.

If this is clarified this will be a good improvement to the existing 28.0211 that we can support.

Dear Supporters:

Your support has enabled us to continue providing good information and support to parents fighting STAAR at the grass roots level.  Every two years we face a potential shift in the landscape when the Texas Legislature meets.  There will be bills, hearings and lobbying impacting all different areas of Education policy.  And it is the one chance we have to be heard by the representatives.

The 88th Legislature’s regular session runs from Jan. 10 to May 29, 2023.  Bills have already been filed targeting assessment issues and we’ll be bringing you an analysis of those bills.  One of the toughest things to do is figure out which bills are real and which are just for show.  We’ll be reaching out to the offices of the bill authors that we believe are positive to see how we can support the bills.

Early access for our Patreon supporters!

This FAQ is a work in progress.  Will be updated as more questions come in!

It is interim assessment season, so what does that mean for us?  Here is a quick and dirty FAQ on Interim Assessments.

What are Interim Assessments?

According to the TEA, Interim Assessments are optional, online assessments that align to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and that help educators monitor student progress and predict student performance on STAAR. These assessments will be available at no cost to districts and open-enrollment charter schools, and they are not tied to accountability.

The TEA has created these assessments to mirror the STAAR and provide information to campuses to permit remediation before the actual STAAR.  No matter what your school may tell you, these assessments are about nothing but STAAR.  They were created solely to prep for STAAR and to permit schools to plan more STAAR related interventions.

If the TEA says they are optional, does that mean we can opt out? 

You can opt out because you are the parent and get to decide what is appropriate for your child and what is not. They are optional in the sense that there is no requirement that districts administer any or all of the Interim Assessments.  If the district does give them, they are not required to assess every student or even a percentage of them. There is no consequence of penalty to the school or district if kids do not take the interim assessment.  Some districts still try to deny parental opt out of interim assessments, but there is no legal basis for that denial.

Are the Interim Assessments as bad as STAAR?

Yes and no.  They are every bit as bad in their design and inadequate accommodations, because they are designed to mimic STAAR.  They are not as bad in that students, teachers, and voters are not impacted by Interim Assessment results.

Can I see my child’s interim assessment?

If you choose to let your child participate for some reason, your parental right of access applies to the interim assessment as it would any other assessment or part of the curriculum.  Chapter 26 provides the specific rights.

Can we opt out?

There is no basis for school to deny an opt out for the interim assessments.  You may want to anticipate objections and request something specific like working on assignments in the library or helping out in the office or a lower grade.  This may overcome the “we don’t have the resources” objection some schools make.

If the school denies our opt out, what can we do?

File a grievance.  Or just don’t participate.  We’ve had some reports that click through and submit does not work on the interims, which is too bad because otherwise it would be good Opt Out practice also!  Since I never want to encourage random answering or all A/all B etc, I suggest sitting silently and not participating.  Of course you could also stay home, but if you are saving days up, just not participating on interims may be better than being absent.