This is a tough time for Opt Out parents because the assessment is happening and there is a lot of pushback. When complaints come, the natural response is to blame the TEA or the legislature. But is that fair? Is that accurate? Everybody here understands that the TEA tells schools how to administer the assessment and to score refused assessments. Everyone here understands how promotion and graduation work. What people fail to acknowledge is that, apart from that, schools and districts have wide latitude in how they choose to respond to parents who refuse assessment and the actual experience of the students. There are many things I have seen excused as TEA “requirements” that just aren’t.
NOBODY requires schools to lie to parents about consequences.
NOBODY requires schools to benchmark, practice assess and otherwise do full or mini-assessments as prep for STAAR multiple times a semester.
NOBODY requires schools to try to impose tutoring and other test prep before, during or after school hours based on their local benchmarks.
NOBODY requires schools to go beyond the instructions and add restrictions on to the students (like requiring them to sit for four hours after finishing/refusing assessment).
NOBODY requires schools to threaten retention
NOBODY requires schools to pretend passing STAAR is the only way to get promoted to the next grade.
NOBODY requires schools to not check if substitute assessments have already satisfied some EOC requirements.
NOBODY requires schools to try to bully A/B students into summer school (I mean test prep) because they didn’t take STAAR.
NOBODY requires principals to try to intimidate parents into submitting their kids for assessment.
NOBODY requires schools to wait until August to promote kids by GPC if they refused STAAR.
NOBODY requires schools to harass parents of kids who aren’t at school on STAAR day.
NOBODY requires teachers to tell students they their jobs depend on how the student does on STAAR.
NOBODY requires schools to lock down the building and ban visitors on STAAR days.
NOBODY requires schools to tell students they can’t talk to their parents about STAAR.
NOBODY requires students to eat sack lunches at their desk on STAAR days.
NOBODY requires schools to keep non-testing kids inside and ban recess on STAAR days.
and
NOBODY requires schools to offer even a single make up day for STAAR, much less a two week window!!!
These are all local decisions and it is not off limits to talk about. We opt out because we want you to have the freedom to teach. But we expect local districts to do what they can (and that’s a lot) to make sure that it does not make the STAAR environment worse than it already is. If your school or district is doing any of those things, and you try to blame the TEA for it, then you are going to get pushback here, because it’s false information.
Can a student be denied their hs diploma for failing STAAR?
Yes, but no engaged parent should care because there are options available to resolve this. Read the article What About High School.
Yes cause my son is one of those students, I had put him in a homeschool program that he just finished & will get his diploma in May
That’s unfortunate this delayed his graduation. Our article What About High School addresses things that parents can do to refuse STAAR and still receive a diploma in a timely manner. Glad you worked a solution for your son!
What about students being told that if they don’t pass the STAAR Test that they will be dropped from their ability to take dual credit classes?
100% Local Decision.
How can I refuse the STAAR for my son? Will he get promoted to next grade if he does not take the test?
OPTING OUT – Step by Step
No, Your Kid Won’t Be Retained for Opting Out (2022 and Final (?) Edition)
Can my student be denied lunch if they opted to bring their own lunch but forgot it? For example, I dropped lunch off for my kid because she forgot to bring it and was told they would not notify their teacher for her to come pick it up. They also said she would not be provided a sack lunch because she did not chose the sack lunch option when they made lunch elections last week.
This is an example of STAAR insanity. Go check your kid out for lunch. This is the kind of nonsense that parents have to call the school out on instead of taking it. They told you they were going to punish your kid for forgetting lunch for the sake of STAAR testing. Turn around. Go immediately to the office. Check her out. I bet 100% that her lunch is delivered to her. I’d demand to watch them take it into the room because they already evinced an intent not to. And when they say it’s secure you can’t do that — that’s a lie. You can walk with them all the way to the door and all the way back.