Tag: illegal

Schools To Lege: We Will Do What We Want

Written by admin on . Posted in STAAR | EOC Testing. 3 Comments

In 2013, as parents began to become more vocal about the outrageous emphasis on standardized assessment, and the time it was taking away from real learning, the Texas Legislature took notice and took the first baby steps toward rolling back the punitive STAAR assessment system that lobbyists with no education experience had ramrodded through in the previous session.  The number of EOC assessments was lowered.  Third grade promotion exam requirements were removed.  And the legislature, for the first time, put limits on the schools continual use of practice assessments to prep students for the STAAR.  Districts were strictly limited to two benchmark (practice) assessments per subject during the school year.  While arguably this is too much, since, if the assessment truly measures content mastery and not test taking ability, test taking practice should not be needed, it was a start.  Parents could relax knowing that students wouldn’t face benchmarks every 3 or 6 weeks as had become common.

But, alas, legislators apparently put too much faith in the ability of school administrators to follow the law.  Worried over punitive performance reports based on STAAR results, schools decided that they would comply with the limitation on benchmarks, not by cutting back on benchmarks, but by renaming all of them that exceeded the two permitted by law.  Now, a basic premise of law is that we look to substance not form.

The Texas Classroom Teachers Association immediately noted that “Some districts have simply renamed the benchmark tests (e.g., “cumulative formative assessments”) and continued to schedule more than two during the school year. Some districts are adding additional benchmark questions to other tests. At least one district tests students with a “Curriculum Based Assessment” (CBA) up to three times before giving a benchmark assessment.”  The American Federation of Teachers put its members on alert to report  “whether school districts will comply with the letter and spirit of this new law or will try to play games to evade it—for instance, by relabeling their test-prep tests as something other than “benchmark” tests.”

In Houston, former teacher Shadah Srrivers noted that students will take as many as 30 district mandated practice assessments, now relabeled as “snapshots.”  And meanwhile in Denton, the practice of renaming benchmarks has been documented by a parent boasting of their child’s success.

benchmark

If you enlarge the photo, you can see that the student has been given a form labeled “My Benchmark Scores”  The form shows that Benchmark 2 (the maximum allowed) occurred in December.  But in February, the student was administered a “STAAR Simulation.”  This is an overt, unabashed violation of state law, and nobody cares.  Parents, please contact your senators and state reps and let them know that school districts should follow the law as well.  File grievances with your local school board the minute your child takes a third benchmark.  Substance matters.  Cute tricks like renaming your benchmarks are of no effect whatsoever.  Don’t let the schools tell you otherwise.

TEA Violates Law; Refuses to Validate Assessments

Written by admin on . Posted in STAAR | EOC Testing, Testing Irregularity. 12 Comments

In a decision that surprises absolutely nobody, the Texas Education Agency has announced that it will ignore the recent changes to STAAR assessment imposed by the 84th Legislature.  In HB 743, the legislature required that assessments be shortened, that they occur only over the course of one day, and that they be independently validated.  This bill passed overwhelmingly and is in effect.  For this school year, all assessments must comply with the law.

However, the TEA has announced that it will not follow the law this year.  It has stated it will not administer shortened assessments until 2017 and that it will “decide” whether its current process of internal assessment review is an “independent” validation.  Clearly, if the legislature felt the assessment instruments were currently being validated, there would be no need for the law.  This is just wishful, if not willful, misconduct by the TEA.

For parents, however, there are significant ramifications. The TEA intends to subject your children to assessments that do not comply with the law and to permit schools to use these illegal assessments to promote or retain your children.  The clearest impact is in grades 3-5.  In our Forms and Documents section you will find a link to a new refusal letter based on the illegality of the assessments.  Please also consider signing the petition below!

Petition to Require TEA to Follow the Law

TPERN also urges all parents to contact their local state representative and senator and demand hearings regarding the TEA’s belief that it is above the law.  The irony of an agency that tells parents that the law requires them to take the STAAR (when it doesn’t) deciding it can ignore the law whenever it likes, is too outrageous for words.  The leadership of this rogue agency must be called to account.

Update: We have been asked about documentation of the TEA’s position.  This is derived from the TEA’s Legislative Briefing Book, contained on their website, and linked herein.  The discussion of HB 743 begins on numbered page 80.  Discussing the STAAR assessments for Grades 3-5 the TEA states “The grades 3-5 assessments in reading and mathematics cannot be revised in time for the spring 2016 administration. The first administration of the shortened assessments would occur in spring 2017.”  A similar statement exists for the writing assessments.  Discussing the possibility that they do not need to independently validate the assessment, the TEA states “Prior to the spring 2016 administration, the agency must determine whether the TTAC, or USDE peer review process to approve state achievement standards and assessment systems required under Title I, meets the requirements of (a-11). If not, an independent entity will need to be contracted with to perform the evaluation pending available funding.”  They also complain there is no appropriation for this, indicating that they may choose to ignore the requirement because funds were not EXPRESSLY appropriated for the purpose.

Update 2: It has been pointed out that the TEA apparently back-tracked on writing assessments and will limit them to one day.  However, the will not fit within the time parameters set by the  legislature, so they are still not in compliance. This information is found here.

Update 3:  TEA lies and refusal continue.  Under pressure from the legislature and parent groups, they have now announced they will remove the field test questions from the assessments this spring.  While that will shorten the assessments by five to eight questions, it will not get them under two hours for grades 3-5 as required by law.  This is not a “victory” as some parents are claiming and as the press is reporting.  It is continued violation of the law by the TEA.

Denton ISD Issues Void Summer School Order; TPERN Responds

Written by admin on . Posted in STAAR | EOC Testing. 7 Comments

Following in the footsteps of Houston ISD, which hastily admitted its error, the Denton Independent School District has started sending notices to parents of

Denton ISD Illegally Orders 5th Graders to Summer School
Denton ISD Illegally Orders 5th Graders to Summer School

children who did not pass the 5th grade STAAR reading informing those parents that their children will be required to attend summer school if they do not pass the second administration of STAAR.  This “determination” is illegal and void.  This notification is of no legal effect.  Simply put, under the Education Code,  the District lacks the authority to mandate summer school for any student based on STAAR results.

The Education Code is clear.  Accelerated instruction, which may be, but does not have to be in the form of summer school, is determined by a Grade Placement Committee composed of the school principal (or his/her designee), the subject area teacher, and the parent.  The school district has no power under the Education Code to determine anything.

Section 28.0211(c) of the Texas Education Code provides:

“After a student fails to perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument a second time, a grade placement committee shall be established to prescribe the accelerated instructionthe district shall provide to the student before the student is administered the assessment instrument the third time.  The grade placement committee shall be composed of the principal or the principal’s designee, the student’s parent or guardian, and the teacher of the subject of an assessment instrument on which the student failed to perform satisfactorily.” (emphasis added).

In this case, the second administration has not occurred.  The GPC has not even been formed.  Yet, Mary Helen Martin, Denton ISD’s Director of Elementary Curriculum, has taken it upon herself to refuse to follow the law.  This decision lies in the hands of the local school employees together with the parents.  Ms. Martin doesn’t get a vote.  Moreover, the Texas Education Agency clearly dictates that Accelerated Instruction should not be a one size fits all “everyone goes to summer school” approach.  In the Student Success Initiative Manual, the TEA indicates that accelerated instruction should be individualized to the needs of the individual student.

“Neither the law nor the rules specify the amount of time to be provided for the accelerated instruction. To support the SSI grade-advancement requirements, the law and the commissioner’s rules provide districts and charter schools with flexibility to determine on an individual student basis the appropriate form, content, and timing of the accelerated instruction. The policy governing accelerated instruction is intended to allow districts flexibility to meet individual student needs.” (p. 33).

These types of blanker summer school orders go against everything accelerated instruction is intended to accomplish.  Texas Parents’ Education Rights Network calls on Ms. Martin and Denton ISD to issue a corrective letter to parents immediately.  These types of legally erroneous letters destroy trust between parents and schools.  They are intended to mislead parents into consenting to remediation plans that are not legally required.  They are designed to replace the cooperative relationship between parents and local school employees that the legislature envisioned with top down standardized decision making imposed by the district administration on its students.

TPERN attorneys believe that the summer school determination contained within Ms. Martin’s letter to Denton ISD is legally void as it was not prescribe in compliance with the Education Code.   Denton ISD must follow the legal process for determining accelerated instruction, which means each child’s parent must be an active partner and participant in the decision making process.

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