Tag: lies

Conroe ISD Doubles Down on Old Lies

Written by admin on . Posted in STAAR | EOC Testing. Leave a Comment

We’ve received a report of a demonstrably false e-mail being sent to parents at a Conroe ISD junior high school., McCullough Junior High.  The full email is below, but the closing paragraph of the e-mail read as follows:

“Also, as a general reminder to ensure there is no confusion or surprise, Texas students in eighth grade must pass both the STAAR reading and math exams. Note, eighth graders have three attempts to take each test. The first opportunities occur on 3/28 and 3/29. Texas eighth grade students who do not pass the reading and/or exams on the first attempt are required by state law to be pulled out of their regular classes and remediated during the school day for the two weeks leading up to the second administration on May 8 and May 9. Texas students who do not pass after the second attempt are required by state law to attend summer school STAAR Academy and take the test for the third time on June 20 and June 21. As you plan your summer schedule, please note this information in advance.”

So let’s break down the falsehoods this school sees fit to share with parents.  We’ll ignore the condescending, if not mocking tone of the opening “to ensure there is no confusion or surprise.”

  1.  Texas students in eighth grade must pass both the STAAR reading and math exams.  This is false because the Texas Education Code provides that students who do not pass the STAAR math or reading in 5th or 8th grade can be promoted by a Grade Placement Committee.  If we look to 2015 (the last time STAAR based retention was on the table), Conroe had a 6% 8th grade English failure rate, but only a 0.6% retention rate.  Clearly, 90% of the students who failed STAAR were not retained.  They were promoted via GPC just as the statute envisions.  Yet, the junior high does not see fit to tell parents that.  They only spread the false narrative that 8th grade is a “must pass” year.
  2. Texas eighth grade students who do not pass the reading and/or exams on the first attempt are required by state law to be pulled out of their regular classes and remediated during the school day for the two weeks leading up to the second administration.  Again, this is absolutely false.  The state requires “accelerated instruction”.  It does not specify the time, extent, or method of that instruction.  It does not require schools to pull kids out of regular classes.  It does not require the remediation be during the school day.  It does not require it to last two weeks.  These are all local decisions.  Apart from being false, this e-mail is a cowardly “pass the buck” approach for schools unwilling to take responsibility for their own local decisions.  When a parent complains about their kid being pulled out of class, the school will look them in the face and lie and say “the state requires us to do this.”
  3. Texas students who do not pass after the second attempt are required by state law to attend summer school STAAR Academy and take the test for the third time on June 20 and June 21.  The school worked really hard on this sentence to pack two entirely separate lies into one long sentence.  First, there is absolutely no state law or rule that requires students who have not passed STAAR after two attempts to attend summer school.  Moreover, this isn’t even entirely a local decision.  The law, again, requires “accelerated instruction” without requiring any particular duration, content, form, method or location.  But that is not a decision that can be made now.  The accelerated instruction for each individual student is determined by the Grade Placement Committee, of which the parent is a member.  Any school telling you what the decision of that committee will be before it even meets is essentially saying they have no intention of following the specific requirements of Texas law.  If the decision is not made by the GPC, it is not valid and can be ignored.  Second, state law does not require any student to take the third administration of STAAR.  In fact, it explicitly permits a parent to waive the third administration.  It is the one circumstance most schools will acknowledge an opt out right.  But apparently not in Conroe – they choose to lie, deceive and bully.

Let me try giving this e-mail a re-write for the hapless administration of this poor school.

“Parent partners in education, Texas students in eighth grade will soon take the STAAR reading and math exams. The first administration will occur on 3/28 and 3/29. We hope they will do well.  They’ve been working hard. But let’s keep everything in perspective.  We know a one time assessment is not a fair picture of your child’s ability.  This is why Texas law lets schools promote kids who have not passed STAAR, if they have otherwise shown they are capable of success at the next grade level.  If your eighth grade student does not pass the reading and/or math exams on the first attempt, we are required by state law to give them accelerated instruction.  We’ll make sure it isn’t disruptive to their classroom learning and communicate the plan to you in advance.  Let us know if you have any concerns about our proposed remediation and we’ll work with you.  After the second administration on May 8 and May 9, if your student has not passed both Math and Reading STAAR, we will have a GPC meeting to discuss the promotion of your child and any remediation they need to complete before the fall.  We’ll also explain how you can choose to waive the third administration of STAAR.   As you plan your summer schedule, know that we put your child and your family first.  Have a great spring break, relax, and let’s come back and finish the year strong!”

Here is the actual e-mail:

Was Your Child Forcibly Tested?

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

We have received a disturbing number of reports of students being forced to complete the makeup STAAR via lies and coercion.  We know that schools are required to offer the assessment to the child, but several reports have come in that the child refused the assessment and was told “you can’t write refused on it.”  Others were told “you have to complete it, it’s the law.”  At least one child was denied the opportunity to ask their mother if it was OK to take it.  Yet another report (second hand) claims that the school told the mother that if she did not tell the child to take the assessment the TEA had instructed them to forcibly take the child to the testing room and make her to the assessment.  It is reported the mother asked the TEA about this and no such instruction was ever given.  Opt out parents who return their children on makeup days are assisting the school by letting them count the refusal as a participation.  It’s wrong of the TEA to do that, but there is absolutely no excuse for certified educators to lie to children and parents just to make a kid give them data.  In almost every one of these instance the school is forcing, tricking or convincing the child to disobey their parents.  Such actions destroy any bond of trust between the parent and the school.

If your child is forcibly tested on make up days against your instructions, and the child attempted to refuse but was not permitted, please do the following:

1. Take a deep breath and relax, we need to focus.

2. Assemble all your e-mails and other communications with the school that preceded the STAAR.

3. Write down your recollection of what you were told verbally, including names, dates, and the precise words as best you recall them before the incident occurred. Then write down everything you remember about what happened and how you learned of this. Note who said what and their emotional state.

4. If your child is OK, have them write down what happened in their own handwriting, or audio or video record them giving their account. Do this as soon as the child is able. Please do not prompt or guide them. Before you start remind them to use names and the exact words people said, including the child. After you have done this, go over it with the child and make notes f any names the child left out or statements they were not clear about. Do not re-video the child and do not have them re-write their account.

5. File an Incident Report form with www.txedrights.net (it is on the website). Please provide all information requested. We will follow up with you after the report is reviewed. Please do not e-mail us video or documents until we request them.

Schools: STOP THE LIES

Written by admin on . Posted in STAAR | EOC Testing. 17 Comments

I’ve had it. I am tired of parents reporting threats and intimidation tactics by schools that are nothing but lies. At first I tried to give the teachers and administrators the benefit of the doubt and think they must just be misinformed. But the reports are coming so hot and so heavy that I am left with only one conclusion: schools, teachers and administrators will say and do anything to try to intimidate you into making sure your child takes the STAAR. They will lie; they will bully; they will threaten. It needs to stop. This is not an adversarial system. Education is supposed to be a partnership between parents and educators for the benefit of the children. In the business world, when partners lie to each other they get sued. Too bad the schools have no such deterrent.

Let’s count the lies:

1. Students have to pass Math STAAR for promotion this year. False, the TEA has removed it from SSI requirements. (Link)

Update for 2016: Math STAAR is part of SSI this school year.  Even so, the Education Code provides a path for promotion for 5th and 8th graders who do not pass STAAR in Math or Reading (or both).

2. If you child doesn’t take STAAR in 3rd/4th/6th/7th grade, they can’t go to the next grade. Almost always false. Check your school district’s policy online for Policy EIE (Local). Look for the section entitled Grade Advancement Testing. Most policies only say passage of the state assessment is required for Grades 5 and 8. Houston ISD is a notable exception. But I have not found any other districts that have enacted such a policy. No, they cannot retain your child for opting out of STAAR in 3rd, 4th, 6th or 7th Grade. To do this Google the name of your ISD and “board policy online”. From there, click on “Section E: Instruction” and locate policy EIE (Local). The typical section reads something like this: “Grade Advancement Testing: Except when a student will be assessed in reading or mathematics above his or her enrolled grade level, students in grades 5 and 8 must meet the passing standard on the applicable state-mandated assessments in reading and mathematics to be promoted to the next grade level, in addition to the District’s local standards for mastery and promotion.” By the way, the “in addition to” language at the end demonstrates that STAAR is not a part of the District’s local standards for mastery and promotion that apply to all other grades.

Update for 2016: Houston ISD has apparently suspended their promotion policy for non-SSI grades.  To my knowledge H-E-B ISD is continuing their policy on non-SSI year passage.  I have not found any other districts requiring STAAR passage in non-SSI years.

3. Your 5th/8th Grader Can’t Be Promoted Without Taking STAAR. False. The Education Code provides that students who have not met the standards for passage of STAAR in 5th or 8th grade are reviewed by a Grade Placement Committee for promotion. .Tex. Educ. Code sec. 28.0211 (e).

4. Our District WON’T Promote you if you don’t at least try STAAR. Either False or an overt statement of their intention to break the law. There is nothing in the Education Code, or any school policy we have seen, which permits a district to take into account the refusal to take STAAR as a factor in promotion or retention. The Education Code dictates the factors to be considered. Refusal to participate in STAAR is not one of them. When a district says this, they need a lawyer letter sent to them. Tex. Educ. Code 28.021(c).

5. If you don’t take STAAR, you have to go to Summer School. False. There is nothing in the Education Code that requires STAAR failures or refusers to go to summer school. The TEA’s SSI manual is very clear that there is no specific amount or type of Accelerated Instruction required for kids who have not passed STAAR. Specifically, the quote from p. 33 of the manual states, “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. ” It is also a decision for the GPC, which you are a member of!  For 5th and 8th grade students, summer school cannot be required by district “policy”, notes from the principal or any other method other than GPC.

6. If you don’t take STAAR, you have to lose an elective next year. False. For the same reason above.

7. – Updated: Your high school student cannot go to the next grade unless they pass STAAR. Completely false. Again check Board Policy EIE (Local). The standard language says “Grade-level advancement for students in grades 9–12 shall be earned by course credits.” Credit comes from grades. STAAR is a graduation requirement only, although alternate assessments are available. Please check your local board policy to confirm.

8 – Updated:  If you opt out in grades 3-8, your child can’t graduate high school.  Completely false and deliberate lie.  There is absolutely no connection between performance or participation in pre-secondary STAAR assessments and high school graduation.  The high school requirements (which do not even require passage of all STAAR EOC assessments) are independent of the requirements for Grades 3-8.  No part of high school graduation requirements look at participation in STAAR for grades 3-8.  This is so well known, that if a school tells you this, they can only be trying to scare and intimidate you.

9 –  Updated: If you opt out you cannot be promoted to 6th/9th grade.  You can only be placed in the grade. False.  The Grade Placement Committee, by law, can do only one of two things: promote or retain.  Placement is not a “thing” under the education code, except in one rare instance that has nothing to do with STAAR and does not involve a GPC.  This is just a lie designed to make the parent feel their child will be labeled as something inferior.  It is not true.

10 – If you are at school and refuse STAAR, you get a ZERO! False.  Nobody gets a zero.  Nobody in the history of all STAAR has ever gotten a zero.  Students who refuse assessment receive the minimum scaled score.  Now let’s ask two questions. First, what does that matter?  A refused assessment does not yield valid educational data whether they score is a 0 or a 1,000,000.  It is meaningless.  Second, if nobody gets a zero, why do schools say that?  Because getting a zero sounds scary to parents in a way that getting the minimum scaled score doesn’t  Schools will lie to you to scare you in order to get you to take the assessment.  That’s really pathetic.  Don’t fall victim to these scare tactics.

I am sure there are more and as I see them, I will add them in. Here is my advice for parents. When your district makes a threat like any of the above, tell them you want to see it in writing. You will be amazed how many of these “threats” will disappear when you ask them to sign their name to it. That is because they know they are lying.

And one other thing, if you give in to these lies, they will continue. If you allow yourself to be bullied, you are setting yourself and future parents up for more of the same treatment. You are an adult. They can’t take your lunch money from you unless you let them. Stand up to the lies.

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