Testing Irregularity: Spring ISD Elementary School Communicates Wrong Start Time to Parents
On Thursday April 18, 2014, Hoyland Elementary in Spring ISD sent home a form regarding the STAAR testing that would occur on Tuesday, April 22 and Wednesday April 23rd. The form stated that there would be no visitors, deliveries, etc. during STAAR testing. School would begin at 7:30 am and state testing would begin promptly at 8 am. The form also listed the school times on it as 7:30 – 2:30. Parents were required to put the student’s name, parent’s name, parent’s phone number and then sign the form acknowledging all the information about the test.
An immediate concern was the start time of school and the test. Normally school starts at 8:15 and ends at 3:15. The form clearly told parents that school was going to start 45 minutes earlier than normal. Parents report that in preparation for STAAR testing, the school had been calling daily with automated messages about the kids performing their very best and how important this test is. At no time during the calls did it state the school would be starting early.
When a parent asked a school employee on the day before testing why they were starting school 45 minutes early, the school employee said that was a mistake. According to the school, the campus testing coordinator just used the form from last year when they had different school hours last year. Only the date on the form were changed to reflect the testing procedure for this year. Still it took a parent to ask this question before this was communicated by the school, at all.
We’d like to hear from Hoyland Elementary parents.How many sent their children in to school 45 minutes early? Were the kids really going to be able to “perform their very best” having to wake up and be at school 45 minutes earlier? Were the results scored or marked O for testing irregularity?
– From TPERN Incident Report
