AUSTIN -- Texas parents will get a sooner-than-expected look at the much maligned state standardized tests their children will be taking next month.
Most editions of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR exam, will be released to the public in August, Education Commissioner Michael Williams said Tuesday.The tests will be administered in April.Current law requires that the exams be released to the public every three years. Williams said he hoped the early release would answer concerns of some who "have viewed the inability to see the actual tests as a reason to invalidate the entire process.""I have heard those concerns and am accelerating the release of all the assessments while maintaining the validity of results for the upcoming spring administration," Williams said in a statement.First given last school year, STAAR was designed to be more difficult than previous statewide exams and to get progressively more rigorous over time. But it has been criticized as "over-testing."State law requires that many high school students pass 15 STAAR exams in core subjects to graduate. Bills now under consideration in the Legislature would drastically reduce that number.Williams, though, has been an outspoken proponent for school accountability and says Texas must have a demanding testing regimen to hold students, teachers and school district administrators accountable.The 2013 STAAR exams that Williams ordered released are:Math, science, reading, writing and social studies for grades three through eight.High school math including algebra I, geometry and algebra II.High school science in biology, chemistry and physics.English I reading, English II reading and English III reading.English I writing, English II writing, English III writing.World history, world geography and U.S. history."I hope the release of these assessments eliminates some of the concern surrounding STAAR," Williams said. "In reviewing these tests, I believe parents will find attainable expectations coupled with a high level of rigor that is tied directly to course content in every grade level."Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
