With STAAR tests waived due to COVID-19, districts to decide promotions, graduations
In the light of Gov. Greg Abbott eliminating STAAR test requirements for the school year, individual school districts will have the discretion to determine if students graduate or move up a grade level.
Normally, such decisions are tied to student performance on the state assessments, which can play a role in determining teacher effectiveness, whether a student is promoted a grade, and whether a school is taken over by the state.
But due to Abbott’s proclamation eliminating the testing requirements for the 2019-2020 school year, the Texas Education Agency released guidance Wednesday that districts will have the ability to decide whether students in fifth and eighth grades should advance to the next grade level, “just like students in all other grades.”
In promoting fifth- and eighth-graders, districts should consider teacher recommendations, students’ grades and academic performance, according to the TEA.
In addition, the TEA’s guidance notes that current high school seniors may graduate based on the determination of a committee made up of their principal, teachers and parent — regardless of the number of end-of-course assessments they still need to pass.
Students who are on schedule to complete their graduation requirements but do not have the opportunity to retake an end-of-course assessment may forgo the test, but will need to complete the individual graduation committee process.
For students who are scheduled to complete a course that has a corresponding STAAR end-of-course assessment, they will not be required to pass the specific test to fulfill graduation requirements.
And for students who are graduating in the future, but are currently taking one of the five classes with a end-of-course assessment, they will not be responsible for meeting that graduation requirement if they earn course credit.
In an email Wednesday night, Clint Bond, a spokesman for Fort Worth ISD, said the district is working to develop exact procedures.
“Since we just learned of these changes from the TEA today, we will be working over the coming days to develop IGC’s that will allow as many seniors as possible to graduate. How that will look exactly is yet to be determined,” Bond wrote, noting that the same answer applies to grade-level promotions.
TEA also requested the U.S. Department of Education waive federal assessment and accountability requirements “in this extraordinary circumstance where the closure of schools during the state’s testing window has inhibited the ability of the state to accurately measure students’ performance and report results to parents and stakeholders.”
The U.S. Department of Education signaled last week that it would consider granting such waivers.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 5:24 PM.
