AUSTIN, Texas — Across the state, students are feeling the pressure to perform. They are taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, test, which plays a key role in the State's school ratings and the coursework students take.
But education advocates want Texas kids to remember they are not the test.
On Tuesday, nonpartisan nonprofit Raise Your Hand Texas hosted a "Measure What Matters Day" at the Texas Capitol, calling on the Legislature to pass STAAR test reform. The group is asking leaders to find other ways to measure student academic success besides a standardized test.
"Kids are excelling in other ways. We don't have a state standardized test on how people are doing in their art classes. We're not going to have a state standardized test for how they're doing on UIL accounting," Will Holleman, the senior director of government relations for Raise Your Hand Texas, said.
Raise Your Hand Texas and local advocates called on lawmakers to "measure what matters," creating an art installation that comprises a mural of rulers filled with other ways schools can be held accountable. They are asking lawmakers to rein in the STAAR test by passing five bills: HB 4402, HB 4514, HB 5691, HB 4967 and SB 2303.
Two of the bills will be up before the House Committee on Public Education on Thursday. HB 4402 would let districts issue diplomas to Texans who passed their high school courses but didn't get a diploma because they couldn't pass the STAAR test.
HB 4514 gets rid of the eighth grade social studies test and changes performance standards.
Lily Laux, with theTexas Education Agency, said she understands students' anxiety but said the test is necessary.
"How do we know that a kid is actually mastering what our State Board of Education says is appropriate at that grade level? So without STAAR, we're stuck with a whole bunch of non-comparable and private assessments that don't help provide that information in a transparent way," Laux said.
Still, Austin school board member Lynn Boswell said preparing students for the future happens beyond a test and does not fully measure true student success.
"We know that Austin is doing 20 points better than the state in college and career readiness for our students who come from families with economic disadvantage," Boswell said. "We believe that's a really important investment, but that doesn't show up on a standardized test."