February 25th, 2025
Dear Readers,
It’s just about March here in Texas, which means one big thing for public school teachers: the STAAR.
State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness is what makes the municipal education world go round. Texas’ standardized test, which every student is required to take every year for any number of subjects, is perhaps one of the most recognizable of all the standardized tests.
But, is this the best way to see if a student is proficient or on their way to being a well-rounded and knowledgeable individual?
No. It is not.
To get a “passing” score on the 8th grade reading STAAR test, a student only needs to get what would be the equivalent of a 52. What does this mean exactly?
Well, besides the fact that the grading scale on the test is absolutely ridiculous, it could mean one of two things: either the test itself is too hard, or we have had to lower the standards to allow more students to pass.
Spoiler—it’s both.
But passing this test doesn’t mean that your son or daughter is necessarily on grade level. The state has determined that getting this number is equivalent to being on-level, but any teacher can tell you now that many students who score “Meets” are not always commensurate with their peers or even the common sense standard they should be on.
But what happens if they fail?
Will they be held back? Made to retake the test until they pass it?
No.
Nothing truly happens.
They may receive some extra intervention, and if they “fail” two years in a row, they’ll be put into an additional class used to bolster whatever weaknesses they may have (math or reading).
Another note.
Doing well on this test doesn’t ensure that you are a competent or knowledgeable individual; it means that you are good at taking tests.
Questions are asked in a way that confuses students and forces many students who are academically behind just to guess or give up altogether.
This is in addition to the fact that most high school students still have end-of-semester finals and take the state-mandated test. Juniors and seniors also study to take the ACT or SAT and draft the perfect college admissions essay, compounding the stress on our students.
Students across the state will be taking this test in about five weeks, so now, districts will begin cramming in every little last-second "skill" to prepare for the dreaded STAAR review.
Then, after the test is over, students will sit in their classes and wait for the school year to end because they realize that their whole school life revolves around this test, and now that it’s over, they don’t have to care anymore.
I am not against a standardized test. I would dare say that I am in favor of it.
It’s a good thing to have standards we hold our students to; I just question the standards themselves and how their mastery is shown.
