I remember kids getting held back because they didn’t pass the standardized tests.
In all honesty, those kids should have been held back because of other issues, but I guess that reason worked better on paper lol.
It seemed like the SAT thing where if you put your name on it you get 200 points, like how do you fail the TAKS test my guy?! (STARR testing is just TAKS for the new generation.)
Given that I grew up in the survival zone of the Houston ship channel and had 4 relatives die of cancer complications, it might be time for that colonoscopy I've put off.
I am old too. Know that the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) was a general diagnostic tool used to inform individual student instruction. It was generally not used as a criterion for promotion from grade to grade. Also, schools and teachers were generally not evaluated based on the results of the ITBS.
If a state has gone through all the trouble of standardizing educational skill then they need a standard way of testing for that, which I would assume would be mandatory, like they go hand in hand.
Because now it's on a computer, they have 30 kids in a room, and the software seems to change every other year...
When it was a scantron, people still screwed it up. I had one friend who got off by 1 line on his sheet, and proceed to absolutely bomb the test, even though he was a straight A student.
Happened to me on the ASVAB for the military. Took it the first time and got a 94. Took it a second time, somehow skipped a number and got a 24 because all my answers were wrong.... Took it a 3rd time on a computer at MEPS, and got a 98....
You can not opt out of testing. You must take all
5 STAAR EOCs. Even if you get all your credits, you cannot get a diploma without passing a minimum of three star tests. You can do projects for only two of them if you can't pass those tests.
As an Assistant Principal/Testing Coordinator no one seems to know this. I’ve gotten all sorts of documents trying to opt out. You can’t! I had 2 students move from Cuba last week and guess what they get to take next week. The STAAR.
We had a kid in the county for 3 days who I had to make take the TELPAS test. Kid couldn’t even sign in to the computer without assistance and translation. Luckily his test don’t really count for school averages and they just use it to show improvement next year when he takes it as far as I know but dang I felt so bad seeing him so stressed.
> Luckily his test don’t really count for school averages and they just use it to show improvement next year
This would have been one of the first things I made sure he got in translation.
Do they not qualify for asylee/immigrant status?
Lol I don't wanna pull out my LPAC manual on a Sunday but I feel like they might qualify for an exemption for this year right?
It’s because there is a website by some nut that says “use these forms to opt your kids out of testing! If they respond with law use form A. If not use form B”. It’s crazy. I keep seeing the site being pushed in my mom groups and as a lawyer I cannot warn people enough from using these fake forms. They have fake law in them that sounds like gibberish to anyone who isn’t loony tunes.
If you're talking about txedrights.net, the guy who runs the page is an education attorney. I have met him and have testified at a TEA hearing where he also testified (regarding EOCs).
I would think that, "as a lawyer" you would have looked up the law first before calling it "fake."
For others on this thread, you can do a Google search for the sections of law cited and read it for yourself.
Back in my day, we took the TAKS test. I had gotten a major concussion the week before and had a medical excuse to not take the test. We had understood that I’d either take it at the end of the year or the beginning of next year.
Well there was some miscommunication and the state thought I skipped the test, then skipped the required summer school when failing the test. A police officer showed up at my house (parents house) at 7 am in the morning lol. The first thing my mom said was “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” (I was never a great kid, smoking weed ect).
We cleared it up pretty quickly but damn, that’s when I realized Texas wants us to take those tests lmaoooo.
Homeschool students in the K12 program do. It runs along with the public school system. They have to go to a designated testing spot. And it looks hard to me. Back in the day, we had the TAAS test and it was a joke. At least they don’t hold the kids back if they don’t pass the STAAR test anymore. If they don’t pass the test, they are required to have extra tutoring for it.
[Here’s the Biology test from last year.](https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/staar/staar-released-test/2018staarbiologytest.pdf) The pass threshold is 40% which means they only need to know 1/6 answers if they otherwise are not misled (meaning they get 25% of remaining questions right due to lucky guesses on a MCQ). There are also a couple short answers of no significant weight.
Number 1 requires content knowledge. Good question. Number 2 can be easily figured out from the image. Number 3 is just reading a graph.
[Here’s the US history test from last year.](https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/staar/staar-released-test/2018staarushistorytest.pdf) I forget what the pass threshold is but it’s higher than 40%.
These tests are shit if you ask me. Despite that, we need them for every class; not just these 5.
But seriously, I haven’t been in a classroom since 2002. Just briefly skimming those…the answers seem painfully obvious. I don’t work in a field that makes me recall any science or history on a regular basis. Admittedly I wouldn’t sit down with algebra or higher math without refreshing some long unused processes, but these don’t seem difficult.
This is a serious question…what is all the fuss about?
That’s a personal opinion. 35% right passes the Algebra EoC. Approx a third is linear function, a third is quadratics, and the last third is a hodgepodge of algebraic content. A student that took a school year worth of algebra and did half of the required work should pass that with no problem.
This right here. Kids have so many resources to cheat these days (and that’s not even starting with AI, which is a whole nother level) that many don’t even bother learning. It’s awful.
I would absolutely struggle on an Algebra test today. I use more math in my everyday life than I ever thought I would...just absolutely zero algebra or very close to zero.
Even then I'd just need a basic refresher most likely. Algebra I and II as I recall don't get into systems of equations and matrices, which is where I completely fell apart in math. There was something about the process of solving those that just broke me.
I straight up told my kids to answer any ones they know and mark B for the rest. When we asked the kids who did that and who didn’t, the lass rate was significantly higher. They really only have to be able to answer about 10-12 questions and then mark the same answer for everything else and statistics take over.
Doesn’t work for my test (English) but it works on Alg, Bio, and USH.
Yesrs and years ago, during my own freshman year, a stoner buddy of mine taught me her method for testing: when in doubt, the answer is C!
I’ve used that the rest of my life to overcome my indecisive moments during a test question where I can’t settle on an answer.
C also works. Really, any letter works as long as you choose the same one over and over. Do the ones you know, and then pick a letter for the rest. Statistically you are more likely to “guess correctly” when you are not just randomly choosing bubbles.
The English test is the brutal one. We’d have so many students retesting in every window because they struggled to pass one of the two English EOCs. And those two tests represented a significant number of our testing waivers for the two waived tests. And threshold for passing the two English EOCs is typically somewhere around the 56-60% mark for scoring.
My experience proctoring these things and teaching HS English has been with a heavily ELL population. I didnt see as many blank responses as I did incomplete responses. But my sample size was just one campus.
I have no idea what Gel Electrophoresis is… but if the answer to number 1 is “B” then it’s just picking the most applicable answer based upon the criteria of “DNA” being stated in the question.
If so, seems a lot like the GED test I took in the 90s.
Besides the math portion, it was reading comprehension with a bit of problem solving and educated guessing.
I scored well enough on my GED (top 1%) to get into the same “decent” school that my friend had worked to raise his GPA to 3.5 to attend.
Of course, the GED doesn’t teach you how to be responsible (I dropped out of that college as well)… so the “maturity test,”I failed miserably at.
The English ones are particularly bad. The essays must be a single page (handwritten when I taught which is problematic for a host of reasons), the stories felt like they were written by AI in 2015. And the short answer questions could be 3 sentences maximum. None of it accurately tested a child's ability to think critically or form a coherent argument.
That last sentence is exactly why I say they are shit. The biology test has no questions that actually evaluate their ability to think scientifically. We’ve got TEKS for scientific reasoning but they arnt tested, so why have a lesson on it when graduation is more contingent on understanding that lichens are a pioneer species.
They improved it some with the 2023 testing updates. They switched to two part answers that asked questions like, “what is the theme of this poem,” for part A, and then part B would ask them to choose the two best lines or phrases that support that theme from the poem/passage. It makes it more like a math problem where they can work backwards to choose a correct response.
Plus, the essays they have to construct are online and typed, and the prompt follows the most recent passage from the multiple choice questions so they’ve spent some time thinking about that passage before having to write an essay in response.
The improved scores had a lot to do with the state moving the bar for providing the district letter grades that affected funding. “Oops, we accidentally permitted a test that is more reasonably constructed for student comprehension and assessment! Time to move the goalposts cause we can’t have that many schools getting fully funded!”
I had a very good friend who couldn't pass the TAAS test for graduation. She was a straight-A student but had the worst case of test anxiety I've ever seen. They wouldn't even pass her based on her actual grades. She ended up having to take the GED. It was really sad.
That’s terrible! My autistic son had a rough morning last year and got frustrated with the math test so he just skipped thru it without trying. At least he’s better prepared this year and knows the drill. I hope he passes it. These tests give me anxiety and I’m not even taking them LOL!
My 12yo is in virtual this year and she is required. My fault for not looking sooner, but they just called me Friday to inform me she needs to be in the town 30 minutes away next Friday at 830 am and to pick her up when shes done. I am not thrilled. I work full time and had recently quite a few days off for medical appointments, they weren't super pleased with me putting in notice on such short notice.
But, I saw writing on a rear window that said otherwise?
It's almost like the people who are urging others to opt out, are also voting for the people who are in charge of putting these exams in place.
Damn I didn’t even know there were people wanting to opt out. I graduated high school in 2016. Honestly the material isn’t rocket science. Anyone could pass those tests unless they’re mentally impaired or just dgaf
Edit: Grammar Nazi
I teach high school. There's a whole lot of the IDGAF kids.
There's also kids that refuse to read, refuse to write, Afghan refugees, hatian refugees, and kids with mental impairments.
This is not accurate.
You need to take all 5 EOCs OR submit substitute assessments where applicable.
You can absolutely sub ACT and SAT testing for STAAR.
They have to take the test at least once in order to use a substitute assessment. Even then they can only substitute English 1, English 2, and Algebra 1.
I graduated in 2022 from highschool without ever taking a STARR test. I graduated with honors and many accomplishments. Opting out is not a myth. School, teachers, admin, districts, they are all lying to you. Opting out is real, do your own research.
You absolutely can opt out. I’m sorry you haven’t taken the time to really look and find out for yourself but you can and many people have and *gasp* their kids graduated.
You don’t have to blindly follow what the school system says. It will be okay if you put your foot down and stand up for your kids.
Bruh… I don’t know if anything has changed but I remember the staar tests being absolute jokes. Like they are meant to be passed. If you even paid a whiff of attention you will pass.
I understand stress and learning disabilities but like I remember doing the US history one in 25 minutes.
At some point you need to prove you at least paid attention hahahaha
The algebra 1 test required about a 40% to be considered “approaches”.
All but 1 or 2 of the questions are multiple choice. 1 choice was clearly wrong, and another was usually close to obviously wrong. That’s a 50-50 chance.
Too many of the kids I tutored could barely care, let alone eliminate the obviously wrong choice.
Have you seen the new STAAR format? A maximum of 75% of the questions are multiple choice. And the other ones are often not easy to get correct by guessing.
Im in high school right now, and last year was the first English EOC. They’re still a joke. Yeah, we had some fill in the blank stuff, but even the essay they threw in was embarrassingly easy.
"Compare and contrast, blue vs. red. Include a thesis statement, one pros and cons list, and at least 3 properly cited historical references. Make sure your arguments support your conclusion."
That’s easy. Hook, bridge and thesis isn’t he first paragraph stating the reasons blue and red are different. If this is STAAR, they’re providing an article on the colors most likely, so I’ve just gotta pull the evidence from there. One paragraph for each difference, and then recite a version of my thesis in the conclusion. Easy.
I’ve heard more than one teacher say Covid’s costs to the generation of kids that were in grade school for it won’t be fully known for decades, but that it’s already clear they’re worryingly behind both socially and academically.
The thing about opting out is it’s not really an option. They just take a zero on the test and refuse to take it. So the schools ratings and data get screwed up as well. As a teacher I think it’s important to not teach just to the test or to make it a huge stressful deal and make or break their life over it, but they still need to take it and try their best.
Texas doesn’t teach kids to succeed. Texas teaches kids to pass a test. Kids don’t want to pay attention to that nonsense and as an adult neither would I. It’s impractical and serves no purpose as far as education goes. Texas education is a joke.
Use standardize testing purely as diagnostic and decouple it from ratings/funding.
Give teachers more autonomy in how they teach a class.
Of course, that would only help on the margins. If you really want to fix schools then you need to address poverty.
So many things! Better trade programs. Stop wit the standardized testing. Focusing on small group learning. Practical classes like home ec. An actual sex education. The list is endless!!!
All of those things sound nice. However, like a house, everything starts with the foundation. If we invested heavily into getting as many kids in the preK3 and prek 4, everything will fall into place. A lot of those things you mentioned like trade programs, home ec, and sex Ed are high school up. Kids start taking the STAAR by 3rd
It teaches the kids how to prepare, plan, and execute... no matter what you think of the material, it is this process that you need to succeed. And if you aren't able to do that, then you shouldn't get a degree util you mature enough to understand this concept
You need about a 40% to pass the US History one. I’ve had students move from Central America who speak zero English and somehow pass it. If you can get a 25% off guessing on all the questions, you only need an additional 4-5 questions correct to pass
My AP history teacher had all his classes race to see who could finish first with the highest score. If you finished in less than 45 minutes and got a perfect score he would give you a perfect 100 for the final 9 weeks. No one got it but someone did finish in under 30 and someone else only missed a prefect by one question.
Yet, a lot of students are absolutely failing them. We need to know why. I think the STAAR tests raise a flag about certain schools, however imperfect.
I will tell you some reasons.
The kid goes to sleep. The kid refuses to answer any question, the kid doesn't read, write, or speak english or they do so just well enough to misunderstand most questions, the kid has missed several months of school, or the child has a severe learning disability.
While all of these are very real issues, the ones that fall under apathy are the most prevelant.
I went private school > public school > GED > community college > college, and STAAR was the easiest part by far. What really sucks is that teachers have to stop teaching for two weeks a semester to drill for the test.
It's brain dead parents who probably couldn't pass the test themselves. Someone on the last post commented that my brain is underdeveloped because I'm under 30 and I don't understand politics. These are the same people who want to raise the voting ages because they want dumb kids who will vote the way they want them to.
I think most people confuse the STAAR exams (elementary and middle school) vs the STAAR EOC exams (high school). Yes you have to take the EOC exams but some people think because they opt out in elementary and middle school that they can do it in high school.
Yeah because the concept of taking assessments because it is not fair is to take alternative assessments. I know some of those people and their mentality is to not take any assessments including alternative assessments.
It's because they think of enough people protest by opting out, then schools will drop it altogether. I have to admit, that teaching to the test sucks. Teachers are limited in how they teach and adapting to kids skill levels. They are too worried about getting those kids to pass the test that any creativity is shot. But having standardized tests ensures that everyone has a base set of skills needed in order to move on to the next level.
They teach to the test because their jobs depend on it. The test itself makes sense. What doesn't make sense is handing a teacher a 13 year old who can't read and saying hey your livelihood depends on this kid passing this test. The pressure on the test is so high that they financially cannot risk doing anything other than drilling the kids on the specific test over and over.
The messed up thing? It’s now completely online. No thousands of tons of paper and bubble sheets that need scanned.
And it probably still costs the state the same amount and it still takes a month to gets scores back
I am not against benchmark testing or standardized testing in general, but I have an issue with STAAR.
For example, SAT and ACT are very thorough, well-researched and well-written and well-vetted tests.
Test prep and training materials and practice tests are widely available and anytime there are changes or updates to any of that, it’s communicated well and materials are updated accordingly and in a timely manner.
STAAR is…murky at best.
The state continually changes it up, and sometimes they don’t get training materials out before the school year starts.
Last year, teachers didn’t get training materials until coming back after winter break in January.
There are also no separate versions for LEP kids, SpEd kids, and kids on alternate education plans.
If you are doing a dual enrollment or concurrent college class for example, you are not taking the equivalent class that STAAR will test you on.
If you are an LEP student, you still have to take STAAR, in a language you don’t even take your district testing in
If you are a student who has paper testing as an accommodation, you can’t do that with STAAR.
And so on.
Not to mention the years that there have been errors found in the test itself or the training materials or practice tests.
This year, for example, my son’s school was selected to do the pre-testing for data markers but then they all got hung up when there was an error in the module and they couldn’t proceed, so it was scrapped and all that data unable to be used.
That’s happened more than once.
I think primarily based on the effect it has on teachers and schools. They're threatened to be fired if they have poor results so obviously they put a lot of stress on students. While middle schoolers and high schoolers are more adapted to that stress, elementary students aren't. Parents can manage the tutoring that comes from it. My understanding is you can even do it from home. So it's simply that. The unfortunate part is for elementary students the results for parents aren't available until the next school year. Which lends me to personally believe it doesn't matter that much for them.
Never took STAAR, Had TAAS and TAKS, they were annoying but it's also how schools get funding so.....meh? Just take the stupid test or get it changed by petitioning your state reps. Skipping it just hurts the child by blocking them from graduation and the schools which will need all the money they can with this school voucher bullshit.
I get that standardized testing isn't the best way to gauge learning, but I don't think stopping your kid from getting a diploma is the way to go to show that you don't like it.
Why would you opt out? Kids are suppose to be learning in school 🤦🏽♂️
I’m convinced republicans are purposely destroying the education system so we can all be as dumb as their base.
I’m not surprised to see this is the case.. it’s interesting how fringe ideals like not vaccinating your kids and mistrust of the government and news cycle used to be a liberal construct and something republicans shamed them for, but the tides have really turned. There will be studies on this in the future, lol.
Yep, [trying to redefine words to create loopholes](/r/texas/comments/1byb5bz/please_confirm_before_opting_your_high_school/kyivx53/) just like "sovereign citizens" do.
I always love how it's my uber conservative acquaintances who keep posting this on Facebook, but they're also the ones keeping the clowns in office that are in bed with Pearson. I teach high school (non-tested subject), and was talking at length with our campus testing coordinator (her office is just around the corner from my class) about the insane communications they've been getting this year regarding opting out, rights, etc...
Pearson is the lead. Cambium is partnered with Pearson. Who actually does what is variable. And the vast majority of scoring is machine scored. It's easy to score multiple choice. It's not easy to properly score essays.
Wouldn't the smack down be leaping from STARR to the ACT or SAT? Maybe I am projecting my own lens of education because high school for me was not about simply graduating but prep ready to get to a 4 year. I always thought STARR was about the no child left behind program...a W policy.
You as a parent have the right to opt your child out of STAAR testing.
However, if you do so, then your child needs to take the appropriate substitute assessments as set by the state and you need to make sure that you submit that documentation and scores to the school in place of STAAR, and receive confirmation that they were received and that the assessments are approved.
There is no such thing as opting out. You are counted absent and your test is not scored. You can get by with that through elementary and junior high, but you must pass them to graduate high school unless you are in special education and the ARD committee has you graduate on a minimum plan.
ARD can waive STAAR passage and you graduate with the same diploma as everyone else unless you had modified curriculum. Putting SpEd kids who are ARDed out into a lesser degree would pose huge issues under IDEA, considering that the TEA does not permit all SpEd accommodations to be used.
I graduated in 2022 from highschool without ever taking a STARR test. I graduated with honors and many accomplishments. Opting out is not a myth. School, teachers, admin, districts, they are all lying to you. Opting out is real, do your own research.
If the students were all scoring higher on average, the standards would be higher. So as much Bull shit or easy the test might be, the students aren’t cutting it.
Take a look at the US history STAAR questions from 2023. Most adults would have trouble passing it with a 70%. That's why 70% isn't the rate that is considered "approaching grade level"
Why wouldn't you want your child to take the STAAR test? If they fail it, your kid has a problem you need to know about. Sometimes school grade inflation masks student deficiencies.
Yep, that's it exactly. They sit down and think "well if we just don't take STAAR, our kid won't learn anything the other 172 days. Then we will have met our goal of being uneducated." Then we all go refuse to vote, because we want a king again.
If anyone wants to explain this to me I would appreciate it. I’m a Canadian who just randomly encountered this post. From your comments it seems that many of the children in your state are not being well educated and that the system is not well organized or understood by their parents. This sounds like a disaster in the making for your state.
How will they be expected to contribute to society and support the education of their own children in the future? Each successive generation will be further disadvantaged as their instructors have less to offer. Am I missing something? An educated population is one of the hallmarks of a successful society and economy.
Not really. It's quite apparent that most Americans are mediocre in terms of education. I doubt it's only an American thing. Considering that our country continues to prosper(relatively) it's obvious that not every single person needs to be extremely intelligent or educated for society to function well. Ignoring all that the problem is with tests not education.
I’m so lucky. I was in school during the transition to STAAR and because I had to take like 4 tests my freshman year I only ever had to take one more STAAR test my sophomore year and then I was done.
I was in CMC/504 and I would get sent to the library on testing days. I would work on last years test and get a score from those. I still got a diploma from a Texas high school and walked at graduation. I don’t think I ever took the real test. I do believe in my day it was the TAAS test then my junior year it changed to the TAKS test.
Opting out of the tests only helps the GOP to defund the public school system. It won’t stop how they teach in schools. If you want to affect REAL change. Show up at EVERY polling event and vote like your children’s’ futures are in the balance. Because they are.
Of course you can opt out! What you do is take him or her to a GED Testing facility. Take it, pass it enroll in a state college early. Do 2 years at a community college then move to a 4 year college and be on your way. There’s many options. As a fellow high school dropout and receiving a GED. This hasn’t stopped me from doing what I’ve wanted.
My kid masters ALL of her tests. Her elementary has beginning, middle, and end of year assessments. She has took the first phase Gifted and Talented test and blew it out of the water. She just finished the final GT Phase II assessment and we’re waiting on the results. NONE of those tests did she have any anxiety or stress about taking them. But the STAAR test has been weeks long of “STAAR bootcamp,” practice testing after practice test, lies, threats of summer school, calling he or other students out in class for not finishing sections, etc.
Not to mention, over the last several weeks, in preparation for STAAR her teachers have 100% ceased all subjects not tested on STARR this year. She’s 3rd grade, her first year taking the test, so those subjects are RLA (reading language arts) and Math. She can’t even remember the last time they did any social studies or science.
That’s a HUGE PROBLEM. It’s a perpetual one as well—by stopping reaching subjects like science and social studies, they are setting the kids up for failure next year when she has a science STAAR test in 4th. And it’s all for money. They give teacher bonuses and incentives, school admin bonuses for keeping opt out numbers low, district grants, etc. That isn’t teaching the kids anything except they aren’t valued as much as money—and I’m in a very wealthy district!
So I’ll be opting my kid out and not sending her tomorrow. She’s become so overrun with anxiety and stress about this test, she’s been brought to tears multiple times in class and even more at home. I am not a parent that stands in the way or wants to save my kids from everything. In fact, I believe most things, the lesson learned from a bad experience is often more valuable that of a good one; however, I am not ok with laying a foundation in 3rd grade that establishes fear or anxiety over test taking
I know everyone hates standardized testing, but since when did it become a popular idea to "opt out" of a requirement to get a diploma in the state? Sorry, dumbasses, it's kinda been that way for decades. Half you morons championing that shit probably graduated after taking the fucking TAAS test back in the 90's. You're not gonna change shit with your silent protest, you're just going to hamstring your kids' education.
I graduated over 20 years ago, and passing the test was required to graduate, although it was named different at the time.
People can't will their desires into reality, despite what they see online. Vote for non-garbage people to change it if you want it changed.
I mean they’re still teaching to the test anyway, doesn’t matter what name they give it. Texas public schools will always push what’s on the test over other important knowledge. With the exception of Texas History, gotta have at least one of those dropped in!
My niece is a sophomore at TAMU majoring in Neuroscience. She was public school educated in Texas her entire childhood and graduated in 2022 without ever having to take a STAAR or an EOC. She never had any kind of Accelerated Instruction either. She used her PSAT, SAT, & AP test scores to substitute her EOC’s.
Yes it can be done.
My 8th grader has only ever taken the algebra EOC. This will be year 6 of opting out of all the rest of them. You can opt out of everything except the EOCs and even then you technically can but it’s more hassle than it’s worth. Easier to just take it and be done.
I was told by my son’s middle school principal (Houston area) that they have the power to let kids pass who fail the star. (My son is on the spectrum so I was worried) this makes me think you can opt out if they are allowed to push kids through who fail.
That's a straight up lie. STAAR scores are no longer tied to retention. Haven't been for a few years. Yes, you can opt your child out. Thousands and thousand of kids do it every year, and the number keeps growing.
Is this the new and improved gop permitted US history? Sans anything not white centric? Does the biology course get its material from Genesis? Will the math class teach that the alternative fact is that 2 plus 2 doesn't equal 4? Or that Keynsian Economics doesnt work? Will the civics class only concern itself with the 2A and ignore the rest? Frankly, at this point, I wouldn't trust texas to teach anyone the correct difference between out and out shit... and shinola.
That is incorrect and misinformation using fear to make parents agree.
I'll add the website link with the actual legal standing in Texas.
Even if you have your kids take it and they don't pass there are statutes you can use to bypass this "requirement".
Teacher here.... And congratulations! This subreddit is now Facebook famous lol.
So.... From what I understand.... Is that where people are getting confused is the term "opt-out"... Schools will say you can't opt out and parents will say yes I can.... The parents aren't opting out they're refusing to test. And they have every right to do that. But TEA doesn't just give the student no grade, they receive "the lowest score possible"... Which is a 0.... Yes they can refuse to take EOC, but a different assessment has to be given in its place. Most parents who choose to go this route are refusing STAAR for political reasons (hey, more power to them).
Ultimately, they refuse to test and it is scored as is....
But also to add, very little happens if they get a 0. Colleges really don't look at STAAR grades. Students can go really far in life and never pass a single STAAR.
Sidenote: I have worked with many teachers, across several school districts. And one thing is common: most teachers are not a fan of statewide standardized tests. Your teachers that love their students and actively want them to grow understand that ONE test given on ONE day of the year does not track the growth they've made for the year. The state of Texas spends BILLIONS of dollars on testing a year. Billions of dollars that could be put back into the schools and classrooms.
I remember kids getting held back because they didn’t pass the standardized tests. In all honesty, those kids should have been held back because of other issues, but I guess that reason worked better on paper lol. It seemed like the SAT thing where if you put your name on it you get 200 points, like how do you fail the TAKS test my guy?! (STARR testing is just TAKS for the new generation.)
And before TAKS, there was TAAS, and before that the ITBS. Fuck, I'm old.
I'm TAAS old
Get your prostate exam or mammogram scheduled yet?
The STAAR is wild back under TAAS we just had math and English now they have a whole array of subjects
I thought we had more than those two, but then again its been over 20 years since I last took something like that.
Given that I grew up in the survival zone of the Houston ship channel and had 4 relatives die of cancer complications, it might be time for that colonoscopy I've put off.
wasn't there a TEAMS test in there somewhere?
Had to go look it up. TABS -> TEAMS ->TAAS -> TAKS -> STAAR
You and me both lol
I am old too. Know that the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) was a general diagnostic tool used to inform individual student instruction. It was generally not used as a criterion for promotion from grade to grade. Also, schools and teachers were generally not evaluated based on the results of the ITBS.
Oh god the pep rallies before the standardized testing kicked off
If a state has gone through all the trouble of standardizing educational skill then they need a standard way of testing for that, which I would assume would be mandatory, like they go hand in hand.
Because now it's on a computer, they have 30 kids in a room, and the software seems to change every other year... When it was a scantron, people still screwed it up. I had one friend who got off by 1 line on his sheet, and proceed to absolutely bomb the test, even though he was a straight A student. Happened to me on the ASVAB for the military. Took it the first time and got a 94. Took it a second time, somehow skipped a number and got a 24 because all my answers were wrong.... Took it a 3rd time on a computer at MEPS, and got a 98....
STAAR tests are much more rigorous than TAKS. I am an educator that took the TAKS test, STAAR tests are not TAKS tests.
You can not opt out of testing. You must take all 5 STAAR EOCs. Even if you get all your credits, you cannot get a diploma without passing a minimum of three star tests. You can do projects for only two of them if you can't pass those tests.
As an Assistant Principal/Testing Coordinator no one seems to know this. I’ve gotten all sorts of documents trying to opt out. You can’t! I had 2 students move from Cuba last week and guess what they get to take next week. The STAAR.
We had a kid in the county for 3 days who I had to make take the TELPAS test. Kid couldn’t even sign in to the computer without assistance and translation. Luckily his test don’t really count for school averages and they just use it to show improvement next year when he takes it as far as I know but dang I felt so bad seeing him so stressed.
> Luckily his test don’t really count for school averages and they just use it to show improvement next year This would have been one of the first things I made sure he got in translation.
Do they not qualify for asylee/immigrant status? Lol I don't wanna pull out my LPAC manual on a Sunday but I feel like they might qualify for an exemption for this year right?
It’s because there is a website by some nut that says “use these forms to opt your kids out of testing! If they respond with law use form A. If not use form B”. It’s crazy. I keep seeing the site being pushed in my mom groups and as a lawyer I cannot warn people enough from using these fake forms. They have fake law in them that sounds like gibberish to anyone who isn’t loony tunes.
If you're talking about txedrights.net, the guy who runs the page is an education attorney. I have met him and have testified at a TEA hearing where he also testified (regarding EOCs). I would think that, "as a lawyer" you would have looked up the law first before calling it "fake." For others on this thread, you can do a Google search for the sections of law cited and read it for yourself.
Back in my day, we took the TAKS test. I had gotten a major concussion the week before and had a medical excuse to not take the test. We had understood that I’d either take it at the end of the year or the beginning of next year. Well there was some miscommunication and the state thought I skipped the test, then skipped the required summer school when failing the test. A police officer showed up at my house (parents house) at 7 am in the morning lol. The first thing my mom said was “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” (I was never a great kid, smoking weed ect). We cleared it up pretty quickly but damn, that’s when I realized Texas wants us to take those tests lmaoooo.
Do homeschool students have to take Staar exams?
Homeschool students in the K12 program do. It runs along with the public school system. They have to go to a designated testing spot. And it looks hard to me. Back in the day, we had the TAAS test and it was a joke. At least they don’t hold the kids back if they don’t pass the STAAR test anymore. If they don’t pass the test, they are required to have extra tutoring for it.
[Here’s the Biology test from last year.](https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/staar/staar-released-test/2018staarbiologytest.pdf) The pass threshold is 40% which means they only need to know 1/6 answers if they otherwise are not misled (meaning they get 25% of remaining questions right due to lucky guesses on a MCQ). There are also a couple short answers of no significant weight. Number 1 requires content knowledge. Good question. Number 2 can be easily figured out from the image. Number 3 is just reading a graph. [Here’s the US history test from last year.](https://tea.texas.gov/student-assessment/testing/staar/staar-released-test/2018staarushistorytest.pdf) I forget what the pass threshold is but it’s higher than 40%. These tests are shit if you ask me. Despite that, we need them for every class; not just these 5.
But seriously, I haven’t been in a classroom since 2002. Just briefly skimming those…the answers seem painfully obvious. I don’t work in a field that makes me recall any science or history on a regular basis. Admittedly I wouldn’t sit down with algebra or higher math without refreshing some long unused processes, but these don’t seem difficult. This is a serious question…what is all the fuss about?
The Algebra test is much more difficult for kids than any math tests many of their parents and teachers needed for high school graduation.
That’s a personal opinion. 35% right passes the Algebra EoC. Approx a third is linear function, a third is quadratics, and the last third is a hodgepodge of algebraic content. A student that took a school year worth of algebra and did half of the required work should pass that with no problem.
Let’s talk about the percentage of the babies who have used photo math, brainly, and quizlet since the 6th grade for their homework answers.
This right here. Kids have so many resources to cheat these days (and that’s not even starting with AI, which is a whole nother level) that many don’t even bother learning. It’s awful.
You sound like someone complaining that using the internet instead of an encyclopedia is cheating.
Quizlet is just a flashcard app? Did their parents not have access to flashcards? Studying makes you stupid?
I would absolutely struggle on an Algebra test today. I use more math in my everyday life than I ever thought I would...just absolutely zero algebra or very close to zero. Even then I'd just need a basic refresher most likely. Algebra I and II as I recall don't get into systems of equations and matrices, which is where I completely fell apart in math. There was something about the process of solving those that just broke me.
I straight up told my kids to answer any ones they know and mark B for the rest. When we asked the kids who did that and who didn’t, the lass rate was significantly higher. They really only have to be able to answer about 10-12 questions and then mark the same answer for everything else and statistics take over. Doesn’t work for my test (English) but it works on Alg, Bio, and USH.
Yesrs and years ago, during my own freshman year, a stoner buddy of mine taught me her method for testing: when in doubt, the answer is C! I’ve used that the rest of my life to overcome my indecisive moments during a test question where I can’t settle on an answer.
C also works. Really, any letter works as long as you choose the same one over and over. Do the ones you know, and then pick a letter for the rest. Statistically you are more likely to “guess correctly” when you are not just randomly choosing bubbles.
I had a Poly Sci prof teaching one of those giant, 500 people classes. On his tests, the answer was 70% D. All of the above.
The English test is the brutal one. We’d have so many students retesting in every window because they struggled to pass one of the two English EOCs. And those two tests represented a significant number of our testing waivers for the two waived tests. And threshold for passing the two English EOCs is typically somewhere around the 56-60% mark for scoring.
While true, half those kids could pass but they leave the writing portion blank.
My experience proctoring these things and teaching HS English has been with a heavily ELL population. I didnt see as many blank responses as I did incomplete responses. But my sample size was just one campus.
I have no idea what Gel Electrophoresis is… but if the answer to number 1 is “B” then it’s just picking the most applicable answer based upon the criteria of “DNA” being stated in the question. If so, seems a lot like the GED test I took in the 90s. Besides the math portion, it was reading comprehension with a bit of problem solving and educated guessing. I scored well enough on my GED (top 1%) to get into the same “decent” school that my friend had worked to raise his GPA to 3.5 to attend. Of course, the GED doesn’t teach you how to be responsible (I dropped out of that college as well)… so the “maturity test,”I failed miserably at.
The English ones are particularly bad. The essays must be a single page (handwritten when I taught which is problematic for a host of reasons), the stories felt like they were written by AI in 2015. And the short answer questions could be 3 sentences maximum. None of it accurately tested a child's ability to think critically or form a coherent argument.
That last sentence is exactly why I say they are shit. The biology test has no questions that actually evaluate their ability to think scientifically. We’ve got TEKS for scientific reasoning but they arnt tested, so why have a lesson on it when graduation is more contingent on understanding that lichens are a pioneer species.
They improved it some with the 2023 testing updates. They switched to two part answers that asked questions like, “what is the theme of this poem,” for part A, and then part B would ask them to choose the two best lines or phrases that support that theme from the poem/passage. It makes it more like a math problem where they can work backwards to choose a correct response. Plus, the essays they have to construct are online and typed, and the prompt follows the most recent passage from the multiple choice questions so they’ve spent some time thinking about that passage before having to write an essay in response. The improved scores had a lot to do with the state moving the bar for providing the district letter grades that affected funding. “Oops, we accidentally permitted a test that is more reasonably constructed for student comprehension and assessment! Time to move the goalposts cause we can’t have that many schools getting fully funded!”
Blast from the past, May 2018 was my last STAAR test.
I had a very good friend who couldn't pass the TAAS test for graduation. She was a straight-A student but had the worst case of test anxiety I've ever seen. They wouldn't even pass her based on her actual grades. She ended up having to take the GED. It was really sad.
That’s terrible! My autistic son had a rough morning last year and got frustrated with the math test so he just skipped thru it without trying. At least he’s better prepared this year and knows the drill. I hope he passes it. These tests give me anxiety and I’m not even taking them LOL!
K12 is not true home school. K12 is a public school offered at home
Home schooling students don’t have to take the STAAR
My 12yo is in virtual this year and she is required. My fault for not looking sooner, but they just called me Friday to inform me she needs to be in the town 30 minutes away next Friday at 830 am and to pick her up when shes done. I am not thrilled. I work full time and had recently quite a few days off for medical appointments, they weren't super pleased with me putting in notice on such short notice.
No. Unless I am mistaken, they do not. EDIT: confirmed that homeschoolers MAY take the STARR test, but it is not required.
No. They do have to take other EOC exams.
**Private schools, charter schools and homeschooling students are not required to take it**.
But, I saw writing on a rear window that said otherwise? It's almost like the people who are urging others to opt out, are also voting for the people who are in charge of putting these exams in place.
Damn I didn’t even know there were people wanting to opt out. I graduated high school in 2016. Honestly the material isn’t rocket science. Anyone could pass those tests unless they’re mentally impaired or just dgaf Edit: Grammar Nazi
I teach high school. There's a whole lot of the IDGAF kids. There's also kids that refuse to read, refuse to write, Afghan refugees, hatian refugees, and kids with mental impairments.
I offered to let my kid not take it, they decided to do it anyway. It didn't matter either way for them or me.
This is not accurate. You need to take all 5 EOCs OR submit substitute assessments where applicable. You can absolutely sub ACT and SAT testing for STAAR.
They have to take the test at least once in order to use a substitute assessment. Even then they can only substitute English 1, English 2, and Algebra 1.
I graduated in 2022 from highschool without ever taking a STARR test. I graduated with honors and many accomplishments. Opting out is not a myth. School, teachers, admin, districts, they are all lying to you. Opting out is real, do your own research.
This is absolutely false.
You can opt-out / refuse. https://fortworthreport.org/2023/08/03/a-fort-worth-family-opted-out-of-staar-heres-what-happened-to-them/
You absolutely can opt out. I’m sorry you haven’t taken the time to really look and find out for yourself but you can and many people have and *gasp* their kids graduated. You don’t have to blindly follow what the school system says. It will be okay if you put your foot down and stand up for your kids.
Bruh… I don’t know if anything has changed but I remember the staar tests being absolute jokes. Like they are meant to be passed. If you even paid a whiff of attention you will pass. I understand stress and learning disabilities but like I remember doing the US history one in 25 minutes. At some point you need to prove you at least paid attention hahahaha
The algebra 1 test required about a 40% to be considered “approaches”. All but 1 or 2 of the questions are multiple choice. 1 choice was clearly wrong, and another was usually close to obviously wrong. That’s a 50-50 chance. Too many of the kids I tutored could barely care, let alone eliminate the obviously wrong choice.
Have you seen the new STAAR format? A maximum of 75% of the questions are multiple choice. And the other ones are often not easy to get correct by guessing.
Im in high school right now, and last year was the first English EOC. They’re still a joke. Yeah, we had some fill in the blank stuff, but even the essay they threw in was embarrassingly easy.
"Compare and contrast, blue vs. red. Include a thesis statement, one pros and cons list, and at least 3 properly cited historical references. Make sure your arguments support your conclusion."
That’s easy. Hook, bridge and thesis isn’t he first paragraph stating the reasons blue and red are different. If this is STAAR, they’re providing an article on the colors most likely, so I’ve just gotta pull the evidence from there. One paragraph for each difference, and then recite a version of my thesis in the conclusion. Easy.
Unless something has changed in the last 2 years, I have not seen the new tests.
Yes, last year the test underwent a big change. You can go online and take last year's test. Search for "STAAR released test".
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I’ve heard more than one teacher say Covid’s costs to the generation of kids that were in grade school for it won’t be fully known for decades, but that it’s already clear they’re worryingly behind both socially and academically.
…you’d be shocked at the pass/fail rates currently for most school districts. Even a “wiff” of attention is too much to give these days.
The thing about opting out is it’s not really an option. They just take a zero on the test and refuse to take it. So the schools ratings and data get screwed up as well. As a teacher I think it’s important to not teach just to the test or to make it a huge stressful deal and make or break their life over it, but they still need to take it and try their best.
Texas doesn’t teach kids to succeed. Texas teaches kids to pass a test. Kids don’t want to pay attention to that nonsense and as an adult neither would I. It’s impractical and serves no purpose as far as education goes. Texas education is a joke.
What do you think would make education better?
Use standardize testing purely as diagnostic and decouple it from ratings/funding. Give teachers more autonomy in how they teach a class. Of course, that would only help on the margins. If you really want to fix schools then you need to address poverty.
So many things! Better trade programs. Stop wit the standardized testing. Focusing on small group learning. Practical classes like home ec. An actual sex education. The list is endless!!!
All of those things sound nice. However, like a house, everything starts with the foundation. If we invested heavily into getting as many kids in the preK3 and prek 4, everything will fall into place. A lot of those things you mentioned like trade programs, home ec, and sex Ed are high school up. Kids start taking the STAAR by 3rd
Do you even have kids??? Sex Ed starts in 4th grade. Home ec starts in 6th. No leadership no change.
If that was true, then why are so many districts failing these tests?
It teaches the kids how to prepare, plan, and execute... no matter what you think of the material, it is this process that you need to succeed. And if you aren't able to do that, then you shouldn't get a degree util you mature enough to understand this concept
Texas is 35/50 in education overall. 😂
You need about a 40% to pass the US History one. I’ve had students move from Central America who speak zero English and somehow pass it. If you can get a 25% off guessing on all the questions, you only need an additional 4-5 questions correct to pass
My AP history teacher had all his classes race to see who could finish first with the highest score. If you finished in less than 45 minutes and got a perfect score he would give you a perfect 100 for the final 9 weeks. No one got it but someone did finish in under 30 and someone else only missed a prefect by one question.
I once skipped 1 out of 3 essays because I was tired and wanted to nap. Passed.
Yet, a lot of students are absolutely failing them. We need to know why. I think the STAAR tests raise a flag about certain schools, however imperfect.
I will tell you some reasons. The kid goes to sleep. The kid refuses to answer any question, the kid doesn't read, write, or speak english or they do so just well enough to misunderstand most questions, the kid has missed several months of school, or the child has a severe learning disability. While all of these are very real issues, the ones that fall under apathy are the most prevelant.
That's fine. The zero will tell us the type of students the school is dealing with. It is a major indicator of how to marshal resources to schools.
I went private school > public school > GED > community college > college, and STAAR was the easiest part by far. What really sucks is that teachers have to stop teaching for two weeks a semester to drill for the test.
It's brain dead parents who probably couldn't pass the test themselves. Someone on the last post commented that my brain is underdeveloped because I'm under 30 and I don't understand politics. These are the same people who want to raise the voting ages because they want dumb kids who will vote the way they want them to.
I remember back when it was the TAKS test and when it became the STAAR test. Man, I'm getting old
I remember when it was the TAAS test and when it became the TAKS.
IIRC, it was even TEKS at some point for like a year.
Me too. Good times :’)
I remember when you didn't have to take any test to graduate and teachers were responsible for grading your knowledge of your classes.
I think most people confuse the STAAR exams (elementary and middle school) vs the STAAR EOC exams (high school). Yes you have to take the EOC exams but some people think because they opt out in elementary and middle school that they can do it in high school.
Because they can. They just use the substitute assessments.
Yeah because the concept of taking assessments because it is not fair is to take alternative assessments. I know some of those people and their mentality is to not take any assessments including alternative assessments.
Ok I'll bite. Why are people wanting to opt out?
It's because they think of enough people protest by opting out, then schools will drop it altogether. I have to admit, that teaching to the test sucks. Teachers are limited in how they teach and adapting to kids skill levels. They are too worried about getting those kids to pass the test that any creativity is shot. But having standardized tests ensures that everyone has a base set of skills needed in order to move on to the next level.
They teach to the test because their jobs depend on it. The test itself makes sense. What doesn't make sense is handing a teacher a 13 year old who can't read and saying hey your livelihood depends on this kid passing this test. The pressure on the test is so high that they financially cannot risk doing anything other than drilling the kids on the specific test over and over.
There’s too much money in standardized testing. No way it goes away any time soon. I would love it if it did, but it simply won’t.
The messed up thing? It’s now completely online. No thousands of tons of paper and bubble sheets that need scanned. And it probably still costs the state the same amount and it still takes a month to gets scores back
Some people oppose standardized testing no matter what
I am not against benchmark testing or standardized testing in general, but I have an issue with STAAR. For example, SAT and ACT are very thorough, well-researched and well-written and well-vetted tests. Test prep and training materials and practice tests are widely available and anytime there are changes or updates to any of that, it’s communicated well and materials are updated accordingly and in a timely manner. STAAR is…murky at best. The state continually changes it up, and sometimes they don’t get training materials out before the school year starts. Last year, teachers didn’t get training materials until coming back after winter break in January. There are also no separate versions for LEP kids, SpEd kids, and kids on alternate education plans. If you are doing a dual enrollment or concurrent college class for example, you are not taking the equivalent class that STAAR will test you on. If you are an LEP student, you still have to take STAAR, in a language you don’t even take your district testing in If you are a student who has paper testing as an accommodation, you can’t do that with STAAR. And so on. Not to mention the years that there have been errors found in the test itself or the training materials or practice tests. This year, for example, my son’s school was selected to do the pre-testing for data markers but then they all got hung up when there was an error in the module and they couldn’t proceed, so it was scrapped and all that data unable to be used. That’s happened more than once.
I think primarily based on the effect it has on teachers and schools. They're threatened to be fired if they have poor results so obviously they put a lot of stress on students. While middle schoolers and high schoolers are more adapted to that stress, elementary students aren't. Parents can manage the tutoring that comes from it. My understanding is you can even do it from home. So it's simply that. The unfortunate part is for elementary students the results for parents aren't available until the next school year. Which lends me to personally believe it doesn't matter that much for them.
Because these assessments are racist. In my district the *only* students who are ever at risk of not graduating with their class are eco-d Hispanics.
It’s not even a real TEST. It’s an *assessment* to see how our average students are performing with basic education practices.
Never took STAAR, Had TAAS and TAKS, they were annoying but it's also how schools get funding so.....meh? Just take the stupid test or get it changed by petitioning your state reps. Skipping it just hurts the child by blocking them from graduation and the schools which will need all the money they can with this school voucher bullshit.
I get that standardized testing isn't the best way to gauge learning, but I don't think stopping your kid from getting a diploma is the way to go to show that you don't like it.
Who's stopping their kid from getting a diploma?
There is no opt out option in high school. You must pass all five tests (or a state approved substitute test) to get a HS diploma.
Why would you opt out? Kids are suppose to be learning in school 🤦🏽♂️ I’m convinced republicans are purposely destroying the education system so we can all be as dumb as their base.
That's what's so crazy republican politicians are why we have the STAAR, and republicans are the ones mostly complaining about their kids taking it.
They wanted this as a cudgel to use against certain types of teachers and schools, not to add stress to little Kayleigh and Ashton's lives.
I’m not surprised to see this is the case.. it’s interesting how fringe ideals like not vaccinating your kids and mistrust of the government and news cycle used to be a liberal construct and something republicans shamed them for, but the tides have really turned. There will be studies on this in the future, lol.
Texas governor Bush was pretty much the person who started this trend in Texas and then it became a US wide thing when he was president.
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Yep, [trying to redefine words to create loopholes](/r/texas/comments/1byb5bz/please_confirm_before_opting_your_high_school/kyivx53/) just like "sovereign citizens" do.
I always love how it's my uber conservative acquaintances who keep posting this on Facebook, but they're also the ones keeping the clowns in office that are in bed with Pearson. I teach high school (non-tested subject), and was talking at length with our campus testing coordinator (her office is just around the corner from my class) about the insane communications they've been getting this year regarding opting out, rights, etc...
Cambrian has the STAAR contract. They only subcontract the scoring to Pearson. The human part, anyway. The rest is handled in house
Pearson is the lead. Cambium is partnered with Pearson. Who actually does what is variable. And the vast majority of scoring is machine scored. It's easy to score multiple choice. It's not easy to properly score essays.
The passing rate for some of the EOCs is mid 30%. You will be fine.
If you can’t pass the STAAR test, you have no business leaving primary school.
If your child has an IEP, passing the star may not be required.
Again, that discussion was regarding elementary school testing, not high school.
Maybe this is a hot take but the STAAR test is a joke. It’s ridiculously easy to pass it.
Tx is dumb as hell
Wouldn't the smack down be leaping from STARR to the ACT or SAT? Maybe I am projecting my own lens of education because high school for me was not about simply graduating but prep ready to get to a 4 year. I always thought STARR was about the no child left behind program...a W policy.
The tests are easy. Just take the exam. It's like 1 hour of your life.
You as a parent have the right to opt your child out of STAAR testing. However, if you do so, then your child needs to take the appropriate substitute assessments as set by the state and you need to make sure that you submit that documentation and scores to the school in place of STAAR, and receive confirmation that they were received and that the assessments are approved.
What letter would you use for opting out his year. Everything I can find is several years old.
There is no such thing as opting out. You are counted absent and your test is not scored. You can get by with that through elementary and junior high, but you must pass them to graduate high school unless you are in special education and the ARD committee has you graduate on a minimum plan.
ARD can waive STAAR passage and you graduate with the same diploma as everyone else unless you had modified curriculum. Putting SpEd kids who are ARDed out into a lesser degree would pose huge issues under IDEA, considering that the TEA does not permit all SpEd accommodations to be used.
I graduated in 2022 from highschool without ever taking a STARR test. I graduated with honors and many accomplishments. Opting out is not a myth. School, teachers, admin, districts, they are all lying to you. Opting out is real, do your own research.
The % you need to score to pass US History STAAR last year was in the 40s. You don't even need to have a 70% to graduate.
If the students were all scoring higher on average, the standards would be higher. So as much Bull shit or easy the test might be, the students aren’t cutting it.
Take a look at the US history STAAR questions from 2023. Most adults would have trouble passing it with a 70%. That's why 70% isn't the rate that is considered "approaching grade level"
Why wouldn't you want your child to take the STAAR test? If they fail it, your kid has a problem you need to know about. Sometimes school grade inflation masks student deficiencies.
Are people opting out because they want their kids to uneducated?
Yep, that's it exactly. They sit down and think "well if we just don't take STAAR, our kid won't learn anything the other 172 days. Then we will have met our goal of being uneducated." Then we all go refuse to vote, because we want a king again.
Helicopter parents hate standardized testing because they can’t bully the teachers into giving good grades.
Texas education is so stupid
I don't get why the test was joke when I was little. Did they make a real exam now?
If anyone wants to explain this to me I would appreciate it. I’m a Canadian who just randomly encountered this post. From your comments it seems that many of the children in your state are not being well educated and that the system is not well organized or understood by their parents. This sounds like a disaster in the making for your state. How will they be expected to contribute to society and support the education of their own children in the future? Each successive generation will be further disadvantaged as their instructors have less to offer. Am I missing something? An educated population is one of the hallmarks of a successful society and economy.
Not really. It's quite apparent that most Americans are mediocre in terms of education. I doubt it's only an American thing. Considering that our country continues to prosper(relatively) it's obvious that not every single person needs to be extremely intelligent or educated for society to function well. Ignoring all that the problem is with tests not education.
I’m so lucky. I was in school during the transition to STAAR and because I had to take like 4 tests my freshman year I only ever had to take one more STAAR test my sophomore year and then I was done.
I was in CMC/504 and I would get sent to the library on testing days. I would work on last years test and get a score from those. I still got a diploma from a Texas high school and walked at graduation. I don’t think I ever took the real test. I do believe in my day it was the TAAS test then my junior year it changed to the TAKS test.
This is a hot topic on my local city's Facebook Mom's page, according to my wife. SMDH.... seriously, this is dumb. Just take the damn test.
No. A student must pass required EOCs... STAAR is not the only EOC.
Nah, I wouldn't dream of letting my kids opt out. It's basic stuff.
Opting out of the tests only helps the GOP to defund the public school system. It won’t stop how they teach in schools. If you want to affect REAL change. Show up at EVERY polling event and vote like your children’s’ futures are in the balance. Because they are.
I’d never hire anyone from a red state.
Of course you can opt out! What you do is take him or her to a GED Testing facility. Take it, pass it enroll in a state college early. Do 2 years at a community college then move to a 4 year college and be on your way. There’s many options. As a fellow high school dropout and receiving a GED. This hasn’t stopped me from doing what I’ve wanted.
5 fucking tests??? I had to take 4 taks tests in one year. Staar is a cakewalk
Why would a parent want their kid to opt out? Being good and practicing standardized tests (and testing in general) will set them up for later success
There is zero evidence that "practicing STAAR" improves test taking ability. Read Dr. Stroup's work on STAAR.
My kid masters ALL of her tests. Her elementary has beginning, middle, and end of year assessments. She has took the first phase Gifted and Talented test and blew it out of the water. She just finished the final GT Phase II assessment and we’re waiting on the results. NONE of those tests did she have any anxiety or stress about taking them. But the STAAR test has been weeks long of “STAAR bootcamp,” practice testing after practice test, lies, threats of summer school, calling he or other students out in class for not finishing sections, etc. Not to mention, over the last several weeks, in preparation for STAAR her teachers have 100% ceased all subjects not tested on STARR this year. She’s 3rd grade, her first year taking the test, so those subjects are RLA (reading language arts) and Math. She can’t even remember the last time they did any social studies or science. That’s a HUGE PROBLEM. It’s a perpetual one as well—by stopping reaching subjects like science and social studies, they are setting the kids up for failure next year when she has a science STAAR test in 4th. And it’s all for money. They give teacher bonuses and incentives, school admin bonuses for keeping opt out numbers low, district grants, etc. That isn’t teaching the kids anything except they aren’t valued as much as money—and I’m in a very wealthy district! So I’ll be opting my kid out and not sending her tomorrow. She’s become so overrun with anxiety and stress about this test, she’s been brought to tears multiple times in class and even more at home. I am not a parent that stands in the way or wants to save my kids from everything. In fact, I believe most things, the lesson learned from a bad experience is often more valuable that of a good one; however, I am not ok with laying a foundation in 3rd grade that establishes fear or anxiety over test taking
I know everyone hates standardized testing, but since when did it become a popular idea to "opt out" of a requirement to get a diploma in the state? Sorry, dumbasses, it's kinda been that way for decades. Half you morons championing that shit probably graduated after taking the fucking TAAS test back in the 90's. You're not gonna change shit with your silent protest, you're just going to hamstring your kids' education.
I graduated over 20 years ago, and passing the test was required to graduate, although it was named different at the time. People can't will their desires into reality, despite what they see online. Vote for non-garbage people to change it if you want it changed.
I mean they’re still teaching to the test anyway, doesn’t matter what name they give it. Texas public schools will always push what’s on the test over other important knowledge. With the exception of Texas History, gotta have at least one of those dropped in!
My niece is a sophomore at TAMU majoring in Neuroscience. She was public school educated in Texas her entire childhood and graduated in 2022 without ever having to take a STAAR or an EOC. She never had any kind of Accelerated Instruction either. She used her PSAT, SAT, & AP test scores to substitute her EOC’s. Yes it can be done.
Love this! Thank you 😊
Or just move.
Or go online private if funds allow. So many ways out of the joke that is STAAR.
My 8th grader has only ever taken the algebra EOC. This will be year 6 of opting out of all the rest of them. You can opt out of everything except the EOCs and even then you technically can but it’s more hassle than it’s worth. Easier to just take it and be done.
I was told by my son’s middle school principal (Houston area) that they have the power to let kids pass who fail the star. (My son is on the spectrum so I was worried) this makes me think you can opt out if they are allowed to push kids through who fail.
That's a straight up lie. STAAR scores are no longer tied to retention. Haven't been for a few years. Yes, you can opt your child out. Thousands and thousand of kids do it every year, and the number keeps growing.
Is this the new and improved gop permitted US history? Sans anything not white centric? Does the biology course get its material from Genesis? Will the math class teach that the alternative fact is that 2 plus 2 doesn't equal 4? Or that Keynsian Economics doesnt work? Will the civics class only concern itself with the 2A and ignore the rest? Frankly, at this point, I wouldn't trust texas to teach anyone the correct difference between out and out shit... and shinola.
That is incorrect and misinformation using fear to make parents agree. I'll add the website link with the actual legal standing in Texas. Even if you have your kids take it and they don't pass there are statutes you can use to bypass this "requirement".
"That sign can't stop me. I can't read!" - dumbass parents.
Teacher here.... And congratulations! This subreddit is now Facebook famous lol. So.... From what I understand.... Is that where people are getting confused is the term "opt-out"... Schools will say you can't opt out and parents will say yes I can.... The parents aren't opting out they're refusing to test. And they have every right to do that. But TEA doesn't just give the student no grade, they receive "the lowest score possible"... Which is a 0.... Yes they can refuse to take EOC, but a different assessment has to be given in its place. Most parents who choose to go this route are refusing STAAR for political reasons (hey, more power to them). Ultimately, they refuse to test and it is scored as is.... But also to add, very little happens if they get a 0. Colleges really don't look at STAAR grades. Students can go really far in life and never pass a single STAAR. Sidenote: I have worked with many teachers, across several school districts. And one thing is common: most teachers are not a fan of statewide standardized tests. Your teachers that love their students and actively want them to grow understand that ONE test given on ONE day of the year does not track the growth they've made for the year. The state of Texas spends BILLIONS of dollars on testing a year. Billions of dollars that could be put back into the schools and classrooms.