This year’s STAAR testing scores should not be used to rate schools or determine whether a student should graduate or advance to the next grade, the head of the Texas Association of School Administrators wrote in a letter to Education Commissioner Mike Morath this week that outlined widespread problems with how this spring’s tests were delivered, scored and administered.
“The numerous testing irregularities reported this year do not encourage confidence in the accuracy of student scores, the fairness of the administration across all student populations, or in the security of student identifiable information,” the group’s executive director, Johnny Veselka wrote in the letter. “Assigning accountability ratings based on such data will only compound the situation and will not reflect a 1 snapshot of either Texas students or schools.”
Issues first surfaced during the March administration of the STAAR exams, when school districts reported problems with online tests that caused students to lose answers. More than 14,000 exams were impacted by the computer glitch, Morath announced early last month at a State Board of Education meeting, calling the problem “simply unacceptable.”
