Texas Education Agency proposes pushing back STAAR tests into May in spring of 2016

By Jeffrey Weiss

I’d noted last week that the Texas Education Agency might be suggesting changes in the STAAR testing calendar for next school year. That proposal is now out. The agency is asking for comments. The idea is pretty simple: Lots of the tests are given a month or more before the end of the school year. Which means teachers and students feel pressured to teach a year’s worth of standards before the last month of school. Lots of complaints about that. Here’s the proposal for the 2015-2016 school year:

Comments and suggestions about the draft of the calendar should be sent to [email protected] by February 27, 2015. After comments are analyzed, the final calendar will be posted in early March 2015.

The following additional changes to the 2015–2016 Student Assessment testing calendar are being proposed.

• The April administrations of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) mathematics and reading assessments for grades 3, 4, 6, and 7 have been shifted and are scheduled for May 9–May 13, 2016. Districts will receive standard and optional reports for STAAR 3–8 testing by June 15, 2016.

• The administration window for the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) has been extended by one week and is scheduled for March 7–April 6, 2016.

The STAAR Alternate 2 testing window remains scheduled for April 4–April 15, 2016. The Texas Education Agency will consider an extension to the dates by one week, if necessary, after survey results on the 2015 STAAR Alternate 2 assessment are reviewed.