Comment from instructor:
This is really good memo. Your proposals are sufficiently concrete and
seemingly easy to implement such that they make for very robust
recommendations. They key questions for me is why are your
proposals not already law? For your 15% requirement given that it was
debated and then removed, you have to think, why was it removed.
Were there good reasons and, what makes you think the policies will be
different this time? It would have been key to discuss those, since they
are clear policies legislators have considered. A discussion of the
political hurdles would have helped.
Otherwise, very sound, powerful, recommendations.
To: Governor Gregg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency
From: Corazon Bautista
Date: December 18, 2015
Re: Raising Performance Standards of Texas Students
“The big picture of U.S. performance on the 2012 Program for International Student
Assessment (PISA) is straightforward and stark: It is a picture of educational stagnation….
Fifteen-year olds in the U.S. today are average in science and reading literacy, and below
average in mathematics, compared to their counterparts in [other industrialized]
countries.” (U.S. secretary of education Arne Duncan)1
Executive Summary:
At the beginning of this school year 2014-2015, Texas implemented the newly revised
curriculum, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Based on the TEKS, all students
enrolled in core courses: Algebra 1, English 1, English 2, Biology, and World History, are required
to take the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness end-of-course (STAAR- EOC)
exams which are aligned to the TEKS and are administered towards the end of the school year.
Texas Education Agency (TEA) uses the exam scores to assess public school students on what
they have learned as well as determine district and school accountability ratings. (Refer to
Appendix 1 for a quick overview of Texas State Accountability Rating system.) TEA establishes
cut scores on each of these assessments to distinguish between performance levels, or
categories to classify students into an appropriate performance category. For the general STAAR
1
Eric Hanushek, Paul E. Peterson and Ludger Woessmann, "U.S. Students from Educated Families Lag in
International Tests" Education Next, Fall 2014, Vol. 14, No.4, http://educationnext.org/us-students-educatedfamilies-lag-international-tests/
assessments, STAAR Spanish, STAAR L, and STAAR A, the labels for the performance categories
are: Level III: Advanced Academic Performance, Level II: Satisfactory Academic Performance, and
Level I: Unsatisfactory. (Refer to Appendix 2 for examples of performance level descriptors for
English 1 and Algebra 1.) Passing these exams is one of the high school graduation
requirements.
However, the cut scores (refer to Appendix 3) are set low and cannot be compared to
international standards for math, English, and science subjects. Phase-in 1 performance
standards for the STAAR program was extended until last 2014-2015 school year. Achieving the
minimum level 1 performance scores for Algebra 1, English 1, Biology, and English 2 courses is
not enough to guarantee that the student is ready and qualified to join the workforce when
he/she leaves high school. Thus, I propose to change the way students are held accountable for
their scores to improve student quality learning and eventually help solve achievement
problems in our public schools. The open report, “A Nation At Risk” presented by the National
Commission on Excellence in Education on April 26, 1983 affirmed that “… Learning is the
indispensable investment required for success in the "information age" we are entering.”2 By
making the changes I am proposing, the State of Texas ensures that the investment it makes in
students’ education is put to good use.
Proposal:
The State of Texas needs to enforce student performance accountability by
incorporating scores from these mandated STAAR EOC (end-of-course) exams to the course
grade of the student at the end of the school year as was originally stated in House Bill (HB) 3
(passed in 2009) but was never implemented. Under the said rule, a student’s STAAR EOC score
would have counted 15 percent of the student’s final grade in each tested subject area.3 House
Bill 5 (passed in 2013) eventually eliminated the 15 percent grading requirement. The STAAR
EOC cumulative score component has also been eliminated.4
I propose that the 15 percent grading requirement in HB 3 be restored and the STAAR
EOC score replace the comprehensive final exams that students normally take at the end of the
course study. By doing so, the student will seriously work on the course throughout the year to
ensure his/her success and promotion to the next higher course. This also helps curtail the
practice of some teachers giving passing grades to undeserving students to promote students to
the next higher course. Stressing student accountability this way will eliminate student
competing against each other. Students will be working together towards success and thus
eliminate “nerd” bullying in campus. The teacher acts a coach to help the student succeed and
the student takes responsibility for his/her own learning. This will also stop administrators from
imposing certain limits on the number of failures a teacher may have at the end of a schoolyear
as students will be more motivated to succeed. This will also minimize the learning gap
especially in math and English as the student moves on to the next course level. The teacher in a
2
National Commission on Educational Excellence, A Nation at Risk
http://datacenter.spps.org/uploads/SOTW_A_Nation_at_Risk_1983.pdf
3
4
http://tea.texas.gov/student.assessment/hb3plan/, viewed December 17, 2015.
http://tea.texas.gov/tet/august2013.pdf., viewed December 17, 2015.
particular course level, i.e., Algebra 2, can now truly teach the required course content
meaningfully.
I also propose that §101.3011. Implementation and Administration of Academic Content
Area Assessment Instruments5 be amended to include at least English 3, Geometry, and Algebra
2 as necessary requirements for students to complete and pass the EOC exams of these
mentioned courses to earn the high school diploma. Often times, most students think that after
passing all the present required EOC courses, he/she can relax and take it easy until he/she
graduates high school. As a student enters into Geometry, the student’s first question is, “Am I
taking an EOC exam for this course?” Holding a student accountable for all core courses (English,
math and science) until graduation will adequately prepare the students to comply with the
graduation requirement plan outlined in the Foundation High School Program of House Bill 5 (HB
5)6 and consequently be truly educated and productive members of the society.
Conclusion
Al Shanker, a prominent voice among professional educators was ready to lead a campaign
in support of a strategy of standards, testing, and accountability. He said, “Imagine we should
shut down a hospital and fire its staff because not all of its patients became healthy − but we
never demand that the patients also look out for themselves by eating properly, exercising, and
laying off cigarettes.”7 This is a very good analogy of the past and ongoing educational reforms
which focus only on the school and teacher accountability. It is about time that the State of
Texas not only holds schools more accountable for results, but also hold students accountable
for individual performance because high school graduates must be able to read, write, and use
math proficiently to prepare them for higher education or for technical jobs after they graduate
high school.
5
6
7
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter101/ch101cc.html , viewed December 9, 2015.
:
http //www4.esc13.net/uploads/hb5/docs/General%20Overview%20HB%205.pdf, viewed Dec 9, 2015.
Peterson, Saving Schools, p. 179
APPENDICES
Appendix 1. One-page Summary of Texas State Accountability Rating (TSAR) System
Source: https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/perfreport/account/2014/index.html
Appendix 2: Sample of STAAR Performance Level Descriptors (PDF updated 01/11/13)
Source: http://tea.texas.gov/student.assessment/staar/performance-standards/
Appendix 3: Raw Conversion Table for Algebra 1 and English 1
Source: http://tea.texas.gov/student.assessment/staar/convtables/