Tag: refusal

An Open Letter to the Governor Elect – Take Action on Morath’s Accountability Scam

Written by admin on . Posted in Accountability, Articles, STAAR | EOC Testing. Leave a Comment

Dear Gov. Elect Hinojosa,

First, thank you for your unequivocal commitment to end the STAAR testing regime that has come to dominate Texas public education. You have rightly recognized that STAAR has become far more than an assessment; its high-stakes consequences distort classroom instruction and place enormous pressure on students, teachers, and neighborhood schools. But even with a Governor committed to change, STAAR cannot disappear overnight. Until the Legislature acts, the existing assessment requirements remain in place, which means Texas children will again sit for STAAR in the spring of 2027. For years, parents who side with your concern over STAAR have taken action by refusing participation in this atrocious assessment.  Now, we ask you to take action for them!  The question is what your administration and your new Education Commissioner can do immediately to reduce the harm caused by the existing system while the Legislature works toward permanent reform. One important first step is within the Commissioner’s control: recognize parental refusals as a separate category in the Texas accountability system and stop using them to punish public schools.

Today, when a parent refuses STAAR for a child, TEA does not simply report the truth, which is that the student did not take the assessment. Instead, the system assigns the refused assessment the lowest possible scaled score and then uses that artificial result against the school in measuring academic achievement. Yet TEA recognizes the fiction when using that same score would work in the school’s favor. Academic Growth is supposed to measure the change in a student’s actual performance from one year to the next. When a child receives an artificial “zero” because of a refusal and subsequently takes STAAR, TEA does not allow the school to claim spectacular academic growth from that artificial starting point. That makes perfect sense, because the zero never measured what the child knew. But it cannot logically be unreal when it would benefit the school and real when it can be used to punish the school. Texas should not manipulate the meaning of the same data point depending upon which treatment produces the harsher accountability result.

There is a straightforward and honest alternative. The Accountability Manual should recognize Parental Refusal as its own assessment category. TEA should continue to count every eligible student, report every refusal, publish the resulting participation rate, and satisfy every federal reporting and participation requirement. But a parental refusal should not be converted into a fictitious measure of academic performance. ESSA does not prohibit states from recognizing parental opt-out procedures, even though it continues to impose federal participation requirements. And TEA already maintains detailed administrative rules governing which data are included and excluded from accountability calculations, including an entire appendix of the 2026 Accountability Manual addressing the inclusion and exclusion of data. There is nothing deceptive about reporting that 95 percent of students took the test and five percent were parental refusals. To the contrary, that is considerably more honest than reporting those five percent as though they sat for STAAR and demonstrated the lowest possible level of academic achievement.

I therefore urge you to direct your new Commissioner to amend the Accountability Manual before the Spring 2027 administration of STAAR to provide a simple rule: a refused assessment may be counted and publicly reported for participation purposes, but neither the refusal nor any minimum scaled score assigned because of that refusal may ever be used adversely against a school, school district, teacher, or student in the Texas accountability system. Texas can comply with federal participation requirements without inventing an academic failure where no measurement of academic performance ever occurred. Parents who refuse STAAR should own that decision; teachers, principals, school districts, and children should not be punished for it. Until Texas can finally replace STAAR, your administration can at least insist that the State tell the truth about its results: a test that was never taken is not a failed test, and Texas should stop pretending that it is.

Tabbing Through

Written by admin on . Posted in News, STAAR | EOC Testing, Videos. Leave a Comment

So it’s opt out time for STAAR.  We’ve already told you that the school is not going to “agree” that you can opt out.  Now that doesn’t mean you can’t opt out.  In fact, some schools play the game of pretending that refusing to participate (your option) is not opting out.  It is.  They don’t get to define words for us.

So what do we know?

We know that the TEA has told schools that they can accept parental refusals and submit a blank assessment without ever putting it in front of the student.  And thankfully, we are seeing more districts than ever working with parents and offering this option.

We know that if the district doesn’t offer that option, the student can refuse in person and either be sent on to class (good job school!) or sit and not engage the assessment (punitive, but as long as they don’t coerce you, it’s OK).

But many parents (and kids) decide that sitting for three or more hours to refuse the assessment is a silly game, and that the best way to successfully opt out is to submit a blank assessment in the testing room.  This is what you will see called “Tabbing Through”.  In this process, the student advances to the next question without answering, dismisses all warnings about missing answers, gets to the end and submits the assessment (without asking for the proctor to review it).  But this raises the question: how do we teach our kids to do this?

Thanks to a wonderful TTAAS Facebook member, we present the video tutorial “Tabbing Through”  Enjoy the video and let’s get out there and opt out. Because it is OUR option, not the school’s.

SUCCESS! Unreasonable District Suddenly Gets Reasonable!

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Sorry for the length! You asked for responses and details…😅
We live in Northwest ISD. We have kids at PVE and CTMS. We’ve lived in the district 7 years, but homeschool off and on as we see fit. All the while following the Texans Take Actions Against STAAR facebook page and preparing ourselves. This is our first year having to deal with STAAR “opt out”… We had very high hopes of easy cooperation from the schools, but that was not the case. After sending our tailored opt-out letters from TXEdRights.net to each of our kids’ teachers/principals, we were replied to by the assistant principals from each school with their own form letter provided by the district. We replied with the Step 2: response letter from TXEdRights.net along with some of our own choice words. At this point, PVE quit responding, but not CTMS. The AP replied back, doubling down on their stance and “explained the consequences for students who refuse to take the required exams.” ending with “I have shared these requirements with you so you can make an informed decision for your family. I hope you will reconsider your position and allow your children an opportunity to take the required exams.” We REALLY didn’t appreciate the implication that we are uninformed or attempts at intimidation with threats of consequences. You can see our reply in the screenshot below:

She replied back again saying “I have heard your concerns.” and the school district has no choice and laying out again the consequences we will face if we follow through.🙄 It was getting very annoying feeling like we were dealing with a brick wall who could do nothing but repeat back the same talking points and not process new information given to them, but we tried again. We attached the Julie Cole emails and pointed out that she clarified students are not even required to be presented the assessment. We ended with: “We see 3 viable options proceeding forward: 
1. You honor our parental rights and concede our children will not be presented with the STAAR.
2. Our children are absent on the initial administration day. You refuse to acknowledge our rights and try to present it to them upon their return. They will tab through to the end, submit a blank assessment, and return to class to continue learning.
3. We pull our children from school altogether and continue homeschooling, as we have for the majority of their schooling careers, and you miss out on that funding that is tied to them.
Under no option, will our children answer a single STAAR question or be subjected to a single hour of Accelerated Instruction, (but that is a disagreement we will settle when the time comes to not convolute the matter at hand).”
 
At this point she quit replying to us. Finally, weeks later my husband approached the head principal at Open House night and was told to take it up with a contact at the district. He emailed us her information. So we emailed her CC-ing each school’s principal & assistant principal. By this point our patience was very thin and we weren’t up for starting another pointless back and forth so we went all in upfront.
We gave her our background and followed with: “We cannot overstate how disappointed we have been since we notified both of the schools our children attend that they will not be taking the STAAR and the response we have gotten from each: identical responses that are obviously coming from someone other than the individual principals we are dealing with.
I know you don’t know our children so I’ll share a little about them. Two are in GT/GATES. The other is not, not because she doesn’t qualify, but she has always refused assessment. She’s just not interested in that particular pursuit. They all perform extremely well on the MAP assessment and it even predicts they will score “Masters” on the STAAR. Sadly, we know this only further incentivizes your stance as you see that purely as a bolster to the district’s performance level/grade. Our disagreement with the STAAR is multifaceted and not JUST about our children personally, but also about the overall injustice of the entire state assessment system. 
We have been encouraged in the past when the district itself spoke out against the STAAR accountability system on the Facebook page and pointed out our kids’ are more than just one score. Again, how disappointed we’ve been to find you’ve decided to cave and just fall in line. We know the law/TEA has stated “you cannot opt out of a test”. We also know the STAAR is NOT a test. It is an assessment. We know schools are required to give each student an opportunity to take it. We are not “opting out”. We are informing you of our intent to refuse. We also know Julie Cole (from the TEA) has clarified and given instructions on how to handle such circumstances and sadly that has not been the case of our interactions with the schools. Attached we will include the emails from Julie Cole, just in case that is news to you, and also a form from another ISD that is a MUCH better way to handle this situation than what we’ve been met with. 
We, as a society, are always encouraging and teaching the generations, starting with the books for small children saying: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” and “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” We intend to do more than just repeat these quotes, but show our children by example that change takes action, even if it’s uncomfortable. We realize the system is set up against not only the kids, but the teachers and districts as well. We are not trying to fight you, but rather fight for you. It was very discouraging, but not defeating, to be met with the response we’ve gotten. Maybe you were unaware of Julie Cole’s instructions. Maybe you didn’t know you could create a form to facilitate parents with our beliefs. Now you do. In the words of Maya Angelou, “When you know better, you do better.” We look forward to being worked with on this matter going forward, instead of being fed misinformation, attempts at intimidation, and being dictated to. 
We are also aware that HB4545 requires the schools to offer 30 hours of AI to students who do not score well enough on STAAR. We are also aware of our rights on this and seeing as our children are in no way underperforming in their classes and will never take STAAR, they will be in no need of AI and we will be refusing that as well. We would appreciate your immediate cooperation on this without a back and forth fight. This is the hill we have come to die on.”
She replied: “Thank you for reaching out to us and advocating for your children. We at Northwest ISD must follow the state and federal laws and policies regarding testing and assessment. If your children attend school on a testing day, they will be in a classroom with other students that are testing on that day. The teacher will read the directions to the class. If your children do not take the test, the teacher will verify with your child that they are not taking the test. We will submit the blank test as “S” for scorable, as Ms. Cole explained in the emails. Your children can quietly read a book for the remainder of the testing period.”
 
🎉FINALLY a little respect and reason. We followed up “Thank you for your prompt response. Should our children attend on the administration days that will be an acceptable handling of the situation.
 Most likely we will keep them home as we feel they can have a more educationally enriched day outside of the assessment environment rather than being forced to sit in silence for hours. When they return to school the following day, we see no reason for them to even be presented the assessment at that point. As Julie Cole states, that is unnecessary. We expect our numerous emails on the topic sufficient for the local documentation required, and they will be allowed to go directly to class and not be pulled from instruction. Can we get confirmation this will be the case? Again, thank you so much for your help in this matter.”
Getting her reply: “On a make-up day, the CTCs will verify with your children that they are not testing. The blank test will be submitted with an “S” score for scorable. Your student will then go to class. The entire process will take under 5 minutes.”  We verified this with each campus.
We tried to continue the fight and ensure a better response for us and others in the future, but the district representative did not reply to our email regarding that. For now we are taking our win and so grateful for all the help of Scott and everyone else behind the scenes at TXEDRIGHTS and Texans Take Action Against STAAR!
Eric & Sarah J

SUCCESS: Success Everywhere with Everything!

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From CWade

I have 3 children. My opt out began in 2019.  Why? Because my oldest (in 4th grade) had developed acute cerebella ataxia. Although at the time we didn’t know it. Took us months to find the right neurologist to diagnose him. (From a strep infection, no less).  This made his brain not function well. He couldn’t stand up without losing his balance, dizzy all the time, couldn’t concentrate, had a hard time comprehending instruction, multitasking, etc. Loud noises and brightness were hard on him. School became a difficult time for a once very healthy kid.

 

We decided to place him in a Medical 504, with the urging of his neurologist. Who happened to tell us Jacob doesn’t have to take STAAR. (Dr. Josh Rotenberg). He did not tell me about your group, just said he doesn’t have to take it.

 

I decided to do some research. We successfully opted him out in 2019.  Briargrove Elementary, HISD.

 

I know in 2020 it was an option, but we still opted out him and his brother, Zachary, who was in 3rd grade and now supposed to take STAAR. Neither child did. (5th grade & 4th grade). Also, their teacher, Ms. Nicole McDonald, 4th grade is awesome. She has had both my boys now and ready. By this time (2020), I had found this group on Facebook. I watched, I read, I followed.

 

2021, my oldest is now at Tanglewood Middle School (HISD) for 6th grade and I thought I would get push back. I turned in the letter available from this group. School had no issues. We made a plan for where Jacob would go during testing, and he could still attend. (Due to his ataxia, he does miss some school and I would not let the school have me keep him home. There’s plenty of schoolwork he can do on campus). I made sure to send the letter to the Dean of Innovation (school broken into 2 groups), cc’d each subject teacher, the school counselor (I think she wears many hats, ie testing coordinator??), and the principal. I was not going to have a staff member say, “we didn’t know”. Tanglewood was very respectful and did not push back once.

 

2021, my middle, Zachary had Ms. McDonald, 4th grade, and she was patiently waiting for my letter. (Briargrove Ele. -HISD). I also sent the testing coordinator, each subject teacher, principal and vice principal my letter.

 

*side note* between 2020-2021 we had Zachary tested for dyslexia from a previous teacher reaching out to us and recommend it. He was placed on a 504 for Dyslexia.

 

2020-2021, my daughter, Lauren is now in 3rd grade. I sent the same letter to her teacher and the same players as Zachary, a different teacher though. No push back here.

 

I was also approached for HB4545 for Zachary (2020/2021: can’t remember exact year). Let me tell you, Mrs. Berlin (Briargrove) was very sneaky about this: all sweet and innocent stating it will help him in the areas he needs help in. Thankfully I took it home and read and reread it. Right about the time this page was talking about it. Finding information from this page, I said absolutely not. Then made sure the 3:1 teacher ratio was clicked. (It was not and I changed it immediately for all 3 of my kids).

 

2021-2022, bad year for Zachary at school with teachers not cooperating in his 504 accommodations and not taking what I explained to them to heart (ie, how kid operates, what motivates him, etc.). I’m fighting to advocate for him. I made formal complaints.

 

But I was still able to successfully opt him out. Same letter, dated for that year and all the same players.

 

Lauren gets to 4th grade and she has Ms. McDonald. We LOVE her! She reached out to check if we are opting Lauren out and I said yes, she said “I’ll wait for your letter”.

 

So, for all my kids, I have sent the same letter you guys provide with all the legal verbiage. I change according to year and kid. I also make sure I send HB4545 for each of them at the beginning of the year.  This year, for my 5th grader, the new testing coordinator requested that I fill out a form for STAAR opt out, which I posted on Texans Against STAAR asking for some advice as the letter was not all correct.  I crossed out the points that were not correct and initialed that and signed the letter along with requesting them to make sure a copy of the Opt Out Letter I sent it to be placed in her school file.

I have not had any push back for practice/interim assessments.  All three of my kids go to school on those days and we have a plan in place.  To work on school items or read or something that is quiet and constructive.  They all are placed in a conference room with a staff member checking on them.   (I do this because the 2021-2022 school year, my 5th grader and4th grader were placed in the hallway during the entire assessment time and when I found out, I let the school have it, politely of course, but placing kids in a hallway with no one around for 4 hours is unacceptable in my books.  So now, I make sure they have a comfortable place to be other than a hallway).

 

Now, next year I will have high school to worry about so I am saving and reading all I can from this website.  I cannot thank all of you enough for this.   On the note of high school, my son was able to get into Westside High School Engineering program with his Matrix score (over 900) WITHOUT the STAAR scores.  It goes to show you, it is not valid.  (Even when I spoke to Lamar High Scholl and Westside, I asked about the STAAR and explained to them that my children do not take it and how do I make sure he has a chance for a seat?  They both told me, they will go by Matrix and the 7th grade year report card).

 

This is my success story.  (I have 2 kids on a 504 and one GT and they do not take STAAR).  I am respectful, polite, yet firm and I don’t back down.  It is due to this group that I gained the confidence to stand my ground and advocate for my children.  It was very nerve wracking at first but once I turned in the first letter and the school understood I was not going to budge, I did not receive any push back.

SUCCESS! No Password; No STAAR.

Written by admin on . Posted in Success Stories. Leave a Comment

From MMC

They will always tell you it’s “required;” they tried forcing us the first year. I knew my rights, I sent a letter, she did not attend in testing days. When it was make up dates she went in. They handed her the test, she handed it back, they then handed it back to her saying it was not complete. She then handed it back and said “I’m good.” They released her to class.

We had a password set up because they did try to tell her I said for her to just try it. She asked for the password, they didn’t have it. She said I need to go see my mom in the office. Needless to say, they don’t try either of us anymore. Now, she just misses the 2 test days, her principal has it noted, and she never is offered the makeup test. They even called me this year to check to see if she could play what they call “STAAR War” games since they know how I am about STAAR. It was just like group games for review. She played them. But they knew they better confirm with me first.

SUCCESS! Principal Accepts Refusal, Won’t Present Assessment

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From CS
I am feeling great! 🎉🎉🎉
– I submitted the opt out letter to the school on Monday.
– I received a generic response letter from the school on Wednesday telling me I couldn’t opt out.
– I then sent the STAAR follow-up refusal letter and by the end of the day today, I received a phone call from the principal informing me that she WOULD NOT present the assessment to my child the day of “testing” or any day after. 🎉
She was very appreciative of the documentation I sent because I also sent copies of the emails from Julie Cole. The principal confirmed that she would submit a blank score for him and he would spend the day with second graders that are not subjected to STAAR. THANK YOU SO MUCH TxEdRights! Because of you, I feel kick ass! 😂 I didn’t ask too many questions on here but instead, followed your step by step instructions and watched your videos! 🙏🏼♥️🙏🏼. My job is not done. I will be following up the day after testing to confirm my child’s score was submitted. Then we will do this every year, to which the principal already seemed to understand. 😃. You can do this parents! Don’t back down!

TEA Confirms: School Can Accept Parental Refusal of STAAR

Written by admin on . Posted in News, STAAR | EOC Testing. 30 Comments

From the earliest days of the Opt Out movement, the TEA has carved out a dichotomy between Opt Out and parental refusal that has confounded and frustrated parents and, indirectly, led to increased conflict between parents and schools.  However, as time has passed, the TEA’s outlook has become increasingly more realistic and focused on de-escalating conflict while still insisting upon participation.  For years, we have argued against the scoring of refused assessments.  One reason for this is that the practice of scoring refused assessments led to bizarre behavior by schools.  While some schools adopted parent friendly approaches like permitting the child to refuse assessment with the parent present, other schools insisted that a child refusing the assessment must be placed in a room, read all the instructions, instructed to begin work, and not released until the full time to complete the assessment passed.  Still other schools felt it was fair game to try to trick the students into taking the assessment, leading to predictable ploys like “Your mother just called” and requiring parents to implement password systems to thwart these childish games.

For several years, we have pushed back against those who lay all the blame for bad STAAR behavior on the TEA and pointed out that districts have broad authority to work with parents.  In fact, most of the “bad behaviors” we experience due to STAAR are the result of local decisions.  When the TEA has acted reasonably, we have applauded them and put the responsibility for bad conduct where it truly belongs.  Today is another one of those days.  Following several reports of students who stayed off campus for an entire assessment window being scored as having refused, we began to hear rumors that the TEA had told schools that if the parents indicated a refusal, the schools could submit the blank assessment for scoring, even if the student never set foot on campus.

This was a tidal shift, because for years the party line of the school has been “If the student is on campus, we must put the assessment in front of them and tell them to take it.”  No more.  In response to a recent Public Information Request, TPERN has received documents that confirm that “If the student/parent has refused to test during a particular testing window, the district . . . is not required to put the student in front of the test or a make-up test.”  The district need only maintain local documentation of the refusal.  This gives the Opt Out letter new importance.  Under the guidance of the TEA, the letter now constitutes sufficient evidence to permit the school to submit a blank assessment.  The student does not need to be absent for an entire administration window, or even for a single day.  And explicitly, the school is not required to put the assessment in front of the student for refusal.  As it should be, the word of the parent is sufficient.

Notably, this response was made directly to a district that was asking if it was permissible to not pull a student for makeup testing if they were absent on the assessment day and had a parent note of refusal.  Julie Cole made clear, that even if they are there on the assessment day, the school does not have to put the student in front of a test.  Similar guidance was given to ESC 14 when a school sought approval of instructions to parents that they must stay home the entire assessment window or take a makeup.

These communications should put to rest any school claims that they are “required” to present the assessment to the student.  They aren’t.  They never have been.  This common sense approach permits schools and parents to work together.  It de-escalates needless conflict and permits the viewpoints of both sides to be heard.  We applaud the TEA for clarifying this matter once and for all.

For our parents, we suggest:

(1) Use the new opt out letter which contains the refusal language;
(2) Verify with the school that your child will not be presented with the assessment.  Use these emails if needed.(Full Copy Lozano Email; Full Copy Wilson Email)
(3) We still suggest being willing to keep the student home for the main assessment days, as the schools are unlikely to be able to accommodate them with any normal learning activities.

Bubbling All “A” on STAAR is a BAD Idea

Written by admin on . Posted in Articles, STAAR | EOC Testing.

For reasons that are not clear to me, we’ve seen a sharp increase in “helpful” parents suggesting the answer to STAAR is to go along and bubble all “A” or all “C” or make some random design.  PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TO THAT SUGGESTION!  Bubbling all the same answer will produce data.  That data will them be displayed across numerous axes and presented in a manner that demonstrates the deficiencies of your child academically.  The teachers and staff will then develop a plan to remediate your child based on this data you have so helpfully created.  Electives will be dropped and special state funded remediation classes will be added to your child’s schedule.  And when you go to complain, there will be data demonstrating exactly why they are doing what they are doing.

Now, maybe you will convince them to actually look at the answers and see that she chose the same answer. (P.S. If you actually tell your kid to bubble randomly you are stuck with the data – WORST ADVICE EVER).  Maybe that will convince them to drop the nonsense, but don’t count on it.  Because following the data is the safe play of the lazy and weak-minded.  They are safe professionally to just do what the data says than to think independently and say “this student was making a statement when they chose all the same answer.”  (Incidentally, you can’t choose all the same answer, because STAAR choices alternate between starting with A and F – now try explaining your strategy when you have to meet with the school!).

 

So what can you do to effectively refuse the assessment?

If taking a paper administration:

1) Bubble nothing

2) Bubble at least two choices for every question

Both of these options will produce no data other than the raw score.

If taking an online administration:

Page through to the end and submit the assessment.  Once the submission is confirmed, you are done.  The STAAR Test Administration manual indicates that there are three steps to successfully submitting the test:

We also recommend giving your child pre-written notes or cards indicating that they are refusing (by whichever method you wish) and asking the teacher to contact the parent if they have any questions but not to pressure the student to disobey the parent.

Comment on this article on the TxEdRights Forum!

Was Your Child Forcibly Tested?

Written by admin on . Posted in Constitutional, STAAR | EOC Testing, Testing Irregularity. 3 Comments

We have received a disturbing number of reports of students being forced to complete the makeup STAAR via lies and coercion.  We know that schools are required to offer the assessment to the child, but several reports have come in that the child refused the assessment and was told “you can’t write refused on it.”  Others were told “you have to complete it, it’s the law.”  At least one child was denied the opportunity to ask their mother if it was OK to take it.  Yet another report (second hand) claims that the school told the mother that if she did not tell the child to take the assessment the TEA had instructed them to forcibly take the child to the testing room and make her to the assessment.  It is reported the mother asked the TEA about this and no such instruction was ever given.  Opt out parents who return their children on makeup days are assisting the school by letting them count the refusal as a participation.  It’s wrong of the TEA to do that, but there is absolutely no excuse for certified educators to lie to children and parents just to make a kid give them data.  In almost every one of these instance the school is forcing, tricking or convincing the child to disobey their parents.  Such actions destroy any bond of trust between the parent and the school.

If your child is forcibly tested on make up days against your instructions, and the child attempted to refuse but was not permitted, please do the following:

1. Take a deep breath and relax, we need to focus.

2. Assemble all your e-mails and other communications with the school that preceded the STAAR.

3. Write down your recollection of what you were told verbally, including names, dates, and the precise words as best you recall them before the incident occurred. Then write down everything you remember about what happened and how you learned of this. Note who said what and their emotional state.

4. If your child is OK, have them write down what happened in their own handwriting, or audio or video record them giving their account. Do this as soon as the child is able. Please do not prompt or guide them. Before you start remind them to use names and the exact words people said, including the child. After you have done this, go over it with the child and make notes f any names the child left out or statements they were not clear about. Do not re-video the child and do not have them re-write their account.

5. File an Incident Report form with www.txedrights.net (it is on the website). Please provide all information requested. We will follow up with you after the report is reviewed. Please do not e-mail us video or documents until we request them.

A Great Refusal Letter

Written by admin on . Posted in STAAR | EOC Testing. 2 Comments

Here is refusal letter a mom from GPISD shared with us! I’d love to see how the school responds to this!

Dear (school name protected) Administrators and Teachers:
My name is [parent name]. I’m a mother of a 5th grader in GPISD. It was suggested to me that I contact you to discuss my concerns about STAAR testing. I will be honest about how I feel about STAAR, but I seek guidance about how to approach the issues at hand. I don’t like the STAAR test, I don’t agree with and I certainly don’t approve of the curriculum that comes with it. As I mentioned, my daughter is in 5th grade and was diagnosed with double-deficit Dyslexia late last year. Since that time, she has failed all of her STAAR tests. The stress she’s already feeling about testing causes her to lose sleep, get headaches and stomach aches. She spends more time than her peers just trying to keep up, but still is falling behind. I have pushed to have her tested for other learning disabilities and that is in the works, but hasn’t happened yet. She has two first year teachers this year, one for reading, one for math and her science teacher has been out on maternity leave, so she has had a sub the last few weeks. She went several weeks without any math instruction at all because her Dyslexia class interfered with instructional time for math.
As a parent, I feel that it is my responsibility to protect my children from anything I deem as harmful and I strongly feel that the STAAR test is harmful, not only for my child, but for EVERY child, however, I only have the ability to protect my own. I don’t want my daughter to take the test, but I also understand that she’s in a “critical” year for testing, which puts me in a quandry. It is my understanding that the 5th grade kids must pass reading this year to be promoted to 6th grade. Based on what I’ve seen with the homework she brings home and the struggles she has with it, I feel pretty certain that she won’t pass it. Nor do I feel she will pass the math or science! The structure of this test is developmentally inappropriate for their ages! I have two older children and neither of them, nor myself, are capable of understanding some of the assignments nor the method of teaching that is being conveyed to my 5th grader, and I assure you that it’s not due to lack of intelligence!
This assessment means absolutely nothing to me. It doesn’t measure intelligence, nor does it measure teaching or learning ability, so why is it so critical? Because the State says it is!
Here’s my quandry…I know what my rights are, but I want to know what stance GPISD takes and if her school and district administrators will support my daughter and I or are they going to fight us.
Do I allow my child to take the test, knowing the physical, emotional and psychological damage it causes her along with the physical illness it creates, knowing the likelihood of her passing is slim, or do I do what my maternal instinct is telling me and refuse for her to take it? Will I have support from GPISD or will GPISD challenge me, making things even more difficult for my daughter and myself? Do I continue to allow my daughter to be made to feel like she doesn’t matter, that she has no value because she can’t pass an insignificant test? I have always taught my children to stand up for what they believe in and what is right, even if that means they stand alone, so doesn’t that mean I should lead by example? I have always taught my children to always do their best in everything they do. Do I allow my daughter to continue to feel like a failure, even though she is doing her best? Is GPISD going to tell my daughter that her best isn’t good enough?
I feel that whatever direction I choose to go, it could potentially negatively impact my daughter and I don’t want that. She faces more than enough challenges at this age and certainly doesn’t need anymore.
The more I write, the more concrete I feel in making my decision. I must use my voice to protect my child until she is capable of using her own. With all due respect (and I DO highly respect each of you and your positions), please let this serve as formal notice that my daughter, (name protected) will abstain from taking any and all STAAR tests this year.
Please know that I have not made my decision lightly. In fact, it has caused me a great deal of turmoil. However, I must do what I feel is best for my daughter and since GPISD is funded by the State of Texas and must follow their rules, I’m taking that power away and making the decision myself. My daughter’s self-worth cannot be measured by a test score or monetary value. I only hope that one day, the State of Texas and GPISD will feel the same way and allow the school administrators and educators to do their jobs and provide our children the true education that they so richly deserve.
Please advise me in advance of what instruction will be provided for her on testing days and feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Respectfully,
[Mom]

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