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HISD Joins Anti-High Stakes Testing Movement

Posted byHoumanitarian

(Ericka Mellon, Houston Chronicle)
Houston ISD has joined some 445 other Texas school districts in adopting a resolution that calls on state lawmakers to decrease the emphasis on high-stakes standardized testing.

The Houston school board, which represents the state’s largest district, voted unanimously Thursday to approve the resolution — continuing a groundswell of anti-testing sentiment since Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott proclaimed in January that testing has become a “perversion” of its original intent.

The resolution approved by HISD, which differs slightly from the draft promoted by the Texas Association of School Administrators, asks the Legislature to rework the school accountability system so it is based on multiple assessments, reduces the number of days affected by state-mandated tests and “more accurately reflects what students know, appreciate and can do in terms of the rigorous standards essential to their success.”

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, a spokeswoman for the Texas Association of School Administrators, said 43 percent of the state’s districts, representing 2.6 million students, have passed some form of the anti-testing resolution. Some PTA groups and chambers of commerce have followed suit. The association plans to forward the resolutions to the leaders of the House and Senate education committees.

“This is all about effecting some change at the Legislative level,” LaCoste-Caputo said.
(See the full story at the Houston Chronicle)

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