(Maria Luisa Cesar, Houston Chronicle)
AUSTIN – Irate parents and school district superintendents called on the Legislature to abolish the “15 percent rule” of the state’s new standardized test , which next year will require high schools to weigh students’ scores on the exam as a percentage of their course grade.
“That may happen,” responded the House Public Education Committee chairman, Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, at a public hearing here.
Eissler said after the hearing Tuesday he thinks the Legislature will abolish the rule when it meets next year, pointing to support to suspend it this year as evidence of its unpopularity.
Criticism of the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, which was rolled out this year amid historic educational budget cuts, could also fuel other attempts to change it.
Committee members heard more than seven hours of testimony meant to measure the STAAR’s impact. While some witnesses asked for tweaks, others said they wanted the Legislature to completely overhaul an accountability system they said had gone overboard.
(Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle)
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