DALLAS — High school seniors who didn’t have the best luck passing the end of course State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests needed to graduate had a different option this year.
House Bill 999 paved a way for some of the class of 2021 to graduate through an individual graduation committee decision regardless of the student’s grade on STAAR tests.
Before this law, a high school senior who failed up to two of five STAAR tests but passed all their classes and fulfilled other requirements could graduate as long as a committee gave unanimous consent. The committees are made up of students, teachers, the lead instructor for the subject, principal and parents.
HB 999 allows a student who failed up to five exams to petition the graduation committee with each failed exam requiring a separate petition.
“I remember talking with my team, bringing in the districts and advocates, asking them to craft policy that would meet the moment. Remotely. Who knew it would last this long?” said author of the legislation Texas State Rep. Diego Bernal in a Facebook post.
The bill passed the senate May 25 and was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on May 31, the last week of school for many Texas school districts. Students across Texas had different last days of school this year.
The law was limited to 2021 seniors as a response to the hardships students might have faced due to pandemic circumstances. However, Spectrum News 1 in Dallas spoke with three high school students who said this isn’t something that should only have been available to the class of 2021.
All three students went to school at Dallas ISD’s Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
“Many of my classes where we take the STAAR at the end of the year, it’s very cookie cutter,” said junior Olivia King. "We’re not really learning to absorb the material, we’re learning so that we can perform well on this exam.”
King said although she’s never struggled with STAAR testing, she has friends who are more sensitive to the stress that standardized testing creates for others who have test anxiety.
Test anxiety for students can be seen in a combination of physical and emotional symptoms and reactions that interfere with the student’s ability to perform well on tests. King said she knows many students who have said they experience varying levels of this kind of anxiety.
“I know a few people when I was taking my algebra test that never learned anything in the class,” said sophomore Kai Turner “These students knew how to use a calculator so they’d always commend that test, almost perfect scores every time. It was just easy for them to take the test because they knew how to use calculators, but they didn’t like take anything away from the class.”
Turner believes while the testing is important, it should not be the sole factor in deciding whether or not a student graduates high school, which is why he feels a graduation committee decision is a good idea.
“The overall performance throughout the semester is what should be judged on,” said senior Jeremy Brown “Not the one singular test that happens right at the end.”
Brown, like King, hasn't had a hard time taking the STAAR tests and has passed them in the past, but acknowledges the challenges of assessing students during the pandemic.
“I think this is a good thing that we’re removing this stipulation that passing a test will determine that passing of an entire class or course,” said Brown.
It’s a practice that he feels would be beneficial to students in the future, not just to those who endured the pandemic.
Critics of HB 999 have said it’s not clear if students who fail to meet the state assessments will be prepared to succeed after high school. However, the legislation has the support of many school superintendents across the state.
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