E D U C A T I O N
#MEASURE WHAT MATTERS Raise Your Hand Texas Petitions for School Accountability Change b y J oa n n e y U t h e
RGVISION MAGAZINE
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MAY/JUN 2023
Imagine getting a report card with only one grade that covered all the student’s learning for the entire school year. That is how many parents, educators, and activists view the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) rating system for Texas public schools. At the elementary and middle school level, grading is based on one factor: the STAAR test. Raise Your Hand Texas, an advocacy group founded in 2006, wants to change the way Texas schools are rated and held accountable. From October 2021 to May 2022, the organization asked parents, teachers, administrators, students, and community members for input on how schools should be held accountable. Between community conversations and online outreach, both commencing with surveys, the group listened to input from 15,600 Texans. Their research showed that 83% of Texans believed the STAAR test should not be the only thing in which schools are graded. The accountability system should reflect that schools do more than teach academics. Of the more than 6,800 teachers who responded to the survey, 81% felt that pressure on the students to do well on standardized testing hindered their ability to teach. “We are able to make a difference in students’ lives in ways other than academics,” one teacher stated in the survey.
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