Austin schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen says she supports measures to dial back standardized testing in Texas schools. One bill proposed by the head of the House Public Education Committee, Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, would reduce the number of STAAR tests required to graduate from 15 to five.
Carstarphen says the new STAAR test was rolled out too quickly.
“Taking a step back, reducing the number of those tests, and learning each year and then making adjustments and taking our time to bring on other accountability expectations, I would strongly encourage and fully support,” Carstarphen said.
The Austin district’s passing rates for the STAAR test last year ranged from 82 percent in third- and fourth-grade reading to 58 percent in eighth-grade social studies. Passing rates for most tests at AISD topped 70 percent.
