Bright billboards across Tarrant County told parents a hard truth last year: A’s and B’s don’t mean your child is truly prepared.
The warning was designed as a wake-up call.
A poll at the time showed that more than 90% of parents believed their children were on grade level in reading and math. In reality, only half of Tarrant County students met those standards.
The growing awareness of the reality gap started a countywide campaign — Go Beyond Grades — backed by more than 80 groups and foundations.
That first push worked, organizers said. Through billboards, community events and nonprofit outreach, the effort helped shrink the gap between parent perception and student performance by 12 percentage points in a year. Now, the effort is moving beyond awareness into action.
In August, Go Beyond Grades launched a two-hour online course designed to help parents better understand how much their children are learning and where they’re struggling. That includes teaching families how to log into school or state portals, read test scores and prepare for conversations with teachers. About 200 Tarrant County parents have enrolled so far, said Alyssa Studer, who directs the initiative for the Fort Worth Education Partnership.
“The biggest question is, ‘Do you know how to log into the parent portal?’” Studer said. “That unlocks everything else, seeing your child’s grade-level status and then asking more pointed questions of their teacher.”
The course offers guides for parents of English learners and children with special needs, plus strategies for families to extend learning at home.
At the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth, staff introduced the course to those in early learning and after-school programs.
“It just made sense because our focus is on youth development,” said Holli Winn, the YMCA’s chief program officer. “We want to build bridges between schools and families and, ultimately, communities.”
The biggest need is clarity on testing, Winn said. Many parents are unfamiliar with what tests measure and how to interpret results.
Some have told her that simply having the different tests explained, such as the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, and Measures of Academic Progress, commonly known as MAP — and learning how to read the results — has eased anxiety and helped them feel more confident about what their children are experiencing.
Kira Pachall said the course was eye-opening. She now feels more comfortable in taking control of her three kids’ academic footprint, she said.
“We found the curriculum useful and inclusive of information we had not been privy to before,” Pachall said.
That meant learning how to navigate online portals to check test results and seeing side-by-side comparisons of how many students in her children’s schools were meeting state standards.
Feedback like that shows the program is giving parents confidence to support their child’s education and advocate at school, Studer said.
While still in its pilot stage, Go Beyond Grades is expanding. Organizers are testing in-person sessions this fall with two community partners. One Fort Worth ISD campus, the Leadership Academy at Como Elementary, is hosting the course for families, making it the first school in the county to pilot the in-person version.
The long-term vision is reaching every public school parent in Tarrant County within the next three years, Studer said.
“That’s the dream,” she said.
For partnering organizations such as the YMCA, their role is clear, keeping parents connected as education changes around them, Winn said.
That’s no small task.
Texas lawmakers just recently passed legislation to scrap the STAAR exam, a test that has defined public education since 2011.
In its place, students will take shorter tests three times a year that promise quicker results for families and teachers.
Supporters say the shift will cut down on over-testing and give parents clearer, timelier information about whether their children are on track. Critics, however, argue the bill would lead to more state-mandated exams, creating added stress for students and teachers.
As the state’s assessments shift, parents will need help understanding the new exams, what scores mean and how to act on the information.
“Children are going to be more successful if they’re supported both at home and in school,” Winn said. “We just want parents to have the tools and strategies to stay connected to their child’s education.”
Disclosure: The Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of Fort Worth Education Partnership and Go Beyond Grades Tarrant County, has been a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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