{"id":342994,"date":"2025-10-30T11:21:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T11:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/342994\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T11:21:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T11:21:11","slug":"unpopular-staar-test-largely-led-to-fort-worth-isd-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/342994\/","title":{"rendered":"Unpopular STAAR test largely led to Fort Worth ISD takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for The Brief<\/a>, The Texas Tribune\u2019s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The state takeover of the Fort Worth Independent School District is largely based on student performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness \u2014\u00a0a testing system that came under scrutiny this year and led state lawmakers to replace it over concerns that it set students up for failure.<\/p>\n

The widespread criticism of STAAR has prompted questions about the fairness of the takeover, including whether the state should replace an elected school board and a superintendent if the test driving the decision does not adequately capture student learning.<\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 accountability system assigns school districts a letter grade each year for how well they teach children, close academic achievement gaps and prepare students for life after high school graduation. If a campus receives five consecutive failing grades, state law requires the education commissioner to either order the closure of the school or replace the district\u2019s board with a new group of leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced his plans<\/a> last week to replace the North Texas school district\u2019s board and name a state-appointed superintendent, saying the district\u2019s current leaders had \u201cfailed the students of Fort Worth ISD.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to low student performance at a now-closed sixth-grade campus<\/a>, Morath pointed to data showing that only 34% of Fort Worth students are currently performing at grade level and that 20 campuses have produced \u201cacademically unacceptable\u201d results for multiple years in a row.<\/p>\n

But that rationale has not convinced public education advocates and Fort Worth parents like Zach Leonard, who say Morath\u2019s reliance on STAAR test results to justify his decision \u201cis problematic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re using a deeply flawed system to determine who\u2019s going to get their district taken over,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cUntil we solve the root cause, which, A, is funding and, B, is fixing the deeply flawed system in Texas \u2014 the A-F ratings and STAAR testing \u2014 we\u2019re going to continue having this cycle of public school districts being taken over.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the course of this year, both Republican and Democratic legislators blasted the test for how poorly they said it assessed the academic performance of Texas\u2019 5.5 million public school students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> made it possible for the Texas Legislature to eliminate the exam<\/a> by calling on lawmakers during two overtime lawmaking sessions to \u201creplace it with effective tools to assess student progress and ensure school district accountability.\u201d Rep. Gina Hinojosa<\/a>, an Austin Democrat now running for governor, said the STAAR test \u201cis rigged against Texas kids\u201d<\/a> and that school districts \u201care being set up for takeover.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rep. Brad Buckley<\/a>, one of the Republicans who co-authored the state law eliminating STAAR, criticized the test for what he described as a high-stakes, one-size-fits-all design. Standing in the Texas House chamber, the public education committee chair said the test creates anxiety for students and teachers and that it produces \u201cabsolutely no information that a parent can understand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst<\/a> said the test was \u201cmade for people to fail.\u201d During a Senate floor discussion, she asked Sen. Paul Bettencourt<\/a>, another Republican who played a significant role in crafting the legislation to eliminate the test, if he agreed that STAAR \u201cis not really a measure of a child\u2019s improvement.\u201d Bettencourt responded, \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbott recently signed the law to get rid of STAAR, which will phase out the test<\/a> by the 2027-28 academic year and replace it with three shorter exams. The governor\u2019s office in a statement did not address the critiques of the test or the fairness of the accountability system. Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson, instead reiterated that Abbott \u201csupports appointing a board of managers for Fort Worth ISD to ensure students receive a top-quality education.\u201d He highlighted that the Houston school district takeover has resulted in improved test results.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Texas Education Agency spokesperson Jake Kobersky pointed to a state-commissioned study that concluded that the 2019<\/a> and 2020<\/a> versions of the test mostly aligned with Texas\u2019 content and learning standards. The reports concluded that students were mostly capable of understanding what they were reading on the exam. Texas rolled out a revamped version<\/a> of STAAR during the 2022-23 school year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prior to the 2025 legislative sessions, the exam had long faced criticism for concerns it evaluated students unfairly<\/a>. It not only determines how the state holds schools accountable for subpar academic performance, but the test also decides whether students can graduate high school and whether teachers in certain districts receive bonuses<\/a> worth thousands of dollars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Educators say that many districts have focused heavily on \u201cteaching to the test\u201d because of STAAR\u2019s high-stakes nature. In the eyes of Janet Harrison, an instructor of more than two decades who was recently hired to teach literacy in the Fort Worth district, Texas children have missed out on critical learning opportunities because of their schools\u2019 hyperfocus on STAAR.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not preparing your students to read, write, and think, and do math,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cBasically, you\u2019re teaching them how to take one particular kind of test, and statewide \u2026 yes, we are absolutely setting our students up for failure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Karen Molinar told the Tribune that she recognizes that the question of whether the takeover is fair does not change what\u2019s written in the law, which grants the education agency the authority to take action if a campus does not meet Texas\u2019 academic standards. She expressed disappointment in her district for not doing more to lift students up to grade level across all subjects. Molinar also noted that if the district is doing what\u2019s best for students, it won\u2019t need to depend on \u201ctrying to crack the code\u201d of an assessment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Fort Worth district for years had struggled to educate its students, especially the children living in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. Many educators, families and officials in and around Fort Worth have agreed that Texas should have a mechanism to hold school districts accountable when they do not meet the needs of students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But for some, Texas\u2019 emphasis on STAAR and the Legislature\u2019s lack of financial support<\/a> in areas where districts say they need it most highlight a broader issue: The state is endeavoring to hold schools accountable while sharing some of the blame for their shortcomings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hundreds of districts are operating at a budget deficit after going six years without comprehensive school funding legislation, meaning they are increasing class sizes, cutting instructional staff, and shutting down schools and programs that contribute to positive student achievement. The Fort Worth district approved a $44 million deficit<\/a> earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Texas also lags behind much of the country<\/a> in reading and math scores on national exams, indicating a problem not exclusive to Fort Worth, said Tiffany Clark<\/a>, a Democratic member of the State Board of Education who represents North Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo to identify a school district and say there are several issues in this domain, that speaks to our state,\u201d Clark said. \u201cSo as a state, what are we doing differently to prepare our students for success? Has TEA come up with a strategic, true intervention for our state as a whole, or are they targeting certain school districts?\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark also highlighted the progress the Fort Worth district has made over the last two years, notably reducing the number of F-rated schools from 31 to 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brandon Hall<\/a>, a Republican State Board of Education member who also represents North Texas, said he is \u201cnot a fan of STAAR.\u201d Having one test at the end of the year places too much pressure on students and teachers, Hall said, which is why he supports phasing out the test and relying on three shorter tests that allow schools to track progress throughout the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he pointed to assessments like the Measures of Academic Progress<\/a>, or MAP, that also show Fort Worth students struggling in critical areas. That\u2019s a major reason why he supports the takeover.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a check and a balance at the state level that was necessary,\u201d Hall said. \u201cThis is the state taking accountability and saying, \u2018Things are not going well. Student outcomes are too low. We\u2019re going to step in, and you turn this around.\u2019 And so I think that\u2019s accountability taking place right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Harold V. Dutton Jr.<\/a>, who a decade ago introduced the part of the state law that can trigger a takeover if a district endures five consecutive years of failing grades, said he stands by the approach.<\/p>\n

During his time as chair of the House Public Education Committee, Dutton noticed that any time he asked school leaders about the demographic group that struggled the most academically, they would consistently point to Black boys. The Houston Democrat said he wondered why districts could make it work \u201con the other side of town\u201d where white children made up the majority, but not in communities with mostly kids of color. He said the current law helps ensure the state can hold districts accountable for not serving the children who need the most support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Dutton disagrees with how Texas\u2019 unpopular standardized exam has become such a major component of the public education system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not married to the STAAR test,\u201d Dutton said. \u201cBut I do think we ought to have something that indicates whether our children are achieving. Whether that\u2019s the STAAR test or another kind of test, we ought to make sure that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune\u2019s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":342995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,7371,7372,89366,89367,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,168943],"class_list":{"0":"post-342994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fortworth","11":"tag-school-accountability","12":"tag-staar-test","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tx","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa","21":"tag-well-a-homepage"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115462861320885667","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}