Fort Sam Houston ISD, along with other districts across the state, received correspondence late Friday afternoon from Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath that impacts students in grades 5 and 8 who were scheduled to take the June 2016 State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) retest in math and / or reading.
Citing ongoing reporting issues with the state's testing vendor, Commissioner Morath announced the removal of student consequences associated with the grade 5 and 8 Student Success Initiative (SSI) for the 2015 – 2016 assessment cycle. As a result, the Commissioner also cancelled the administration of the STAAR test originally scheduled to occur on June 21 and 22, 2016.
In his communication to districts, Commissioner Morath shared, "I apologize for the continuing problems our students and staff are being forced to deal with because of ongoing reporting issues with our testing vendor. Kids in the classroom should never suffer from mistakes made by adults. We intend to hold the vendor, Educational Testing Service, accountable."
Fort Sam Houston ISD will continue to offer your child accelerated instruction through Thursday, June 16, 2016, targeting academic areas identified at your child's Grade Placement Committee (GPC) meeting. Since the STAAR test will not be used to determine promotion to the next grade level, the school will instead consider the recommendation of the teacher and the student’s grade in each subject. Using all relevant and available academic information, parents will be notified of promotion or retention decisions by Thursday, June 16.
We appreciate your understanding as we respond to these recent changes and encourage parents to call their child’s school with questions.