Rep. VanDeaver Supports TEA's Decision to Pause Accountability Ratings for 2020-21 School Year and files Accountability Legislation 

by: Rep. VanDeaver, Gary

(Austin, TX) - On December 10, 2020, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced that it will not issue A-F accountability ratings for the 2020-2021 academic year, but it will administer the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). State Representative Gary VanDeaver (New Boston) supports these decisions and went on to say::

"Without the results from students taking these exams, parents, teachers and policymakers will not have the necessary information to make informed decisions in response to how the pandemic and changes in instructional delivery methods have affected student achievement. This information will be critical to help schools determine which students need extra instructional help and remediation.

I believe TEA is doing the right thing for our school districts by pausing the accountability ratings but more importantly, I believe, by still administering the STAAR exams next spring it is giving us necessary information about student achievement. It is vital that we have this understanding about student achievement in Texas when this pandemic ends."

Rep. VanDeaver also filed a seventh piece of legislation on December 9th, House Bill 773, an act relating to indicators of achievement under the public school accountability system. This bill is a companion to SB 194 (Sen. Beverly Powell (Burleson) that amends the Texas Education Code to add the indicator "students who successfully completed a program of study in career and technical education." Programs of study include coherent sequences of courses, industry-based certifications, and work-based learning. These programs of study include courses in: agriculture, food, and natural resources, architecture and construction, arts, audio/video technology and communications, business, marketing and finance, education and training, energy, health science, hospitality and tourism, human services, information technology, law and public service, manufacturing, STEM, and transportation, distribution, and logistics.

After filing HB 773, Rep. VanDeaver said:

"It is important to give school districts as much credit as possible for the range and wealth of programs they offer on their campuses to our students. This bill will ensure that they receive recognition for their course offerings in the accountability system."

If you would like to follow the progress of this legislation, please visit www.capitol.texas.gov.

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