AUSTIN (SEPT. 29, 2015) – Commissioner of Education Michael Williams was notified today by the U.S. Department of Education that it has approved the state’s request for renewal of flexibility from specific provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act, through the end of the 2015-2016 school year. The approval comes with specific conditions that must be met beyond the current year, placing the state on “high-risk status” for continued approval.
The Texas Classroom Teachers Association supports Williams’ decision to request reconsideration of the “high-risk status” and the U.S. Department of Education’s demand that teacher appraisals must include student performance on high stakes state standardized student tests as a significant factor, and must be used to make personnel decisions.
“We have consistently objected to the ill-conceived and prescriptive teacher evaluation requirements imposed on Texas and other states as a condition of receiving an ESEA flexibility waiver,” said Holly Eaton, TCTA’s Director of Professional Development and Advocacy. “Not only are the requirements not supported by the research as valid measures of teacher effectiveness, but they are contrary to the premise of teacher evaluation systems that are designed to improve instruction through constructive feedback, and further increase the pressure of high stakes testing on students and educators.”
The Texas Education Agency does not currently have the authority to mandate the use of standardized tests in locally adopted appraisal systems, and TCTA opposes any effort to eliminate this local option. TCTA also opposes any measure of teacher effectiveness that is not proven by reliable studies to be fair, valid and accurate. Reliable studies actually show that in fact, student test scores on tests not designed for this purpose are not valid measures of teacher effectiveness.
The unwarranted and unwanted interference by the U.S. Department of Education threatens to undo the gains Texas has made to cut back on high stakes testing.