TEA provides parents with free assessment to measure their children’s academic progress

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is offering an end-of-year assessment that parents can use to determine if their child fell behind academically due to school closures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This free diagnostic tool will highlight the student progress that has been made, while also bringing to light any gaps that may have emerged during this atypical school year,” TEA said in a news release, according to Reform Austin. “The results of this optional testing will provide valuable data that informs further instructional support school systems can provide this summer and into the coming school year.”

The likelihood of parents using the assessment may vary, with some being hesitant because they might feel a detected gap is the result of their own efforts in supporting their children in an at-home learning environment, while other parents being eager to know if their children need academic assistance.

“This time has wrought a lot of uncertainty and a lot of families are facing hardships because of it; for families like these, thinking about whether their kids fell behind while schools were closed is probably not top-of-mind,” Texas Public Charter Schools Association Communications VP Autumn Arnett told Reform Austin. 

While TEA claims it will not collect testing data for any accountability purposes, Texas State Teachers Association spokesman Clay Robison wonders how the data will be used. 

“If districts or students choose to take the tests, the results allegedly could be used to measure student progress, or lack thereof, during the pandemic,” Robison told Reform Austin.

Schools throughout Texas have been closed since late March to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. School districts have transitioned to virtual learning environment with some providing online instruction and others sending curriculum packets to students by mail.

“I think school districts realize that there’s likely to be a considerably greater slide this year,” Arnett told Reform Austin. “This is also a unique opportunity for us to take a look at our education targets as a whole and re-evaluate what ‘behind’ really means in the midst of a global pandemic.”