Many southeast Texas school districts opt out of end-of-year assessments

Numerous school districts in southeast Texas are skipping end-of-year assessments.

Although the Texas Education Agency announced an optional end-of-year assessment in May, many school districts in southeast Texas have decided not to participate. 

Although this could be an opportunity to see what progress students have made since COVID-19 closed schools, according to The Beaumont Enterprise, the districts not choosing to take the assessments say there are satisfactory passing rates, and that students need a break after the months of chaotic change.

“We just finished our numbers and we had a 98 percent completion rate for out students in the distance learning environment over the last nine weeks,” Port Neches-Groves ISD assistant superintendent Julie Gauthier told The Enterprise. “We have no plans of doing any testing. Everybody needs a break — and some time to relax.”

Even if the school districts aren’t giving students the tests, that didn’t stop students and parents from taking the test on their own – they were able to register through June 5, and administer tests until June 12, the Beaumont Enterprise reported May 27.

School districts such as Port Arthur Independent School District (PAISD) can use the TEA assessment as a screening tool when school starts in the 2020-2021 academic year, the newspaper reports. At the same time, many of these schools don’t know exactly what it will look like when they reopen in the fall or when they will reopen.

“The PAISD is assessing if the instrument would better benefit our needs if it were administered at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year,” Superintendent Mark Porterie said in an interview with The Enterprise, “We have no definite plans as of yet for returning in the fall.”

Beaumont Independent School District, Nederland ISD, and West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District will not participate in the year-end assessment.

“We feel it will be more beneficial for the district to participate in TEA testing that will be provided at the beginning of the school year,” said West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District spokeswoman Dawn Martin said. “WO-CCISD is committed to providing optional, virtual instruction to all students throughout the summer.”