Senate panel votes to end 15 percent rule on state tests
from Education Blog by Terrence Stutz/Reporter
The Senate Education Committee Thursday approved its first bill of the session, a measure that would eliminate the state rule that high school end-of-course tests count as 15 percent of the grade in each subject tested. The bill was sent to the full Senate on a 6-0 vote. The rule had been suspended last year and in the current school year because of vigorous objections from superintendents across the state, and few expected it to survive the current legislative session.
Senate Education Committee Chairman Dan Patrick, R-Houston, author of the bill, said it would leave it up to school districts to decide whether to use the EOC tests in calculating final grades. “Allowing school districts to make this decision will return more local control to our school districts,” Patrick said. “The hundreds of superintendents and parents I have talked with want their districts to have a choice, and parents to have a voice, on whether the EOC exams should also count as final exam grades.” Current law requires high school students to get a passing average in each subject area on the 15 EOC exams in order to graduate.
Before approving the measure, the committee was urged by the Texas PTA and Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment (TAMSA) to get rid of the requirement. Kellyn Bradford of the Texas
