Texas House eliminates funding for standardized testing

Two things stand out. First, while the House makes a reasonable decision, the "Senate’s preliminary budget has about $94 million allocated for the... STAAR." In spite of a lack of success, the research against it, the loss of instructional time, the Senate wants to spend more money. Speaking of a loss of time, "during the 180-day school year, high school students now spend up to 45 days taking various standardized exams." 

How do we rationalize the loss of that much time? Some argue that, in order to know where we stand, we need to assess the students. Fine. At the end of the year, assess them. Once. Better yet, assess them at the beginning of the year and the end of the year. Compare. Let's not waste time with benchmark after benchmark. Do it the right way, Texas, and you'll see evidence of teaching.