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November 24, 2015      1:09 PM

SBOE to tour Texas for feedback on assessment, accountability

Teachers or parents often dominate these with complaints about “teaching to the test” – this tour is intended to put parents, educators and business all equally at the table

The State Board of Education will travel the state this spring – the kind of tour it has not done in nearly two decades – to field concerns and prepare for its part in the “Next-Generation Assessment Commission.” It’s a commission intended to vet potential changes to the accountability and assessment system. The bill that created the 15 member panel, House Bill 2804, also institutes a yet-to-be-defined A-F rating system.

Board Chair Donna Bahorich put eight tentative dates on the calendar and set out a protocol that includes facilitated small group discussions. Three different groups of stakeholders – educators, parents and business – are invited to the discussion. But, unlike talks in Austin, Bahorich said no one group will be allowed to dominate the conversation.

“Decisions are typically made by those who are showing up in Austin,” Bahorich said. “We need to ask, ‘What are some of the unintended consequences? What are the benefits of what we’ve seen of what we’ve done so far? What are our goals? What are we trying to achieve? What do we expect to do for us?’ That kind of discussion will help us make better decisions.”

By Kimberly Reeves