The Texas Legislature passed House Bill 3906 in 2019, requiring the TEA and State Board of Education to start working on a transition plan to administer all required statewide tests online no later than 2022-23.
Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographerThere have been talks in the past about public schools administering State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness assessments online, and education officials are now looking to assist with the successful transition by 2022.
In a Texas Education Agency report released on Monday, a one-time investment of about $4 million to improve internet connectivity and an annual amount of $13.4 million more for extra bandwidth and staff training would help in getting all students — with the exception of those who may need paper tests — prepared for digital STAAR tests for the 2022-2023 school year.
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“Benefits of online assessments include the potential for faster results, the potential for customizable assessment, more engaging assessment questions, reduced operational complexity and paper waste, better test security, improved administration and more equitable access to accommodation supports for students,” according to the report.
The Texas Legislature passed House Bill 3906 in 2019, requiring the TEA and State Board of Education to start working on a transition plan to administer all required statewide tests online no later than 2022-23, as reported by Aliyya Swaby for the Texas Tribune.
When surveyed in May, many Texas districts said more devices would be helpful in transitioning fully to online testing, according to the report. Some districts reported that devices were not distributed equally among all their schools.
State lawmakers will vote on final decisions and a timeline during the upcoming legislative session.
