HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center
4400 West 18th Street • Houston, Texas 77092-8501
Dan Gohl
Special Assistant, Academics

www.HoustonISD.org
www.twitter.com/HoustonISD

April 23, 2015

Dear Parent/Guardian:
It is very important that your child participate in the State of Texas STAAR assessments given to every student in grades 3–8.
Not participating in the assessments has negative consequences for the student, the school, and the district. This letter is to
clarify the state and district requirements and implications relating to your student’s non-participation in the annual STAAR
assessments.
As is the case for all Texas public schools, Houston ISD schools are required to administer state issued standardized testing to
all students in the district. There is no “option” to permit your child to opt-out of STAAR testing. State statute, Tex. Educ.
Code Sec. 26.010, in its entirety states as follows:
26.010. EXEMPTION FROM INSTRUCTION.
(a) A parent is entitled to remove the parent’s child temporarily from a class or other school activity that conflicts with the
parent’s religious or moral beliefs if the parent presents or delivers to the teacher of the parent’s child a written
statement authorizing the removal of the child from the class or other school activity. A parent is not entitled to remove
the parent’s child from a class or other school activity to avoid a test or to prevent the child from taking a subject for an
entire semester.
(b) This section does not exempt a child from satisfying grade level or graduation requirements in a manner acceptable
to the school district and the agency.
While you may hear numerous justifications to opt-out of testing, parents should understand that in accordance with
longstanding statutory interpretation and at least one prior ruling by the Texas Attorney General, the terms “test” and
“assessment” are interchangeable, and there is no distinction. Accordingly, the Texas Education Agency and HISD will interpret
Tex. Educ. Code Sec. 26.010 as intended, which does not permit parents to opt-out of testing.
Results from STAAR reading/English language arts and mathematics are used to satisfy the federal Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) requirements in determining the school and district accountability ratings. Schools, and districts, that do not have a testing
participation rate at or above the 95th percentile will be deemed ineligible to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
STAAR results from grades 3–8 are also used for promotion to the next grade level and are intended to provide schools with an
assessment of student understanding in order to guide future instructional decisions for students during the following school
year. Students who do not participate in one or more STAAR assessments are subject to the following:


Students who do not participate in STAAR will be deemed non-proficient at their grade level because they will receive
a zero score on the subject area assessment.



Students who were absent from testing will take a make-up test. If the parents request in writing to opt their child out
of STAAR tests, including the make-up tests, the student’s blank answer document(s) will be submitted to TEA as
“scored.” Again, the score will be recorded as a zero thus indicating the student is non-proficient at his/her grade level.



Students who do not take the original test administration or the make-up will not be automatically promoted to the
next grade level. They will be scheduled for a Grade Level Placement Committee hearing prior to the start of summer
school. In this case, students will be required to attend summer school and will be reevaluated by the Grade
Placement Committee prior to the end of summer school for a determination of promotion or retention.

If you have any questions, please email Assessment@HoustonISD.org. HISD is committed to working with you to support your
child’s educational success.

Sincerely,

Daniel Gohl
Special Assistant, Academics