Lubbock Students Will Take A More Rigorous Standardized Test

"There's an awful lot that we still don't know about the new assessment system," said Assistant Superintendent of Lubbock Independent School District, "there's a lot of uncertainty."

            As of January, Lubbock schools will now have a new standardized test applying to students currently in the 9th grade and younger.

"We're left with a new system that has a lot of impact on kids and not a lot of information on the guidelines for implementation," said Lisa Leach.

            She said the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness or "S.T.A.A.R." will increase expectations for students and will have a focus on college readiness, but there are some concerns.

"Our field test results for this test have been pretty low across the states," said Leach, "so, that is a concern."

            The T.E.A. has yet to determine what a passing standard is on the S.T.A.A.R. test.

"These are anxious stressful times," said Leach, "I think we need to have this first year under our belts before we know how well we are really hitting our targets."

            Leach said each test counts as 15 percent of the student's course grade.

"There's a lot of anxiety because we don't know a lot about the test," she said. "And teachers take their jobs very seriously and they want to make sure their students are very well prepared."

For more information on the S.T.A.A.R. test visit lubbockisd.org.

The following parent forums on the STAAR Test

                    Lubbock HS-February 6, 6p.m.-Auditorium

                    Coronado HS-February 6, 6p.m.-Auditorium

                    Estacado HS (Talkington YWL)-February 13, 6p.m.-Auditorium