Overhauling STAAR test is back on the table this special session. But the clock is ticking.

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This special session, Texas lawmakers have a second chance to scrap the state’s standardized test, STAAR.

Getting rid of STAAR is a popular idea among legislators. Many of their constituents have criticized the pressures students face taking the hours-long, end-of-the-year test, which is used to grade their school’s performance. The Texas Education Agency has insisted the test is a reliable tool to measure academic achievement.

Legislators came close to passing a bill that would have revamped the test during the regular session, but negotiations broke down in the final hours.

Now, lawmakers are racing against the clock of a 30-day special session that’s already halfway through. As they tackle a bevvy of high-profile issues, from flood prevention to congressional redistricting to THC regulation, it’s unclear whether they have the time or will to kick the test out for good. Lawmakers have yet to file new legislation to change the test — or even publicly discuss the issue.

A spokesperson for Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who has been a chief negotiator on STAAR, said the House and Senate plan to file identical bills soon. He said the bill will largely resemble the final proposal the Senate brought before House lawmakers during the regular session before negotiations fell apart.

To replace the STAAR test, the House and Senate will have to overcome their differences over what they want to see out of the new test and from Texas’ A-F school ratings system, which uses standardized test results to grade schools’ performance.

Both chambers had agreed to swap STAAR for a shorter test that would be administered at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. But they failed to find a middle ground on several fronts:

• The Senate wanted to solidify the TEA commissioner’s power to set standards for the ratings system. The House wanted the Legislature to have the final say.

• The chambers were split on how to respond to several school districts that sued the TEA to block the release of state ratings they said portrayed their schools’ performance unfairly. To discourage districts from suing again, the Senate wanted to allow the TEA commissioner to appoint a conservator to districts that started a legal fight. The House thought districts should still be allowed to sue the TEA, but proposed a fast-track court process so lawsuits would not slow the release of school ratings.

• The House and Senate differed on whether to keep a mandatory social studies test, with the House looking to limit testing.

Bettencourt’s spokesperson said the senator has been working with the leaders of both chambers, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, as well as Rep. Brad Buckley, the Salado Republican who chairs the House’s public education committee, in drafting a new proposal to reconcile those differences.

The STAAR test was designed to be completed in three hours, but testing sessions can go up to seven hours. That can be difficult for young students or children with special needs, who may struggle to sit still and focus on an exam for that long.

And students know their performance will be used to evaluate not just their skills, but also how effective their teachers and schools are. Parents, including Rep. Gina Hinojosa, have described their kids not wanting to go to school on the days the test is administered because of that pressure.

Teachers also describe losing valuable instructional time to “teach to the test.” According to a Charles Butt Foundation survey of teachers across the state, about eight in 10 teachers said preparing for STAAR is a barrier to good teaching.

Regardless of what lawmakers come up with this special session, it’s unlikely that standardized testing will go away. Texas relies on the results to keep track of students’ math and reading performance and ensure they have the skills to succeed later in life.

Without it, the state wouldn’t have an unbiased way to determine whether a child is ready for the next grade in Texas, said Mary Lynn Pruneda, of policy group Texas 2036. Texas is one of the few states in the country where struggling students get extra support based on their performance on the standardized test, Pruneda explained.

“The way that we test our kids has always been, for decades, one of the most difficult conversations that we can have at a state legislature,” Pruneda said. “But I’m encouraged by the fact that Texas has always been… at the forefront of strong accountability and assessment systems. I feel as though the Legislature has the exact same commitment and that exact same ethos, and I think we’ll carry that through the special session.”

The test has an outsized influence on how schools are graded. Five Fs at a single campus is all it takes for the state to oust democratically elected school trustees and take over an entire district.

At one Austin middle school, which largely serves immigrant and refugee families, English is many students’ second or third language. Parents say their children are not performing well in STAAR because of the language barrier.

The school’s low academic performance — and the threat of a state takeover that comes with it — has been enough for the district to consider shutting down the campus or bringing a charter school network in to take over operations.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on education pathways coverage.

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