This year, elementary and middle school students at the Houston Independent School District (HISD) will not be enjoying their end-of-year parties and field trips at the expected time.
“Terrible that it’s so close to the end of the year. He [Miles] does not care about the mental well-being of the kids. That’s obvious in this latest attack….There may be parents who won’t be off work now because of this. Really bad timing. How is he allowed to just do whatever he wants without consideration of the impacts to parents, teachers and students?!”
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Instead, they must sit for a new round of tests, per HISD superintendent Mike Miles’ instructions.
In a message, HISD announced the postponement of its mandatory Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth assessment dates in math, reading, and science by two weeks to May 28-30, 2024. They were originally scheduled to be held from May 14 to 16.
The makeup exams will be held from May 31 to June 5. The New Education System (NES) middle school students who are traveling to Washington, D.C. or Japan through HISD’s Dyad program will be required to take the tests on May 21-23. Their makeup window is from May 22-24.
This has led to schools rushing to reschedule end-of-year activities, reported the Houston Chronicle.
HISD’s MAP Growth, introduced this year, aims to track a student’s knowledge, academic growth, and progress through several school years, according to HISD’s website. The tests also provide teachers and families with a comparative analysis of their students’ performance alongside a “norm group” or a separate set of students.
HISD says the purpose is to monitor students’ growth and customize classroom strategies “for equitable instruction that help maximize every student’s learning potential.”
This will be the district’s third MAP assessment since September 2023, at the beginning of the school year, and the next in January this year.
According to some parents, the tests are a means of assessing teachers’ and principals’ salaries and determining whether they will retain their jobs in the coming school year.
“So…heads up. HISD in all of its wisdom just told schools that there will be mandatory, not negotiable MAP testing on…,” wrote a parent [name withheld to avoid any possible repercussions against the parent] on a Facebook group titled Supporters of HISD Magnets and Budget Accountability. “Our schools 8th grade field trip is in this window. That we have payed [paid] a deposit on and permission slips have gone home…Is this impacting other campuses? I also understand it is within the HS finals testing window, so high schoolers could get 7 days of testing in a row if their finals are in the same window.”
While some parents are concerned about the school district using this test to determine whether students require summer school, others debated the impact of the tests on their children’s mental health.
“Terrible that it’s so close to the end of the year,” wrote a parent on social media. “He [Miles] does not care about the mental well-being of the kids. That’s obvious in this latest attack….There may be parents who won’t be off work now because of this. Really bad timing. How is he allowed to just do whatever he wants without consideration of the impacts to parents, teachers and students?!”
Some others tied the test dates back to the turmoil caused by the slew of changes HISD went through when the Texas Education Agency (TEA) first took over last year.
“Seems like this is something the district could’ve figured out before this month. It does all seem planned to create instability and chaos. Either that or it’s sheer incompetence. Neither of which is encouraging,” said yet another.
Trips such as Harvard Elementary School’s third-grade field trip to Miller Outdoor Theater on May 1 were canceled as it was “too close to the map test.”
Schools will have time after the tests for their end-of-year activities, HISD told the Chronicle in a statement. “There may be a few instances where schools have planned or invested in specific events that cannot be easily moved or modified. In such cases, principals are working with their division superintendent on solutions to accommodate both the assessment and the planned events,” it read further.
