Testing Provisions In Voucher Bills Raise Accountability Criticisms

The Texas Legislature’s push to enact a voucher program to use public money to subsidize private education is moving forward, with the Senate approving its version of that policy on Feb. 6 and the House introducing its own measure on Thursday.

But neither proposal includes provisions for testing that would make private schools more transparent and more accountable for parents who want to send their children to private schools.

They do not require that private schools test state-funded students with the same exam as public schools, nor do they require that private schools make their testing data available to make it easier for the public and the state to compare how they perform, the Houston Chronicle reported on Sunday.

Under both proposals, private schools could, but would not need to, administer Texas’s STAAR tests, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, which otherwise are standard for Texas public school students each year starting in the third grade. The state uses those test results to rank public schools on its A through F school accountability system.

Under both House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 2, private schools could participate in the state voucher program if they administer either the state STAAR tests or another “nationally norm-referenced assessment instrument” each year to their students.

The state’s 941 accredited private schools use those norm-referenced tests in order to earn their accreditation, the executive director of the Texas Private Schools Association told the Chronicle. Accreditation is the way private schools in Texas vouch for their accountability and effectiveness.

Both Texas bills would require that private schools share their test results with their “certified educational assistance organization” in order to receive state money, and that the program’s assessment results overall be shared in an annual report to the state comptroller.

But without making state-funded private school students take the same state test as the public, it’s difficult for parents and the general public to directly compare private schools to public ones.

Even outside of the STAAR tests, private schools in Texas don’t have to report their test results to the public. The House and Senate voucher bills wouldn’t change that.

Instead, private schools in Texas usually hold open house showings of their campuses and their admission requirements, the executive director of the Texas Private Schools Association told the Chronicle.

Private schools wouldn’t be required to change their admission rules under HB 3, either.  

The House bill would require that private schools give parents the results of their child’s assessment, including the percentile at which they tested. But that would be required only after the school administers the test, and it only would be available for the specific child, and would not be available to the public.

Some states with voucher programs similar to both of the Texas proposals partner with public universities to process, interpret and publish the testing data, such as Florida, a public education policy professor told the Chronicle.

Neither of the Texas bills would add that requirement.