15% course grade rule relaxed- Llano

December 04, 2012, 9:00 pm by Adam Troxtell

School districts in Llano and Burnet counties still adjusting to new state assessment test standards have been given a break after the state suspended a requirement that placed extra pressure on schools and students.

Michael Williams, the Texas Education Commissioner, announced Friday that a requirement for state districts to count students’ end-of-course exam (EOC) grades as 15 percent of their final grade has been suspended until the next academic year.

The announcement comes after parent groups voiced their concern that Texas is putting too much on students too quickly, and area school officials appear happy with the move.

"I was not a proponent of the state mandating the tests count for 15 percent of a students’ grade,” Llano ISD Superintendent Dennis Hill said.

The reasoning behind the 15 percent requirement was to encourage students to perform well, but parent groups, such as Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment, voiced their concerns that the requirements in new State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) EOC exams are unreasonable.

For more of this story, see Wednesday's Llano County Journal.