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Can Texas students formally opt out of the STAAR test?

By Drew Shaw
NO

Federal and state law requires all students in third to eighth grades to take grade-level tests like the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, with certain “unschooled asylees or refugees” as exceptions. 

The tests track how schools are educating students and how the students are receiving instruction. 

Families can temporarily remove their child from a class or school activity if they object to participation, but Texas law specifically does not allow families to do so to “avoid a test." Having a high number of students avoid STAAR would skew the data the state hopes to obtain.

A parent can keep their child home on test days, but they will likely meet pushback from their district, and the student may be marked as absent. If a student attends on a test day and refuses to take the exam, they will receive a score of zero.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Texas Education Agency Texas Assessment Program Updates
Community Voices for Public Ed Opt Out FAQ
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