Raise Your Hand Texas announced the formation of the Measure What Matters Assessment and Accountability Council. According to their press release, “this new Raise Your Hand Texas initiative will bring together education leaders, experts, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders to formulate actionable policy recommendations for learning, testing, and measuring a world-class education system.”
Raise Your Hand Texas hosted the Measure What Matters Conference on January 18 to launch their initiative hearing from experts around the state before the kickoff of the council meetings as well as survey results. These experts discussed opportunities to better the current system as well as next steps for continuing the discussion. John Tanner, BraveEd, left the audience with this definition: “accountability requires an accounting of truths about an organization’s past, present and future, alongside ownership of all resulting consequences.”
Presenters from the daylong conference explored a variety of topics including: the history of Texas’ school assessment; redesigning the Texas STAAR test; insights from current officials in the education system; and how educators navigate our current system on their campuses. Now that the conference has concluded, the next step will include council meetings throughout the year.
The Council will meet throughout 2022 with a focus on: working to listen to community feedback; gather data for policy recommendations; and research the past, present, and future of school accountability. According to the RYHT press release, “Their efforts will culminate in research-based recommendations for improving Texas’ school accountability system during the 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature in 2023.”