Raise Your Hand Texas Announces Measure What Matters Assessment and Accountability Council

CONTACT:
Anne Lasseigne Tiedt, APR
atiedt@ryht.org, (512)784-3805

Education Leaders, Experts, and Policymakers Convene to Lay the Groundwork for School Accountability Reform in Texas

AUSTIN, TEXAS (Jan. 18, 2022) – Raise Your Hand Texas today announced the formation of the Measure What Matters Assessment and Accountability Council. 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. 

“Last fall, the Raise Your Hand Texas advocacy team began meeting with Texans across the state in small and large group settings to educate stakeholders about our current accountability system, gather feedback on accountability topics, and invite people to join us in the push for legislative change,” said Libby Cohen, senior director of advocacy,  Raise Your Hand Texas. “The Measure What Matters Council is the next step in an ongoing campaign to build better accountability for our students and our state. By fall of 2022, we will have heard more than 10,000 voices, listening to what Texans want most from their public schools,” said  Cohen.

To launch this new initiative, Raise Your Hand Texas will host the Measure What Matters Conference on January 18. Experts from across the state will participate in insightful discussions about school accountability in Texas. Topics will include 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.

The Council will meet throughout 2022, working to listen to community feedback; gather data for policy recommendations;  and research the past, present, and future of school accountability. Current topics include reviewing and evaluating different models of assessment, creative accountability frameworks, and federal requirements. 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.

Raise Your Hand Texas Senior Director of Policy Bob Popinski and the Measure What Matters Assessment and Accountability Council at the Measure What Matters Conference on Jan. 18, 2022 held at The Campus on Lake Austin

The Council is comprised of fifteen members of various educational leadership backgrounds. Dr. Kelli Moulton will serve as the Council Chair while Dee Carney will serve as a consultant for the group. 

• Dr. Darlene Breaux, Director, Research and Evaluation Institute at the Harris County Department of Education – Houston, TX
• HD Chambers, Superintendent of Schools, Alief ISD – Houston, TX
• Tracy Fisher, Education Advocate – Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
• Andrea Greene, Elementary English Language Arts Curriculum Specialist, Leander ISD – Leander, TX
• Dr. Kelli Moulton, TASA Executive Superintendent and Council Chair – Corsicana, TX
• Norma Osuna, Blended Learning Program Manager, Yselta ISD – El Paso, TX
• Maria Pina, Instructional Coach, Austin ISD – Austin, TX
• Melina Recio, High School Teacher, McAllen ISD – McAllen, TX
• Dr. Macy Satterwhite, Deputy Superintendent, Lubbock-Cooper ISD – Lubbock, TX
• Robert Scott, Powell Law Group Counsel/Consultant – Austin, TX
• David Thompson, Partner, Thompson & Horton LLP – Houston, TX
• Dr. Theresa Valls Trevino, Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment – Austin, TX
• Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin – Austin, TX
• Dr. Michael Villarreal, Director, Urban Education Institute at The University of Texas at San Antonio – San Antonio, TX
• Chris E. Wallace, President/CEO, North Texas Commission – Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
• Consultant: Dee Carney, Assessment, Accountability, and Education Consultant – Austin, TX

The Measure What Matters Assessment and Accountability Council is issue-based and non-partisan. For more information about the program, visit https://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/policy/council-texas-school-testing-and-accountability and https://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/advocacy/futureoftexastesting. Questions about the Measure What Matters Campaign can be sent to info@measurewhatmatterstx.org.

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ABOUT THE RAISE YOUR HAND TEXAS

Raise Your Hand Texas supports public policy solutions that invest in our students, encourage innovation and autonomy, and improve college and workforce readiness. For more information, visit RaiseYourHandTexas.org.

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