Dive Summary:

• New standards for the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness this year will fail students who are only able to complete the test's simplest tasks, leading many teachers to say the new rule will unfairly stigmatize some students while punishing schools, districts and teachers.
• About 1% of Texas students take a test called the STAAR-Alternate, which is based on state guidelines and individualized for each student by a teacher, that features questions and tasks at three levels of complexity believed to fit the student's comprehension abilities.
• In some cases, students taking the test have the comprehension of a 2-year-old or less and aren't capable of performing beyond "Level 1," which would now be considered an automatic failure and no longer "proficient," though state officials say they are only applying the same testing philosophy across the board.

From the article:

... “There is no validity in this test that is going to help that child or is really assessing things that will help that child,” said Sara Baker, director of the Fannin County special education office that serves 10 school districts. ...