El Paso ISD sends scary STAAR letter home with little kids — not
Some scandals sound so good that you just pass them along, yes? Well, that ain’t journalism. Here’s an example:
An El Paso news station put up a report today about something that a third grader took home about the upcoming STAAR tests. You can see it on top of this post. The first version of the station’s report included this:
“A concerned parent says her child was handed a leader(sic) from their third grade teacher at Lamar Elementary that only added more pressure to her child for passing the series of state-mandated tests.”
And from that “leader,” er, letter, titled “What if I don’t try on the STAAR?” you can surely see what the mom was worried about. “Teacher will be upset. Mom and Dad will be upset. Mrs. Martinez and Mrs. Aguilera will be upset. You’ll be upset because everyone is upset at you!”
Enough to give you nightmares, yes? Except it wasn’t a letter, says El Paso ISD spoksewoman Vanessa Monsisvais. Instead, it was a list of student fears pulled together by the school’s counselor. Who then took the list to the classrooms and worked through them with the kids, with the goal being todefuse anxiety.
The counselor apparently didn’t think about what the list would look like if kids took it home to their parents. There’s no context or explanation. That turned out to be a foolish mistake in our test-averse, stress-fearing, media-savvy age.
The TV station’s post was up for several hours without any comment from the district and the link got El Paso ISD sends scary STAAR letter home with little kids — not | Dallas Morning News: