Superintendents in Region 5 called for a press conference Monday afternoon to address concerns about state and federal standardized testing.
Leaders of six local school districts gathered at the Region 5 Service Center. All districts that failed to meet federal standards.
Across the state, more than 70% of school districts failed to meet those standards.
"I believe the standards should be reasonable and rational," Port Arthur ISD Superintendent Dr. Johnny Brown said at the conference.
Irrational standards was a quote thrown around quite a bit Thursday as superintendents from six districts talked about the Adequate Yearly Progress reports. The standards are, in ways, unreachable for students and district leaders say those standards fail the students.
" You can never get the information and growth out of students with standardized testing," Little Cypress-Mauriceville Superintendent Dr. Pauline Hargrove said.
The standard looks at seven demographic groups and the number of students passing standardized tests each year to determine if a school district has met AYP standards.
"It is heart breaking to me to see how hard students work, to see mediation efforts, to see teachers struggling to find a way to teach the students," Hull-Daisetta ISD Superintendent Mary Huckabay said.
Every school year, standards for school districts are raised making it harder for students to reach.
Administrators want a new type of testing.
"Why not let students show us what they can do, why not have performance based instruction. Let them solve real world problems," Dr. Hargrove said.
It's a change in testing that superintendents believe will require help.
"Our community of legislatures, superintendents, school officials, and parents are going to have to say you know what? This is what we believe is an accurate measure of students success," Beaumont ISD Superintendent-Elect Dr. Timothy Chargois said.
Dr. Hargrove says a better test of students abilities would be projects like an article written for a magazine or a skit. Anything that shows a use of knowledge and skill to make a difference.
Schools that do not meet adequate yearly progress face sanctions, including possibly the replacement of faculty.
All the superintendents at the conference have signed or plan to sign a resolution showing their concerns with standardized testing that will be submitted to the state legislature.
