The Texas Education Agency updated the STAAR Alternate 2 participation requirements in response to a waiver request that the United States Department of Education denied that allowed Texas to surpass a 1% statewide limit on the number of students who may participate in an alternate assessment.
STAAR ALT 2 is a standardized assessment administered individually to eligible students with the most significant cognitive disabilities receiving Special Education services. Students who qualify for this assessment access curriculum through pre-requisite skills. At YES Prep, pre-requisite skills instruction occurs in a YSTEP or SHINE classroom. This means that if students do not meet the updated participation requirements, they will transition out of YSTEP or SHINE into a more inclusive setting pending ARD committee decision.
In response to the updated STAAR ALT 2 participation requirements shared by the Texas Education Agency, YES Prep conducted an audit of all students who currently qualify and will hold ARDs no later than Thursday, February 1, 2024 to determine whether students will continue to qualify. You can read here for the full context of the update.
Reach out to your school's Special Education manager to gain more details on the impact to your child(ren). An individual letter will be sent to impacted families to schedule ARD meetings.
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