Texas 5th-grade students discover obscenity on standardized test

Hope Schreiber
·Writer

Nearly 16,000 standardized tests were distributed to Texas fifth-graders that featured the F-word in its reading comprehension segment.

The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), the state-mandated exam of Texas, helps determine public school ratings by testing students on common core subjects, including reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies — and now, inadvertently, swear words.

Out of 413,000 STAAR tests distributed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), an estimated 15,697 booklets showed an image of a graffiti park that included, in small letters, an obscenity, according to The Eagle.

While questions are not permitted to be discussed between students and school administrators, on April 10 a fifth-grade student spotted the obscenity and brought it to the administrator’s attention. The coordinator of special programs and communications at Lumberton Independent School District, Gretchen Scroggins, said the some of the other students had the test with the obscenity as well, according to the Houston Chronicle.

TEA Officials would not confirm which schools received the test featuring the word, but it is likely other schools in the state received the same exam.

In a statement, the TEA said: “A passage with embedded images of a graffiti park appeared as part of field testing for some fifth-grade Texas students. After the test was administered, TEA discovered that two of the included images contained vulgar words in very small lettering.

“This is in no way acceptable or appropriate, and we deeply regret that these images appeared on the test. We apologize to all our parents and students, and in the spirit of continuous improvement, we pledge to ensure this issue never occurs again.”

Lumberton Independent School District also issued a statement: "During the 5th grade STAAR Reading exam, a student reported a vulgar word in a pictorial to the teacher administering the exam. The teacher reported the information to the campus testing coordinator, the principal was informed, the district testing coordinator received the report and ultimately the superintendent was notified. Dr. Chandler, LISD Superintendent, reported it to the Texas Education Agency (TEA)."

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