Well, it happened. The Texas legislature finally figured it out, NCLB (no child left behind) was leaving everyone behind. In a news story from KVUE.Com it was reported that a bill was passed that would take away the high emphasis placed on the TAKS test. Halleluiah! The bill will allow more focus to be placed on college readiness versus the focus placed on passing minimum standards in the elementary grades. I believe this is a wonderful step in the right direction for our public school system. Instead of having schools “teaching to the TAKS” teachers can now focus on the job they were originally hired for: educating children.
This new bill will remove the fear of having to pass the TAKS in the 3rd, 5th and 8th grades in order to be promoted to the next grade. It will also “prohibit districts from having grading policies that force teachers to give minimum grades to failing students”. So, in essence the Texas education system will now have an accurate accountability system in play.
It seems the focus will be placed more on preparing for college and therefore the tests that will matter will be taken at the HS level. High School students will also have a three tier option of classes they can take from basic, recommended and advanced, with most of the students being steered towards the recommended option. These classes will focus on teaching students the subjects needed to move on to college after high school. The hope is that it will empower more of the youth in Texas to stay in school and, just as important, to attend college after high school.
Of course as with all things time will tell how this bill will play out. But, I am hopeful that our legislators have worked out the major kinks NCLB placed into our public education system and more importantly that they realize now how important it is to make sure funding is available for our public schools. Because great ideas are one thing, not having the resources to see them through is a complete let down to the potential each and every student has.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Seeing Texas Talk blog on House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 3 Relating to public school accountability, curriculum, and promotion requirements, I too thought Halleluiah! Though I am not a teacher, I have many family members and friends who are teachers. One in particular has talked about having to ‘teach to the test or TAKS’ and how it puts undue stress on 3rd graders and the teachers. I really don’t believe that you should be stressed out in 3rd grade. The only thing you should be stressed over if you are 8 is when the next Harry Potter movie is coming out.
ReplyDeleteBesides the students being stressed, the teachers are run ragged trying to get the kids prepared for the TAKS testing and aftermath. Because after the TAKS tests are over, you only have a short time to actually get down to being able to teach everything that should have been teaching throughout the school year. Also if the students, as a whole percentage wise, consistently do make the acceptable range on the tests the teacher’s job may be on the line. If this teacher is in a poor district with little resources and the students’ home life is not conducive to learning, poor scores over all may not reflect on that teacher. More stress….
In talking with a high school teacher friend of mine, he said that most of the kids he sees in his classes are not ready for college level courses even though they may have passed the TAKS testing. A Houston Chronicle article on the HISD schools progress in improving overall students testing scores also had some that worried that many schools put way too much emphasis on the TAKS testing.
I am hopeful that this bill that has now passed both House and Senate committees and is on the intent calendar will be passed and put into place soon. I think it is very important for everyone that we place more emphasis on teaching and learning and less on standardize testing.
Julie, I'm so glad you posted on this topic! My sister is a high school teacher, and I took the liberty of sending a link to your blog post to her, even though she may (or may not) already know about the issue.
ReplyDeleteWe all know that teachers state-wide are positively thrilled with the impending changes, as it will streamline their job requirements back down to "educating" in the best way each teacher sees fit for each student.
I think it's important to emphasize, as you did in your second paragraph, the stress taken off of the student. In high school, I was a PAL (Peer Assistance and Leadership), which is a mentoring program for HS juniors and seniors to mentor 5th graders. My 5th grader was Maria who got held back from moving on to the 6th grade. When I asked her why she thinks that happened, she said it was because she didn't speak "good enough English." She failed the TAKS and had to repeat 5th grade, even though she excelled in science and math, and spoke English and Spanish fluently (besides the minor grammatical error and her struggles with spelling English words). She was also placed in remedial English and History courses, which under challenged her.
Also, as for high school students, the exit level TAKS was taken in the Junior year, and yet Seniors in AP level classes were forced to spend weeks reviewing for TAKS tests which they would not be taking.
So, after these years of NCLB, we all have personal and/or secondary "horror stories" of the TAKS, and reading your post seemed like a breath of fresh air to me! I'm glad for the kids I know who will get to experience the new regime, and we can only hope and pray it will be a success unlike its predecessor.
. I agree with the writer Julie that this bill can finally help out students ready themselves for college and not just focused on a test. This test started when my sister was in high school, and caused a lot of her peers to not graduate the following May. Hopefully this bill will work out all problems in No Child Left Behind, as well as help a raise the graduation rate in Texas, and admit more students into college.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think that many of the criticisms of the TAKS test are misguided. Standardized testing does have weaknesses, especially the problem of "teaching to the test" which makes teachers feel they are restricted in their methods. However, the issue of "teaching to the test" is, in my opinion, more a reflection of the general inadequacy of our school system than a damaging by-product of standardized testing.
ReplyDeleteThe primary purpose of a standardized test is to ensure that the progress and achievement of students is comparable across a range of different schools and districts. The centralized way that our schools are organized (with curriculum and graduation standards set by the state so that a high school diploma earned by a students in different districts are of comparable meaning) necessitates a standardized way to measure academic progress. Standardized tests like the TAKS are designed to measure the progress of students in certain essential academic areas like math and reading, and students with a mastery of those subjects in a grade-level appropriate way should have no problem passing such a test. Minimal “teaching to the test” should be required if students are being equipped with the skills that each grade is supposed to provide them. The problem is that some students don’t have a sufficient mastery of the curriculum to pass the test (i.e., they haven’t learned what they are supposed to have learned in that grade or set of grades). Instead of allowing those students to repeat that grade and acquire those essential skills, teachers are given incentives to ensure that students simply pass the test, and often try to accomplish this by teaching the students tactics for navigating and mastering “the test” rather than what the test is intended to measure. This is where “teaching to the test” becomes an issue, and thus it would not be an issue if students were being properly educated in the areas that the state has deemed essential.
So I think, unlike your contention that phasing out the importance of the TAKS test will help teachers and students, eliminating the need to pass the TAKS test in 3rd, 5th, and 8th grades will only hurt students in the long run. If a student cannot pass the TAKS test in those grades it is almost certain that they haven’t gained the proper tools to advance to next grade. Not being prepared to handle the curriculum of the next grade will only leave students at a greater academic disadvantage and place an greater strain on teachers that will have to devote valuable teaching time to remedial skills. Similarly, when you say that teachers should be able to devote more time to college-preparedness, I believe you are missing the fact that the skills tested on TAKS are essential to college success.
I agree with you that the idea of having three “tiers” of high school classes will be beneficial for Texas’ education system. Elite students generally have no problem with minimum state graduation requirements and separating low-performing students can help them get more personalized help and reduce the chances that they will “fall through the cracks.”