The Departure of the TAKS Test in All of Texas Schools

For those of you who are unaware or who are unsure of what the TAKS test is, let me tell you. The actual words are The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Which is a Texas exclusive standardized test to assess student attainment of math, english, science, reading, and social science skills required under Texas education standards. In high school students are required to pass the math, english and at least a 2 on the essay, science, and social science sections in order to graduate. Students have to pass the test in their junior year. According to wikipedia.org, a record high 40,182 Texas seniors (16% of all high school seniors in the state) will not graduate at May ceremonies because they have failed at least one of the subjects required to pass of the TAKS exam. Some of the school districts are actually allowed seniors to participate in ceremonies, but they will not be receiving their diplomas. Instead they will receive a certificate of completion but only if they accept to attend tutoring sessions.

Some students have actually failed the math portion of the test who were in more difficult math classes. This is somewhat ironic because they are faced with more challenging math problems. This portion contains Algebra 1, Geometry, and minimal use of basic skills such as graphs, charts, and grids. The reason for this failure is because a lot of the students that take higher levels of mathematics seem to fail because it doesn't test their higher-level skills. The irony is that it tests their lower skills and therefore are not prepared to study. Luckily this test is being removed for the 2009-2010 school year and is being replaced with an End Of Course Exam. A lot of parents, students, and those involved in education perceive this to be a great idea.

But then again the test that is replacing the TAKS test will be significantly more comprehensive than the TAKS test and therefore students will be expected to know more than the little expressed on the TAKS test. The problem with this misconception is that the teachers and students have spent so much time and energy on the TAKS, that when the End of Course Exam comes around the children probably won't have sufficient knowledge to pass the test. This problem will subsequently manifest itself and then hopefully all of the standardized tests will and even the ones that the administrators will contemplate in the future will be thrown out and all the students have to be worried about is passing their standard classes. Speaking hypothetically the number of children failing will most likely double once this new test comes into play. But eventually those numbers will decrease and students will begin passing again. All of this makes you wonder. Should the TAKS test remain and continue will their horrendous numbers of failing students? Or should the End of Course exam come into play and therefore increase the rate of drop-out students?