Comments on: The TAKS mess…I dare not say test. http://mlhodges.com/2007/05/26/the-taks-messi-dare-not-say-test/ Words inspire, motivate, and incite mental riots that result in change... Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:20:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Joel http://mlhodges.com/2007/05/26/the-taks-messi-dare-not-say-test/#comment-56 Joel Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:00:23 +0000 http://mlhodges.com/?p=93#comment-56 Well it looks like TAKS will be gone. It has been voted out in favor of end-of-year tests. But it's not gone until 2011, I think. This should be better because at least the tests will be aligned with what a student learned throughout the year. Having taught high school history, I can tell you of the many drills and boot camps we did to prepare kids for TAKS style test questions. The TAKS shadow gradually grew throughout the year as you approached the end of April. As the year went on, it was more and more about TAKS preparation. For one thing, you wanted to make sure kids passed so they could graduate. On the other hand, you wanted to make sure they passed so you wouldn't see them again! Then you could move on to the next batch of kids and prepare them (ultimately) for TAKS. TAKS was designed to increase accountability and see if kids learned what they were taught. The problem is that you gradually learn how to teach kids to pass TAKS and it becomes more about if they can pass the test and not the content. Therefore you don't get an accurate portrayal of what they have learned throughout the year. With the new system you can see if kids were learning and if they had effective teachers that actually taught what they were supposed to learn. Overall this should work better. Schools and their districts need to be held accountable and learning should be measured in some way but use methods that align with learning objectives. Well it looks like TAKS will be gone. It has been voted out in favor of end-of-year tests. But it’s not gone until 2011, I think. This should be better because at least the tests will be aligned with what a student learned throughout the year. Having taught high school history, I can tell you of the many drills and boot camps we did to prepare kids for TAKS style test questions. The TAKS shadow gradually grew throughout the year as you approached the end of April. As the year went on, it was more and more about TAKS preparation. For one thing, you wanted to make sure kids passed so they could graduate. On the other hand, you wanted to make sure they passed so you wouldn’t see them again! Then you could move on to the next batch of kids and prepare them (ultimately) for TAKS.

TAKS was designed to increase accountability and see if kids learned what they were taught. The problem is that you gradually learn how to teach kids to pass TAKS and it becomes more about if they can pass the test and not the content. Therefore you don’t get an accurate portrayal of what they have learned throughout the year. With the new system you can see if kids were learning and if they had effective teachers that actually taught what they were supposed to learn. Overall this should work better. Schools and their districts need to be held accountable and learning should be measured in some way but use methods that align with learning objectives.

]]>