Тест TAKS в Техасе: история и замена на STAAR.

Former Texas state standardized test

The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) was the fourth Texas state standardized test previously used in grade 3 8 and grade 9 11 to assess students' attainment of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies skills required under Texas education standards. It is developed and scored by Pearson Educational Measurement with close supervision by the Texas Education Agency. Though created before the No Child Left Behind Act was passed, it complied with the law. It replaced the previous test, called the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), in 2002. Those students being home schooled or attending private schools were not required to take the TAKS test. From 2012 to 2014, the test has been phased out and replaced by the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test in accordance with Texas Senate Bill 1031. All students who entered 9th grade prior to the 2011 2012 school year must still take the TAKS test; all students that entered high school in the 2011 2012 school year or later must switch to the STAAR test. Homeschoolers cannot take the STAAR; they can continue to take the TAKS test if desired.

The Texas Education Agency, Pearson, and Texas educators collaborate to make TAKS. First, teachers reviewed the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (state mandated curriculum) to determine the objectives to assess on each grade level. Then educators determined how the objectives could be best assessed and developed guidelines outlining eligible test content and test item formats. TEA created a test blueprint. Each year Pearson develops test items based on the objectives and guidelines, and the TEA reviews those items. Teacher committees are brought to Austin to review the proposed test items, and finally the items are field tested on Texas students. Using the input of the teacher committee and the results of field testing, TEA and Pearson build the TAKS. A more detailed explanation is available from the Student Assessment Division of TEA.

Texas high school seniors cannot graduate unless they pass exit level TAKS tests in English language arts, social studies, math, and science. During their junior and senior years of high school, students are given five chances to pass the test. Students new to Texas public education who enroll after January 1 of the school year in which they are otherwise eligible to graduate may use scores from the SAT or ACT to replace the ELA and Math TAKS. However, students are still required to pass the exit level science and social studies TAKS test as well as satisfy all coursework requirements in order to be eligible to receive a Texas high school diploma.

Former State Board of Education candidate Mark Loewe identified scoring mistakes made on questions of the Spring 2003 TAKS Mathematics and Science tests; two of the science questions were discussed in The New York Times. Incorrect scores were issued to more than 400,000 students. According to Loewe, the Texas Education Agency issued false statements about several of the mistakes and failed to correct any of the mistakes. Also controversial is the mathematics section of the exit level test. This section of the test covers Algebra I, Geometry, and minimal use of basic skills, such as graphs, charts, and grids. The controversy lies in the fact that many students who take higher levels of mathematics seem to fail this test because it does not test their higher level skills, instead testing skills that they have not recently studied. However, many in the educational community praise the test not for testing higher level skills but for its assessment of critical thinking based on lower level skills. The TAKS test's grading standards have come under fire, as some deem them to be too easy. In addition, hundreds of schools throughout Texas have been investigated and audited by the Texas Education Association due to suspicious scoring discrepancies. Also, there is the issue with teachers teaching to the TAKS test, instead of the standard Texas curriculum. In order to reduce the burden of field testing, the Texas State Board of Education has not released to the public those questions used to determine student scores on the Spring 2005 or Spring 2007 TAKS tests. Regrettably, this prevents public review of the questions and answers (for appropriateness and correctness) and denies opportunities for students, teachers, and others to learn from the tests. However, university level experts in each of the fields review each high school level test for accuracy. Grade level teachers also review test items for appropriateness prior to field testing and review the field test results in order to select the best questions for inclusion in the test item bank.