I am an educator who has occasion to work with the Student Assessment Division of TEA. This mom and the report do not have the facts straight. The STAAR and the TAKS, unlike the TAAS, do test what is taught, so when teachers teach and assess the curriculum all year long, the kids will do well on the test. This child learned the wrong lesson from her mom. I hope she doesn't want her daughter to go to college, be a lawyer, or even a plumber. She will have to take a standardized test for any of these. Thank goodness my husband's cardiologist was tested on his knowledge and skills before he treated my husband!
Don - 12 years ago
@ Kathy, it was your Republican legislators who decided these tests were mandatory to pass, you know the same Republican legislators who cut school funding and are denying health care for Texans and persecuting women, while Perry & family live in a $10,000.00 a month luxury ranch estate.
Yvonne - 12 years ago
Can't blame her but I believe the student will still have to take the test on another day, (more expense to us). Wish they would do away with the testing, especially all of the cost, money being spend on these programs. Let teachers teach and the "in school" administrators take care of their students in their schools.
Ken - 12 years ago
Because she was out. She will miss regular classes today, doing the retest.
Kathy - 12 years ago
It's hard enough going through school these days. My kids were deathly afraid of the TAKS tests....now, lets replace that with something just as bad. Can't kids just go to school to learn? Don't regular tests stress everyone out enough? Who said this mandatory testing to pass was such a great idea? Did they have it when they went through school? Gee, did they pass? Could they pass now? I believe we have kids dropping out of school because of these tests....time to stop the madness. Tess makes great points.....can we hire a lobbyist?
Tess - 12 years ago
It is ALL about the money. We cut back funding to schools, laid off teachers (12,000 of them), closed schools. In the face of these cutbacks, TEA (Texas Eduction Agency) paid Pearson (the test creator) over a half BILLION to create the new test. Not one dime was cut from that program. The new 'tougher' standards . . . they merely rearranged the deck chairs . . .
Want to know why they are not 'counting' the test this year? Well it's an election year and do we remember TPM (the program last election year that allowed schools to show students as passing when in fact they failed the TAKS).
Forget writing to your legislator(s). Pearson pays a lobbyist in Austin hundreds of thousands of dollars and as we all know - lobbyists have far greater access/influence than we do. FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!
I am an educator who has occasion to work with the Student Assessment Division of TEA. This mom and the report do not have the facts straight. The STAAR and the TAKS, unlike the TAAS, do test what is taught, so when teachers teach and assess the curriculum all year long, the kids will do well on the test. This child learned the wrong lesson from her mom. I hope she doesn't want her daughter to go to college, be a lawyer, or even a plumber. She will have to take a standardized test for any of these. Thank goodness my husband's cardiologist was tested on his knowledge and skills before he treated my husband!
@ Kathy, it was your Republican legislators who decided these tests were mandatory to pass, you know the same Republican legislators who cut school funding and are denying health care for Texans and persecuting women, while Perry & family live in a $10,000.00 a month luxury ranch estate.
Can't blame her but I believe the student will still have to take the test on another day, (more expense to us). Wish they would do away with the testing, especially all of the cost, money being spend on these programs. Let teachers teach and the "in school" administrators take care of their students in their schools.
Because she was out. She will miss regular classes today, doing the retest.
It's hard enough going through school these days. My kids were deathly afraid of the TAKS tests....now, lets replace that with something just as bad. Can't kids just go to school to learn? Don't regular tests stress everyone out enough? Who said this mandatory testing to pass was such a great idea? Did they have it when they went through school? Gee, did they pass? Could they pass now? I believe we have kids dropping out of school because of these tests....time to stop the madness. Tess makes great points.....can we hire a lobbyist?
It is ALL about the money. We cut back funding to schools, laid off teachers (12,000 of them), closed schools. In the face of these cutbacks, TEA (Texas Eduction Agency) paid Pearson (the test creator) over a half BILLION to create the new test. Not one dime was cut from that program. The new 'tougher' standards . . . they merely rearranged the deck chairs . . .
Want to know why they are not 'counting' the test this year? Well it's an election year and do we remember TPM (the program last election year that allowed schools to show students as passing when in fact they failed the TAKS).
Forget writing to your legislator(s). Pearson pays a lobbyist in Austin hundreds of thousands of dollars and as we all know - lobbyists have far greater access/influence than we do. FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!