TAKS Could Be Sent To File 13
The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS™) was implemented beginning in spring 2003. To provide you with a better understanding of TAKS™ and its connection to the statewide curriculum, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has developed newly revised editions of the TAKS™ information booklets. The information booklets were originally published in January 2002, before the first TAKS™ field test. Now, after several years of field tests and live administrations, we are able to provide an even more comprehensive picture of the testing program. We have clarified some of the existing material and, in some cases, provided new sample items and/or more explanations of certain item types. However, it is important to remember that these clarifications do not signify any change in the TAKS™ testing program. The objectives and student expectations assessed on TAKS™ remain unchanged.
The TAKS test may join the ranks of the TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) test if a bill created by Texas senator, Kel Seliger, is passed.
Ashley Brown, an Academic Advisor for College of Human Sciences, said if the education system introduced a new exam standard that was more difficult than the TAKS, it would be a positive thing.
"If the material is more challenging, it would increase the level of participation and dedication required on the student’s individual behalf," Brown said.
"High school students will see big changes down the road," she said.
Those changes, however, will not be for another two or three years, she said.
Pam Leftwich, a Student Assessment Counselor for LISD, said even if the TAKS test is eliminated, the state would have to come up with another form of evaluation exams. The proposed elimination of the test has been proposed for years, Leftwich said.
“Millions of dollars has been spent developing this test and it is a good test,” Leftwich said. “The TAKS test actually tests the state curriculum,
so it is a good measure of what kids should know after each grade level.”