Re: Testing the TAKS test

[Margaret Davis <margd@FLASH.NET>]

It better not be too soon... i have a case sitting on his desk for his gd
opinion....


Margaret
~~~~~~
http://aisdinuniforms.org

There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State
comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from
which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him
accordingly.
-- Civil Disobedience [aka Resistance to Civil Government]
                        Henry David Thoreau
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carol Holst" <kceh@AIRMAIL.NET>
To: <ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2002 9:46 AM
Subject: Testing the TAKS test


> Nelson is stepping down soon. Hopefully this means we have a better
> chance of fighting thing politically.
>
>
>
http://www.austin360.com/auto_docs/epaper/editions/thursday/editorial_6.html
>
> Testing the TAKS test
> By Jim Nelson
>
> Special to the AMerican-Statesman
>
> Thursday, January 31, 2002
>
> Texas launches a new era of student testing this week when it begins
> field
> testing the new state exam called the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and
> Skills.
>
> Make no mistake about it -- the TAKS test is not a recycled version of
> the
> Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. It is a new test from top to bottom
> and, like its predecessor, is expected to spur academic achievement.
>
> The TAKS, which will be given in third through 11th grades, is broader
> and
> deeper than the TAAS. Mathematics, reading, language arts, science and
> social studies will be tested at various grade levels. Exams are being
> added
> in the ninth and 11th grades.
>
> Over the past two years, more than 80,000 Texas educators and dozens of
> national testing experts have advised the Texas Education Agency in the
> development of this assessment program, which is based on the state
> curriculum called the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. Additional
> educators and testing experts will help the State Board of Education
> determine what score will constitute a passing level.
>
> The three previous generations of standardized student tests in Texas
> have
> been primarily multiple-choice exams. The TAKS will still have
> multiple-choice questions, but it will also have griddable questions, in
> which students must determine the answers on their own with no options
> from
> which to select. The reading passages on the exams will be longer and
> more
>
> complex. The science and math exams will require students to use rulers
> to
> measure items, and they will require students to use complex formulas.
>
> Sample test questions, along with background material, may be seen at
> http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/taks/booklets/index.html.
>
> Every public school will participate this spring's TAKS field test.
> Think of
> a field test as a tryout. It is used to determine which questions are
> appropriate for the test. It is a test of the questions, not of the
> students.
>
> The testing contractor will try out two to three times more test
> questions
> than will ultimately be used on the final exam. Any question that is
> found
> to be inappropriate or biased will be tossed out. The remaining
> questions
> will go into an item bank, and the final test will be constructed using
> those questions.
>
> Results from this field test will be studied and analyzed by educators,
> parents, business people, agency staff and national testing experts.
> Recommendations from these groups will be presented to the State Board
> of
> Education, which must set the passing standards for the TAKS.
>
> By law, the board must set a score that determines what constitutes
> passing
> and failing. But the board may set additional passing levels that denote
> advanced levels of performance. Many tests, including the National
> Assessment of Educational Progress, which is often called the nation's
> report card, set multiple performance levels. All previous Texas tests
> have
> only had a pass-fail standard so, if the board adopts multiple
> performance
> levels in November 2002, it would mark another substantial change in the
> assessment program.
>
> TAKS will be given and student, campus and district results will be
> reported
> for the first time in spring 2003. As required, results from the
> third-grade
> reading exam will be used to determine which students are promoted to
> fourth
> grade beginning next school year. High school juniors, beginning with
> the
> Class of 2005, must pass the 11th-grade exit level TAKS, along with
> their
> courses, in order to receive a diploma. We believe Texas students and
> educators are up to the challenge the new assessment will present.
>
>
> --
> See you at The Soapbox!
>
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