Fwd: Texas Kids Failing Tests

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

  Subject: Texas Kids Failing Tests

  Irving students who failed TAKS to sit out graduation

  Single trustee votes to allow them to participate

  09:15 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 23, 2007

  By KATHERINE LEAL UNMUTH / The Dallas Morning News

  IRVING – After a second night of hearing tearful pleas from students, the
  Irving school board decided Tuesday not to allow students who failed the TAKS
  exit exam to participate in graduation ceremonies.

  More than 100 students and parents attended the meeting, where only one
  trustee, Valerie Jones, moved to allow students to walk.

  Although no board members seconded the motion, board president Michael Hill
  said he hopes legislators realize the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and
  Skills is not a valid tool.

  "The bar has been set so high in Texas that we are losing kids," Mr. Hill
  said.

  Other school districts are studying their policies, too, as state legislators
  work to replace the exit exams with end-of-course exams.

  As Irving trustees were explaining their decision, students left the meeting
  saying, "You are wrong."

  Trustee Barbara Cardwell said students would not be able to rely on such
  exceptions after high school.

  "When you do go out into the real world of work, they do not cater to your
  needs and wants," she said. "I can assure you it is much tougher than working
  to get your diploma."

  The school board called an emergency meeting after receiving numerous
  complaints about its graduation policy. On Monday, during the board's regular
  meeting, more than 50 parents and students packed the room to speak.

  Parents shared stories of trying to motivate their children to go to school
  and the tremendous anxiety brought on by the exam. Several students said they
  had failed the math and science exams by one question.

  "I am one of 40,000 students in the state of Texas not graduating because of
  the TAKS test," Academy of Irving ISD senior Meredith Vasquez, 18, told
  trustees. "I'm just asking you to let us walk across the stage."

  "My initial opinion tended to be to reserve commencement for students who
  passed," Ms. Jones said Tuesday night. "But then I met some of these kids.

  "I don't see how allowing them to participate would weaken the ceremony.
  Although not able to receive a diploma, these students would still have their
  dignity intact."

  The Texas Education Agency allows school districts to decide whether students
  who fail the TAKS but meet all other requirements can participate in
  commencement. Students can be awarded a certificate of completion instead of
  a diploma.

  Fort Worth ISD is holding an emergency meeting on the issue this morning.

  Coppell ISD recently decided to let such students walk. Grand Prairie ISD
  also did, provided those students promise to retake the test in July and
  attend tutoring.

  Arlington is the largest area district with a policy that allows students to
  walk, while the Dallas school district does not.

  There are 199 seniors in Irving who failed to pass the TAKS on their last
  chance, said Lane Ladewig, division director of campus operations. Students
  have five opportunities to pass all four sections.

  "Your goals say you want to be an exemplary district," Owen DeWitt, chair of
  the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce's education task force,
  told the board Tuesday. "And with that goal in mind, it is our opinion that
  if you have not met the requirements, you should not be in the ceremony."

  Last year, Irving trustees considered changing the policy after hearing the
  pleas of students and a teacher from the Academy of Irving ISD who said it
  especially hurt Hispanic students who learned English as a second language.

  Despite a survey showing that most students, parents and teachers polled
  supported allowing students to participate, trustees declined to change it by
  a 5-2 vote. While 16 percent of seniors statewide failed overall, the failure
  rate for Latino and black students is higher at nearly one in four.

  The failures have hit districts such as Irving, where the majority of
  students are Hispanic and many learned English as a second language,
  particularly hard.

  Justin Garcia tearfully explained how he walked out of school when he learned
  he had failed again and that his father cried when he found out.

  "He said, 'I'll be there until you're 45, and you're still taking the test,'
  " he said. "I know some of you have kids in school. I know for a fact if this
  happened to your kids, you'd be here talking."
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