In
Texas Classrooms, the TAAS test may be given too much weight for evaluating students and schools. The TAAS test is used not only for student assessment and school evaluation, but is also used to decide if students are ready to graduate. A proposal put forward by the Governor's office in 1997 required that third, fifth, and eighth graders in
Texas Classrooms pass the TAAS test before they can be promoted to the next grade. According to this proposal, students who fail portions of the test would have to attend summer school at state expense and re-take the test before being promoted to the next grade. This plan could discourage social promotion, a practice that promotes children to the next grade even when they have not yet mastered the material from the previous grade.
However, others argue that the TAAS test is not proven to measure the academic proficiency of young students in
Texas Classrooms and could cause large numbers of students to have to attend summer school unnecessarily. Although an increasing number of students in
Texas Classrooms are passing the TAAS test, there is still substantial need for improvement. Fair learning standards should be based on a realistic assessment of the skills and knowledge that a student will need in college or the workplace. Even though most public schools are focused on academic standards, research shows that many employers and college professors believe that a high school diploma is still no guarantee that a student has learned the basic skills. All students must be given a fair chance to acquire the skills they need to continue learning throughout their lifetimes.
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