The Effect Of STAAR Testing On Texas Students And Teachers

To many students standardized testing has become another part of schooling that is dreaded. Standardized testing has been a part of school since the nineteen-thirties; in those days it was used as a way to measure students that had special needs. Since the time that standardized test have been in American schools there has been many programs that have placed an importance on the idea of standardized testing such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Evans 1). Over the years the importance of standardized testing has increased tremendously and so has the stakes, not only for teachers but also students. All states in the United States of America have state test in order to measure how much students learn, and help tell how well the

There once was a time when students were enthusiastic about going to school; However, for many Texas students that couldn't be farther from the truth. The Texas state standardized test was once used as a building block for our children's education, accessing their progression ; however this is no longer the case. Now, our children's education is structured around passing the test, not actually learning the academic curriculum. This test not only takes away from our children's education, but places a magnitude of stress on the students , teachers, and administration. So, is State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STARR) really helping our children?

Yes I am, more because of how much more difficult the Texas education system has made it. I remember when my little brothers first took the STAAR. They literally came home crying because they thought they were not smart enough and that they failed the exam. Although they didn’t fail, I feel like this test puts a lot of pressure on them. From what I have read on http://savetxschools.org/ STAAR triples the exit level tests in high schools. Back when TAKS was still in affect its shows that a high school student was required only four exit level tests in order to graduate but with STAAR a students need to pass fifteen of the exit level tests. How is that fair? What if a student doesn’t pass the STAAR? If a student doesn’t pass a single STAAR he or she can be kept from graduating with their class. It is also proven that STAAR can ruin your chances for college admission. Although colleges and universities never request your standardized states test scores, they do look into where you stand (class rank) and GPAs. Believe it or not but if you are off by a single percentage point from your class rank it can make a big difference in your acceptance or denial decision to your dream college or

“…only twenty-two percent of those surveyed said increased testing had helped the performance of their local schools compared with twenty-eight in 2007” (“Public Skeptical of Standardized Testing.”). Furthermore the poll indicated an eleven percent increase, compared to last year, towards the favor of discontinuing the usage of students’ test results for teacher evaluations. William Bushaw, executive director of PDK International and co-director of PDK/Gallup Poll also stated, “Americans’ mistrust of standardized tests and their lack of confidence and understanding around new education standards is one the most surprising developments we’ve found in years” (“Public Skeptical of Standardized Testing.”). All in all, not only are these tests a concern for students, who are forced to sit through them, hoping to get a decent enough score to place into a class, receive their diploma, or even get accepted to the college of their dreams, but they are a concern for parents as well, who only want the best for their children and to see them succeed.

Did you know, out of 65 countries 29 did better at the standardized tests than the U.S? Some people support the use of standardized tests and some are against the. I think standardized tests are not a good idea because they overpopulate schools, only test students on part of a subject, and stresses students out.

Texas takes the STAAR, Alabama the ARMT, and Hawaii the HSA. Each state in the U.S. has a standardized test required of every student. From the ACT and SAT to the STAAR tests, standardized testing has become common practice for almost every student. The earliest records of standardized testing are when in China, anyone wanting to get a job in government had to fill out their knowledge of Confucian philosophy and poetry in examination. As more and more kids began to go to school during the Industrial Revolution, standardized testing spread as a way to quickly and easily test a large number of students. But not everyone agrees with the tests, stating that they are unreliable, and that the stakes are too high. Standardized tests cause immense amount of stress for not only students, but teachers as well. And the tests might not even be effective, causing more anxiety than it's worth.

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind law in 2002, standardized testing has been at the center of attention in the educational system. Several schools and teachers have been forced to drill children on the information they will be tested on. Teachers are forced to demonstrate other important topics in order to teach test material. Similar to majority of tests provided in the school system, standardized test have both pros and cons. Generally speaking, standardized testing is a great way to determine a baseline for a child. As Miller (2016) indicated, tests have a multitude of benefits, which include student enthusiasm, peer learning, self-improvement and retention, transfer of learning, student self-assessment, and teacher instructional guidance. Teachers are able to use the data from the standardized tests to build an entire academic plan around the results. Additionally, students and parents are able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each child in order to determine the next steps needed to help bridge any gaps within their academic studies.

Some Texas lawmakers are trying to lower the number of standardized tests, let schools pick the test providers to create more competition in the testing market, get rid of the evaluation of teachers by the STAAR scores, and lower the burden of the A-F rating of the STAAR test. Last year there were several problems with the STAAR tests, so much that the company had to pay a $5.7 million fine. When Texas has 17 tests between 3rd through 12th grade, it is about time that it starts to lower the number of tests on students especially young students (Brandeis).

Another challenge is how often Texas changes its statewide testing regiments. So far it has changed four times over the past century, TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) was one of the regiments lasting from 1999 to 2011. The system currently in use and that will end by next year is the STARR exam (State of Texas Academic Readiness). The testing regiments change constantly because they do not accurately gauge a students performance. Also the fact that the main goal of the curriculum is religious and ideological control further hinders the academic performance of students. For example,

Overall, we think that we should just get rid of the STAAR completely. We think that if we took small tests throughout the year then we should be able to go to the next grade if we pass, not have to stress about a huge test that determines our future.

Texas contains a lot of issues when it comes to its education policies. The issue that has the most people thinking about and I feel more passionate about when it comes to education is the high-stakes testing in the Texas high schools, middle schools, and even elementary schools. This issue has brought plenty of attention from students and their parents. The testing situation in Texas has been addressed from time to time, but there hasn’t been a proper solution that keeps the student performance numbers from decreasing in numerous reports. The problem is that Texas education emphasizes the importance of standardized testing - such as the current State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or STAAR - implemented to

Now a day’s Texas is growing profoundly, but as it cultivates so does its problems. One of the major issues facing Texas today is in the education department. The matter ranges from school funding to standardized testing. Not only are students themselves complaining about the matters at hand but also parents, some teachers, and even state legislature. There have always been five major issues in Texas education; school finance, school choice, expanding pre-kindergarten, school calendar, and testing. Of these issues you could never think of them separately because no matter how hard you try they will, in the end, affect one another.

Also the state assessment is built around the TEKS. The State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) is the state’s annual assessment and test reading, science, writing and social studies. The STAAR test is a criterion-referenced test. The STAAR test does not cover all of the subjects or grade levels of the TEKS standards that are set in Texas. Grades 3-8 are tested in reading, math, writing, social studies and science. The state has also adopted end of course assessments for high school students in English I, English II, Algebra I, Biology, and U.S. History. Once testing is completed data is collected by the TEA, and posted on its website. Assessment results are disaggregated by student backgrounds, district and

A very current and ongoing important issue happening within the education system is standardized testing. A standardized test is any examination that's administered and scored in a calculated, standard manner. There are two major kinds of standardized tests: aptitude tests and achievement tests. Standardized aptitude tests predict how well students might perform in some subsequent educational setting. The most common examples are the SAT’s and the ACT’s. The SAT and the ACT attempt to estimate how well high school students will perform in college. But standardized test scores are what citizens and school board members rely on when they evaluate a school's effectiveness. Nationally, five such tests are in use: California Achievement Tests,

Every spring for the past 4 years since 2012, every student attending 3rd grade through 8th grade and including high school students across The State of Texas, sit down and take the Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or The STAAR Test. The STAAR test is what student’s in Texas are taught about from the very beginning of the school year and what teachers are required to teach. The STARR test includes 3rd grade through 8th- graders, taking reading and math, 4th and 7th graders taking writing, 5th through 8th graders taking the science portions, and with 8th-graders taking the social studies section. In high school, students are required to take the following portions of the STAAR test which includes English 1, English 2 which contains two tests of Writing and Reading, Algebra 1, Biology, and U.S. History. The STAAR tests for students in Texas determines each individual student’s assessment of where they are educated, towards the following subjects and what grade level they should be proceeded at. With state testing like the STAAR tests, there are more and more negatives and problems in the news, with the way our students are being taught in Texas, this state test not only follows them through their next grade levels but their academic careers, even following them into college and eventually their careers, with that and the amount of pressure being put on them from one test, the bar is being raised too high for our children in Texas, this not only affects our children