Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
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The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) is a primary and secondary education standardized test used in Texas to assess student attainment of math, english, science, reading, and social science skills required under Texas education standards. It is developed and graded by a test-making company named Pearson. Though created before the No Child Left Behind Act was passed, it complies with the law. It replaced the previous test called the TAAS in 2001.
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[edit] Sections
The sections a student is required to take are not the same each year. For instance, a student is not required to write an essay each year. However, math and a reading/writing section are always part of the exam. It is stated that the TAKS test is not timed. However, students are required by many schools to turn in their tests after about ten hours of testing. Sections including essay or short answer portions are taken in February to allow extra time for grading. Students in the 11th grade must pass a section each of Math, English Language Arts (or ELA, a combination of reading/writing), Science, and Social Studies. In fact, from grades 9 to 11, students follow the same regimen, except that no essay is required in 9th grade. The math and science tests allow the use of calculators along with formula charts that contain various formulae
According to a Nov. 27, 2006 article in the Houston Chronicle, lawmakers are considering doing away with TAKS during the January 2007 legislative session (probably for 2009-2010, according to some news reports) and substituting state-wide End Of Course tests in the upper grades instead. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4361328.html
[edit] Scoring
The essay and short answer portions are scored by graders at Pearson, though they are required to be Texas residents with a bachelor's degree. The multiple-choice questions are scored by computer. The grade is scaled and reported, though not much attention is given to this since the percentage of correct answers is also given on the score report. Scores above an average of 90% are awarded a status known as Commended on that section.
[edit] Strategy
Unlike AP tests, the TAKS essays do not require the student to write about the passages earlier in the section. Instead, many of the essay topics may be broadly interpreted and often ask the student to relate personal experience. Many teachers and educators have noted that there is no obvious correlation between writing an essay based on previous passages and writing an essay independent of them. It has been noticed, however, that essays that are cheerful or upbeat in nature receive higher scores than purely technical or pessimistic essays. The math section of the TAKS exit level exam will require a knowledge of special right triangles, however the formulas for these are not printed on the formula sheet.
[edit] Controversy
The test is highly contested, mainly by takers of the test. For high schoolers the test may be troublesome as a high school senior who is unable to pass the test may not be allowed to graduate. This leads many to despise the test as they feel it discriminates against them and unfairly determines whether or not they should graduate. Many seniors do not have to take the test if they have passed it their junior year. Homeschoolers and those attending private schools are exempted from taking the TAKS test.
Another controversy is the Mathematics section of the test. This section of the test takes in forms of Algebra I, Geometry, and minimal uses of basic skills, such as graphs, charts, and grids. The controversy comes in with the fact that many students who take higher levels of mathematics seem to fail this test, as it does not test their higher leveled skills, and instead, it tests skills that they are not prepared to study.
[edit] How many students truly "pass" the TAKS?
The TAKS test has also been criticized for its lax grading standards. All portions of the exam except for the written essay are submitted to test-taking students in the simplistic, heavily contested format used for almost all standardized testing: a question followed by four multiple choice answers (mentioned above in "Scoring"). The percentage that represents passing varies by subject area and is raised every year.
