Stage 3: Texas Education

One of the most important functions of a state government is to provide an education for its young people. Annual tests were created in order to make sure that schools and students are meeting Texas' standards. First there was the TABS, then TEAMS, then TAAS, then TAKS, and finally now there is the STAAR. Like its predecessor, the STAAR test is intended for students to take throughout grade school; students must pass their grade's required tests in order to pass onto the next grade. However, compared to its predecessors, the STAAR test is much more demanding and much more difficult. According to an editorial from the Austin American Statesman, Testing is good, but STAAR may not be, the current STAAR test may not be an improvement for testing in Texas. Many people claim that the test is too difficult but then there are others such as Representative Mark Strama who wonder if it was the schools that failed to prepare the student. "Is it a function of the instrument? That's one answer. Is it a function of student attainment? That's a different answer." said Strama during a hearing. The author of the article provides information that even though passing rates were high, such as 87% for biology, the results are not entirely impressive because a student only needed to correctly answer 40% of the questions asked to pass the test. However, these is also alarming results such as only 55% of students passing the writing exam. The author fears that if students are unable to pass their annual tests because of difficulty, they will continue to struggle and fall behind even more in later years. The article lists some possible solutions such as moving the tests later into the year (May) so that students will have more time to prepare. Ultimately, the author isn't completely disregarding the STAAR test but is simply showing concerns over the test's first results. Overall this editorial was well written because the author had a logical argument that there should be concern over the STAAR test and was able to provide clear statistical evidence for their argument. This article provides a reasonable position that should be looked at by parents as well as law makers and educators. Although the STAAR test was just in its first year and the low results may be because of this, we must wonder if the problem really is the test or is it our school's inability to properly educate students. To make sure that our state does not fall behind others in education, Texas' lawmakers must be careful when considering the future of annual state exams.