If students thought the TAKS test was rough, just wait until the new STAAR tests, which are reportedly much more stringent, are rolled out next year.
As announced late last month from Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott, the new state assessment test has been chosen to replace the currently used Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills or TAKS.
The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests will be implemented in schools beginning in the 2011-2012 school year in hopes of raising the bar on assessment standards, according to the Texas Education Agency.
“The new tests will be significantly more rigorous than previous tests and will measure a child’s performance as well as academic growth,” the TEA said recently in a press release on the change.
At Bastrop ISD, as is the case with school districts around Texas, the change is not exactly a shock, according to administrators.
“This is the fourth time the state has made a change, so this isn’t our first rodeo,” said Betty Richardson, Bastrop ISD assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “As the state is changing what students are required to learn and as standards are changing over time, we are getting new assessments. It’s not a surprise to anyone that they are coming.”
TAKS, which has been in place since 2003, was the fourth Texas testing program to be implemented since the legislature established state-mandated testing beginning in 1980, according to the TEA.
Under STAAR, 12 end-of-course examinations in the four core subject areas of high school will be administered in addition to the grades 3-8 assessments mandated since the 2009 legislative session and House Bill 3.
Scott has said in recent times that the last TAKS-based school accountability ratings will be issued in 2011 and ratings will be suspended in 2012 as a new accountability system is developed. In 2013 the new state rating system is expected to debut.