I certainly hope so -- indeed, I hope they scrap TAKS.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst agreed Wednesday with some lawmakers who want to replace the TAKS test with end-of-course exams for high school students.

"Our interest is to be able to move away from the test to end-of-course exams and have a standardized test where we could evaluate what the results of our teaching is (compared) to other states," Dewhurst said after speaking to the Statewide Education Legislative Briefing.

High school students would take end-of-course exams, and all seniors would be required to take either the SAT or the ACT.

The state would pay for that test, which would be nearly $50 per student, Dewhurst said.

Senate Education Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, recently proposed scrapping the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test for end-of-course exams in the higher grade levels.

The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, she said.

"I don't know of anybody who thinks it's a bad idea," Shapiro said.

She plans to push for the change during the next legislative session, which opens Jan. 9.

I certainly agree with the Shapiro proposal as it relates to the high school level. Indeed, I would go a step beyond that and include start-of-course exam as well, so that we can find out not only what students know, but also how much they are learning along the way. That would actually bring some real accountability to both students and teachers, which the current system tries, but fails, to impose.

Posted by: Greg at 11:38 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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