The Dallas Morning News reports in today's edition that a new system of rating Texas schools takes effect this month, and that new system may render meaningless the TAKS tests that students are required to take to assess their progress. The paper says the Texas Projection Measure allows schools to count as passing students who fail the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test as long as a new formula predicts that student will pass in a future year. The Texas Education Association notes the new model was approved by a national panel of testing experts. TEA says it is not a perfect predictor, but it is very accurate. Critics have said there are so many exemptions on top of conditions on top of projections that whatever meaning TAKS may have once had, has been lost.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
