If our leaders could admit the obvious and care at all to correct their errors, we would return to a day when teachers could teach the entire curriculum and not only the TAKS-tested subject. Once again, teachers would have enough...
Re: "College prep no easy matter," by Andrew Bickford, Monday Letters. It is not fair to college students to say that they only go to college to party, as Bickford says. Having taught at a university in North Texas for...
Re: "Defining College Readiness -- We can't wait until high school to prep students," Friday Editorials. If we try to prep third-graders for college, children will begin to resemble the character Tweak from South Park. Has anyone thought about or...
Re: "Scores plunge on retest -- Now writing results at Lang raise suspicions," Thursday news story. The article on the Lang Middle School students who had to retake the TAKS test quotes DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa as saying that the...
Re: "8th-graders at school to retake TAKS -- 'Irregularities' prompt TEA to ask Lang students to redo math exam June 30," Friday news story. How does TAKS, the prototype for the federal No Child Left Behind law, benefit students if...
Re: "Time off for passing TAKS considered -- Those failing test or classes get extra help in high school plan," Monday Metro. The plan to give intensive special training to Mesquite students who have trouble passing TAKS does nothing but...
It's TAKS time in Texas schools, and this old softy gets all misty-eyed at the thought. Remember when No Child Left Behind sounded like a good idea? Now it's widely known as No Teacher Left Standing. So, I have to...
Re: "Get rid of TAKS test, group says -- It urges better gauge of future success, change in school finance law," Wednesday news story. Even if TAKS becomes better suited to assess whether a child is on a path of...
... as a special panel of lawmakers is calling for? This is big. It is likely to be a highly contentious battle in next year's Legislature. The clash will pit powerful business interests, representing those who want smart workers, against...
Somewhere, in a nearby classroom, a small child is vomiting at the sight of the TAKS test. Another kid is sobbing at his desk. So says today's story about test anxiety. Apparently the TAKS pressure has become too much for...
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