It has been widely reported that even if they have met all other requirements for graduation, some 40,000 Texas high school seniors will not be allowed to graduate due to failing the 11th grade TAKS test.
I realize that students are given several opportunities to pass these tests, and that we do not want to graduate students who are not prepared. However, given the negative lifetime economic consequences, it seems that there should be a system in place to allow some local discretion.
(See these prior posts here, here, and here, regarding the expected lifetime income of a person who does not graduate from high school).
'E' for effort
Special to the Star-Telegram
Please answer the following multiple-choice statement:
Forty thousand seniors failed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and will not graduate this year because:
a.) School administrators and teachers failed to teach to all socioeconomic levels.
b.) Legislators delayed too long in implementing equitable school finance reform.
c.) Distracted or uneducated parents failed to stress the importance of education.
d.) Unmotivated students spent too little time reading and studying.
e.) All the above.
If you selected "e," you chose correctly. If you answered incorrectly, volunteer at a local school for a day.
According to the Texas Education Agency, 13 percent of seniors didn't pass TAKS last year; this year, that increased to 16 percent. Although the students might have passed all their course work, the law requires that they pass TAKS to receive a high school diploma. They either pass the tests this summer or join the ranks of those who wander around, looking for work that doesn't require a diploma.
The non-degreed will find a harsh world, competing with the undocumented for low-skilled jobs.
A 2005 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau revealed the median annual earnings for Texans without a diploma: $16,302. With a high school education, it grows to $25,513, and with a bachelor's degree, $44,132. If you like money, get as many degrees as possible.
Those who've passed the high-school equivalency test can consider joining the military, choosing between shovel or rifle, brooms or bullets. Recruiters are eager to sign on young recruits for the Bush surge in Iraq. If they take the patriotic route, most eventually will return to a civilian life that demands degrees to compete successfully in a knowledge-based economy. War has a way of motivating young men and women to get serious about their studies.
Data was not released as to the ethnicity of the 40,000 students failing TAKS. But based on historically high dropout rates among Latinos and blacks and low SAT scores displayed in the Star-Telegram's "Measuring Up" Web site, it's likely that the non-graduates were mostly ethnic minorities.
Schools and teachers are easy scapegoats for the failure of these students.
Educational professionals train and commit careers to teaching and helping students overcome academic hurdles. School districts spend millions on computers, books and consultants to help all student pass TAKS tests. Critics complain that high stakes force teachers to teach to the test -- after all, their careers hang in the balance. Creativity and joy of teaching and learning are stifled by four little letters: T-A-K-S.
State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano and state Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, filed bills this session to phase out TAKS and replace it with end-of-course exams. They affirm the need for schools to be accountable but prefer tests as one marker of several that measure the students' academic performance.
"The TAKS test has outlived its welcome," says Shapiro. She prefers timely tests that measure students' in-depth understanding of the course.
"It is important to give students multiple pathways to graduation," says Eissler.
Whether at the end of course or year, students still are expected to master the material. And to understand well, Latino students must catch up to Anglo students in literacy.
In 2004, the National Center for Education Statistics presented long-term trends in reading gaps between Latino and Anglo students, measuring the reading capabilities of students on a scale of 0 to 500.
Between 1975 to 2004, the reading score gap for 17-year-old Hispanics narrowed from a 41-point difference lower than Anglos to 29 points. It took 29 years for the gap to narrow by 12 points.
Must we wait another 29 years for the reading gap to disappear? Can we afford to wait that long, given the demographic shift to a majority-minority state? Urgent educational reforms that cross the learning divide for the majority of Texas students are imperative if we are to thrive as a smart state.
As an end-of-column test, please choose the correct response to the following statement:
The solution to graduating all high school students is:
a.) Challenge and engage all students in the learning process.
b.) Reach out to a diverse community for support and resources.
c.) Fund all Texas schools equitably.
d.) Hire more minority teachers to act as positive role models for students.
e.) All of the above.
If you chose "e," give yourself a star as an education advocate and thank a teacher.
If you answered incorrectly, re-read this column.
Where do I find out about: at what age my daughter is allowed to participate in high school setting? Has there been a law passed that will allow her to continue until 22? She will be 21 on June 8. Her graduation/last day of school is June 1. At this time it would be better to our family situation/and her needs that she continues 1 more year. Is it true?
Posted by: jordan retro 5 | Saturday, October 09, 2010 at 04:38 AM
A student has a health problam and had a chance to not take the taks test and graduate but, the parents didnt know and it was to late to make that change. Now the student has worked hard and had gone to many classes to help with the subject that has been failed many times. If this continus and keep failing the one subject over and over again.This person may never go to collage a dream that has been waiting to come true but for now it is not sure if it will ever come to happen.
Posted by: S.M | Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 01:02 PM