Student assessment programs are pivotal in almost all learning institutions globally. Maintaining the security and confidentiality of the student assessment programs is crucial in ensuring valid test scores, quality standards and equal testing opportunities for all students (STAAR, 2018). Formal and informal assessment impact significantly towards the insights on the students’ progress, syllabus effectiveness, and education strategies (Fuglei, 2014). Despite the parental pushbacks on the overuse of standardized tests, relevant bodies ought to encourage the students and parents on the testing protocol and how the data obtained from different kinds of tests are used to improve teaching (Fuglei, 2014). The standardized testing data unearth district, school, and grade level data during assessment analysis. For instance, individual assessment provided the educators with the student performance on different classes, while formative assessment provides the teachers with the information on the classroom assessment, thus, improving the education efficiency (Fuglei, 2014). Texas has the most visible student testing program, with the evaluation, measuring the school effectiveness and encouraging the teachers to teach the curriculum (Carnoy, Loeb, " Smith, 2001). The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) is administered every spring to all public schools is a requirement for high school graduation (Carnoy, Loeb, " Smith, 2001). Moreover, the schools are evaluated regarding the percentage of the students who pass the TAAS and the proportion of their low income (Center for Research on Education Outcomes [CREDO], 2017). This paper scrutinizes on how the state of Texas and school district testing results inform instructions and how the schools analyze the state of Texas and district test results.
The State of Texas alongside the school district has been at the forefront regarding student’s assessment testing to inform instructions. The State of Texas through the TAAS conducts an assessment every spring to all public schools students in grade three to eight and again in category ten as a requirement for their high school graduation (Carnoy, Loeb, " Smith, 2001). Moreover, the school district works closely with the state in the analysis of the results. Notably, the scrutiny of the results determines the instructions that are going to be imparted on various schools depending on their performance since the overall test is similar on all learning institutions. The rewards for the best performing schools and the sanctions of the poorly performing schools are both implicit and explicit (Carnoy, Loeb, " Smith, 2001). The schools that perform well according to the state norms are accrued with exemplary designation and bonuses to start their projects and improve on their school academic and non-academic standards. On the other hand, the schools that do not perform well are given inadequate designation, which attributes to the change in management if they do not improve the following year (Carnoy, Loeb, " Smith, 2001).
Noteworthy, the designations are widely publicized; hence, the parents get the information that enables them to rate their student’s schools relative to the neighboring schools. The State of Texas alongside the school district have impacted significantly towards the student's education to achieve greater success and to raise the average score, hence, reducing the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged students (Carnoy, Loeb, " Smith, 2001). Consequently, research shows that the students’ performance in Texas has been improving over the years through the TAAS assessments conducted, which signals the society values on education (GALLUP, 2017). Lastly, brilliant schools are crucial elements in the development of fruitful economic development programs; hence, businesses and household are most likely to be located in areas with prosperous schools (TEA, 2018).
On the other hand, the schools have to analyze the state of Texas and the district results to determine the validity of the outcome. The school report card (SRC) syndicates the accountability of ratings, information from the Texas Academic Report Performance (TARP) and provides an analysis of the school's performance (Texas Education Agency [TEA], 2018). Notably, TAAS assessments are tests designed to assess the students’ performance on a particular curriculum. Henceforth, teachers and parents have been the most significant determiner on the results outcome. First, the teachers are responsible for imparting knowledge on the lower- achieving students as a way of striking a balance amongst all students. Secondly, the parents provide educational motivation to the students as well as financial support which impacts significantly towards the smooth running of the institution.
Through the TAAS results, the schools can make a vivid analysis of their performance relative to their location in comparison with other districts. More so, the schools can determine whether their performance is below the state norm or above and work on the areas that require improvement. Additionally, schools can identify the districts in the state that would drop according to the Texas assessment of knowledge and skills (TAKS) rating category (TEA, 2018). Lastly, the results provide an analysis of the school's performance, which the managements deliberates and comes up with the ultimate goals that ought to be set for a better performance the following year. The parents of the students of individual schools are also in a position to determine how certain median household income levels of a particular district compare with other regions (TEA, 2018).
Conclusively, the State of Texas has been at the forefront in the analysis of student’s performance to determine various district schools rating. The standard assessment done by all students has been pivotal to provide a valid way of grading all students and schools performance to establish the schools that need to deliberate on specific areas that they need to improve on. More so, the best performing schools are provided with exemplary designation and awarded with finances to work on their projects, while the non-performing ones call for certain amendments in the management if the schools do not improve the following year. However, the results have been important to help schools rate themselves relative to other districts and also determine whether their performance is above or below the state norm. The attributions have impacted significantly towards the school's performance in the State of Texas.
Works Cited
Carnoy, M., Loeb, S., " Smith, T. L. (2001). Do Higher State Test Scores in Texas Make for Better High School Outcomes? CPRE Research Report Series, 1-36.
CREDO. (2017). Charter School Performance in Texas. Stanford University, 1-88.
Fuglei, M. (2014, 7 2). How Teachers Use Student Data to Improve Instruction. Retrieved 9 17, 2018, from Concordia University-Portland.edu: https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/how-teachers-use-student-data-to-improve-instruction/
GALLUP. (2017). Listening to Parent and Teacher Voices. GALLUP. Inc., 1-20.
STAAR. (2018). Test Security Supplement 2018. Texas: STAAR.
TEA. (2018). Performance Reporting. Retrieved 9 17, 2018, from Texas.gov: https://tea.texas.gov/perfreport/
