Recently there has been a lot of talk about the State passing legislation on a rule that would require the new end of course exams to count for 15% of a students final grade. I found an article in the Texas Tribune that goes into further detail of the current situation of the matter.
In the article Governor Rick Perry expresses his support of letting the school districts decide on whether they want to enact the 15% rule. Perry supports the legislation filed by Senator Dan Patrick and also asked Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams to defer the passing of the rule until the 2013-2014 school year.
Within the article it states that the rule was ultimately intended as a sort of scare tactic for students who took the state assessment exam to take it more seriously. It caused widespread confusion amongst school districts on how to apply the rule, and caused reasonable concern from parents on whether it would negatively affect their children's grades.
I personally think that the effects of the 15% rule could go either way. In one way the rule could positively benefit students who are good test takers giving them more of a academic advantage when it comes to their final grades. Where as students who are not great test takers will experience a drop in their final grade point average which I believe is unfair. I believe that most of the importance of a students grade should come from all of their accumulative work throughout the years and not from a couple tests. However, I believe it is a compromise to leave it up to the school districts on whether they want to enact the rule.
1 comment:
Increased rigor, a reduced amount of time and 15 end of course exams to pass. Sure, and why not add more pressure by making the test count towards their actual class grade. I am sure that adding additional requirements will “scare” students into taking things more seriously.
Hardly. I am not surprised that Governor Perry supported the schools rights to choose whether or not to implement this requirement. His track record shows that he does not have a firm understanding of what strategies will work best to encourage kids to perform better on standardized tests. Thankfully, he did agree with the decision to defer the rule for now.
I agree with Josh that it is possible the rule could go a couple of directions, but it is most likely that it will go one way. More students will crack under pressure. Test scores will go down and grades will as well. Yes, it is true that there are a few good test takers out there, but what about the majority of students who are not? What message is this sending to our students? You can work hard and make progress, but when it comes down to it, the only thing that truly counts is how well you can perform on a test?
Additionally, what message will this be sending to our teachers? No, sorry, please put away any creative and innovative ideas you may have. You need to get out as much test prep material as possible because those kids of yours have to pass that test. Oh and be sure to make sure they know the stakes! Wave that 15% threat over their heads so that they are sure to focus and take it seriously!
Come on. Let’s just abandon this idea now and avoid the unnecessary grief.
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