Texas prepares for new standardized tests

Students could now have a harder curriculum to prepare for the new tests 

Students in the Texas public education system will begin to see some changes in their curricula. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released details about the switch from the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) to the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR).

The changes will begin to take place during the 2011-2012 school year, but some are concerned because the STAAR is more challenging than the TAKS, according to the American Independent. Additionally, the testing could be a lot more strenuous, as the source reports that high school students will spend up to 45 days taking the STAAR tests, while the TAKS exams typically took 25 days.

The hope of these new exams is that academic officials will be held responsible for how their students perform when the test goes into full effect during the 2012-2013 school year.

"The intent of the accountability development process is to design a new accountability system rather than modify the current system," the plan reports. "The new system may look very different from the current state accountability system."

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