IsupportFBISD.org will hold a conference titled “Texas Public Education: Where We Stand” from 10 a.m.-noon May 7 at Houston Community College, room W102, Scarcella Building, 10041 Cash Road in Stafford. A reception will begin at 9:30 a.m.
Kevin Jefferies, chair of the Government and Economics Department at Alvin Community College will discuss “What the TAKS Test Can Teach Us About Our Children.”
Helen Jackson, an English professor at Houston Community College, will discuss “The Remediation Problem in Higher Education”
Omar Lopez, an assistant professor at Texas State University, will discuss “Weapons of Mass Destruction in Public School Education – Issues and Answers for Parents.”
Free books will be available for kindergarten through 12th grade students. The event is free of charge but donations will be accepted. Interested participants should RSVP to RSVP@IsupportFBISD.org.
Kaiser roll, we agree completely (except for the Rick Perry stuff). Have you seen this video no the TAKS test? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLUFX2WOUOg
Kaiser roll,
I do not agree with everything you say, however, I agree with you about just teaching children to take test, after test, after test does stifle creativity. Those of us who came along at a different time can do all the things that children are now being taught to do: How to problem solve; how to draw conclusions; how to infer; how to read between the lines; how to make generalizations, etc., etc, etc.
Moreover, some “really” creatively kids, do not always do well on tests like these because whenever they read a selection, they see the possibility of more than just one right answer.
No disrespect to other nations, but, I do recall once hearing someone say that a lot of original American ideas are taken by other countries and just improved upon rather than it being original in the creation of the mind and imagination to that particular country’s creation. So to that effect, you make a good logical point.
Interesting comment. The TAAS test began in 1991 two years after Rick Perry switched from the Democrat to Republican Party. Rick Perry’s term as Governer did not begin until 2000. Actually, for historical accuracy it was under Ann Richards that the TAAS test, the precursor to TAKS, became a standard in Texas acountability standards. There is basically no difference between TAAS and TAKS as far as teaching and testing.
Standardized testing is what they do in China and the Chinese have not invented 5% of what has been invented in the Free World in the last 300 years. If every kid is taking the same test at the same time, that sounds suspiciously like centralized planning aka communism. Chinese students do fantastic at repeated memory learning, but not too good at creative thinking. But then they have a whole centralized communist party to do that for them. Thank you Gov Perry for making our state more like China.