Is this the end of the TAKS testing in Houston, Texas?

There are a lot of homeschooling parents who really dislike how the public schools "teach to the test," meaning that teachers are only teaching students things that will be on these standardized tests. It is as though they simply do not care if these children forget everything the next day or if they really understand what they are being taught, as long as the numbers look good on the test. For this reason, a lot of parents and teachers agree that there is way too much time spent teaching to high-stakes nature of this test.

It is interesting to note that Abelardo Saavedra (Houston schools Superintendent) says that these children are not getting a full, well-rounded education whenever teachers are forced to "teach the test." Kevin Hoffman (Houston school board member) agrees that this is not a healthy learning environment for the students and teachers. Both of them agree that end-of-course exams could be used to better determine whether children are learning everything that they need to learn.

So, in Houston, Texas, which is the largest school district in Texas, these "teaching to the test" days may soon be over. This is because they are considering putting an end to the TAKS testing. This would be a huge step forward because other schools might follow in their footsteps. Plus, children would be able to be judged according to what they actually know instead of what they can "spit back" on a standardized test.

Of course, all of this has to go before the Legislature first. They will be voting on this today. If they decide to go ahead and eliminate the TAKS testing, it would then be replaced with end-of-course exams in the core subject areas.