The State Board of Education adopted new standards for Texas Education called Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) on September 1, 1998. Draft versions of these new standards were evaluated as part of a national study of states' standards and assessments to determine whether they are "rigorous, clear, and specific enough to form a core curriculum". These standards are simply a set of guidelines and goals that educators should follow in developing their curricula. Texas education received fairly good grades for its standards of education.
Texas Education has made remarkable gains in student achievement in recent years. According to a study by the National Education Goals panel, factors leading to these gains include:
• Establishing clear teaching objectives by grade through statewide learning standards
• Implementing new, statewide assessments closely linked to the learning standards
• Emphasizing strongly that all students were expected to meet the standards
• Establishing a system of accountability with both sanctions and rewards linked to the assessment results
• Explicit shifting of resources to schools with more disadvantaged students
Although Texas Education has adopted a set of student assessment standards that are more challenging, comprehensive and deliberate efforts must be undertaken to ensure that these more challenging standards are taught in all classrooms around the state. Tough standards could increase the achievement gap between schools, especially for schools whose resources are already scarce. All Texas educators must see the relevance of these standards to their teaching and incorporate them into their curricula.
Texas Education has made remarkable gains in student achievement in recent years. According to a study by the National Education Goals panel, factors leading to these gains include:
• Establishing clear teaching objectives by grade through statewide learning standards
• Implementing new, statewide assessments closely linked to the learning standards
• Emphasizing strongly that all students were expected to meet the standards
• Establishing a system of accountability with both sanctions and rewards linked to the assessment results
• Explicit shifting of resources to schools with more disadvantaged students
Although Texas Education has adopted a set of student assessment standards that are more challenging, comprehensive and deliberate efforts must be undertaken to ensure that these more challenging standards are taught in all classrooms around the state. Tough standards could increase the achievement gap between schools, especially for schools whose resources are already scarce. All Texas educators must see the relevance of these standards to their teaching and incorporate them into their curricula.
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