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I had both good and bad experiences with TAAS. I took TAAS as a sophomore in high school, so everything up until tenth grade evolved around TAAS. We wrote in class basically to prepare for the TAAS test. Everything was about TAAS especially in ninth and tenth grade. We learned basically how to write in the five-paragraph form. When I came to college, I was told that you all were going to try and pull us away from the five paragraph essay way of writing and show us that that was not the only way to write. All of the administration made a big deal about this test and made it out to be difficult. I went in to the test thinking that it was going to be the hardest test that I had ever taken, but it was not. We spent the whole morning of about three days in the gym taking the test. It was a timed test and we did a different section of the booklet every day. I found the test to get kind of boring after sitting there for a while. The good thing about it is I got exempt from taking the TASP test because I scored high enough on the TAAS test, so that was one less test I had to worry about in order to get into college. After taking the TAAS is more of when we got to do more of our own style of writing, but not very much. The overall TAAS experience was all right. I think the teachers spent a little bit too much time preparing for the TAAS test when we could have been learning more of what college professors wanted because as I wrote before I have learned that the professors do not want five-paragraph essays. I think that the high schools could better prepare students for college. We could have been working on more challenging items in high school. I took a few Pre-AP and AP classes and even in there I think we spent a little too much time on TAAS, even though we did do other work.
I had no real preparation for the SAT’s. I just signed up and went to take the test. As far as AP tests go, however, I was well-informed and well prepared for that test. The AP classes I took in high school were great classes. They helped me to prepare better for college and even get some college level credit. So far in my chemistry class, all the stuff we’ve been learning about has been review for me. It’s a little more advanced, with more historical information, but looking back on it now, I’m so glad I took the class. As far as the actual testing experience, I believe it was very well conducted and beneficial. The test was taken at our local college and administered by our schools faculty. I believe that all those standardized tests are a valuable educational tool, but it bothers me when some colleges put so much into it. Such as having to get a certain score in order to get in. That’s not fair for all those people who aren’t good test takers. The SATs are a great tool to use to gain an understanding of that persons intelligence, but shouldn’t make or break a student.
I had to take several TAAS exams back in junior high and high school. On the English exams we always had to answer some questions for the first part and then we would have an essay section. I never really had to prepare for these exams because anybody can do good on the TAAS. The only part that I never got perfect on was the writing. I could do pretty good but I never got the 4 even though I tried. I really kind of liked them though. It was kind of nice getting a topic and being able to write about it. You just did a little rough draft and then you got to writing. I like just writing about something without all the questions. I think as a whole the only real learning experience I had was in the writing section because all of the rest of the test was pretty much a blowoff.
I hate the TAAS. I moved here my senior year and was told I wouldn’t graduate if I didn’t pass the TAAS. Most texans take and pass the TAAS their sophomore year. Their freshman year they take a practice test. Their whole lives they are pounded with information on how to take this test. They are like mini robots ready to spit out the info. If you haven’t lived in Texas your whole life, you weren’t “blessed” with this wonderful study. When you move here your senior year, you should be exempt, but your not. You’re looped in with the idiots that had all this practice and couldn’t pass the thing the first time. I would be more understanding if I moved here my junior or sophomore year and had a couple years, or chances to pass, but no they tell you that you have to pass or your stuck in high school. They freak you out, put you in these ‘study” classes where people goof off the whole time. You have never seen one of these test, you don’t know what there about, yet you know you have his one chance to pass in order to graduate. The TAAS sucks! I think it is totally retarded and luckily I passed otherwise I would hate this test and the inconvienence implaced on me even more.
I never minded having to take the TAAS test. English was one of my favorite subjects and writing was always an interest of mine. TAAS was really stressed during my sophomore year in high school. Since that was the year we would take the exit TAAS, we worked a lot on writing during English class. My teacher would come up with some of the most interesting ways of showing us how to write correctly; and the fact that he showed us and didn’t just tell us helped a lot. He would make up games that taught us different forms of writing and that helped us prepare and feel more comfortable with the whole experience.
I was never nervous before, during, or even after the exam. I worked hard on learning the correct technique and form, so I didn’t see a point in stressing over it. For me the writing part of the TAAS was the easiest, while taking it I had more of a feeling of excitement over nervousness. I see writing as the best way to get your point across if you’re a shy type of person.
I’ve found that the TAAS isn’t as hard as people make it out to be. If students are well prepared and not too nervous, the results will be a lot better. I think the TAAS was a good educational experience for me. It showed me what I’ve learned and how well I can or can’t grasp an idea and use it in life.
I hated the TAAS test. It took away from actually learning new information because our teachers were so consumed with preparing us for the TAAS that they seemed to forget we were in a class to learn and expand our knowledge, not MEMORIZE information to just forget it later. I think that some schools forget that it is a test to evaluate our knowledge, and that knowledge is not something that you memorize, but something that you learn. When I took the TAAS I sat there bored with plenty of time left, not even able to read when I got done!! (A book is part of English and I couldn’t even read one.) Once I had taken the TAAS test I was ecstatic about English class. My teachers started teaching and not drilling. My teachers were even happy to be done with it, until the results were in. Once we got the results in, our teachers would sit down and talk with us and tell us what we needed to improve on. Then, at the last minute they would say “Oh, good job!” I can’t even call the TAAS test an educational experience but rather a mind numbing task with no ultimate accomplishments. I know those are strong words but I feel strongly about the test. I love English; I hate the TAAS.
I have always run through TAAS fairly quickly so it never really bothered me having to take it. It got kind of old after taking it so many times, but I obviously didn’t have to take it as much as some of the other people in my class. The preparation was a crock. The teachers were not really trained to teach TAAS. Really they’re just kind of dingy, and I don’t know, its hard to explain. All in all, it wasn’t that bad, and was no where near being hard. I personally see it as busy work they use to help out the slower crowd.
I have been asked to respond on what I think of the TAAS Test. I feel that you should know that I have never really thought about, however I have formed somewhat of an opinion and I will respond to your questions as honestly as I can.
In highschool, I never really considered taking the TAAS test to be an experience, it was just something that I had to do. It was generally looked at as a break from the everyday routine of an English class. In class we always took at least a week or so to prepare. We used TAAS practice packets and worked in groups. Then the teacher would assist us with whatever we did not understand. I always felt like I was just doing what I was told to do. I honestly had feeling of boredom and annoyance, because the things that we were learning were things that we should have already known. On the days of the exams no one was nervous or worried, we were just ready to be done with the whole thing. The situation may have been different for my school district because by the time I reached highschool, I had already taken these tests three times. So when the time came in highschool everything was so repetitive, that you neither feared nor worried about these tests. Since I passed the previous years, I already knew what to expect. And once I recieved my results 1 was neer surprised or dissappointed, just satisfied. Overall, I do not feel that it was a good experience because I don’t understand how writing a “how to”, or a “narrative” can help now that I am in college. I feel that the TAAS tests in no way prepare you for college, much less senior english.
I have been taking the TAAS test since kindergarten and it has stressed me out so bad that I still remember a question on that test. In English class it was always a huge waste of time and kept us from learning somthing actually worth while. I always dreaded the days when we had to come and take the TAAS the rooms were always freezing and the teachers acted as though it was some torture camp one wrong move and they immediatly thought you were cheating. It was a horrible experience everytime even though I always scored well normally.
I have very little opinion of my TAAS experience when I was in high school as far as my personal performance is concerned. I was fairly certain that I would have little difficulty with the test, and I was right. On the essay portion of the writing exam, I scored a 3 (out of a possible 4) with almost no effort. I have no doubt that any sort of effort would have earned me a 4. Anyhow, I scored a 98 on the multiple choice proofreading portion of the writing exam. That was with a full effort, but any sort of 98, with or without effort, is commendable in my opinion. I did a decent job on reading. I don’t remember my score, but I know it was one point short of getting me TASP exempt (my scores for math and writing both qualified me as TASP exempt, but I needed to qualify in all three areas to be exempt from TASP.) As it turned out, my ACT scores of June 2000 made me exempt from the TASP test.
Anyhow, my frustration came when my class attempted to help a class of standard students with the essay portion of the TAAS test. This occurred early in the second semester of my sophomore year of high school. Many of the students could hardly write a complete sentence without making a mistake of some sort, regardless of how minor that mistake might have been. They definitely could not break their writing into paragraphs. Many would not work even if the teacher yelled at them and we students prodded them--they were better off to put their head on their desk and rest, write a note to a friend, or any other activity but write. I take great pride in my writing.
Thus, it hurt a bit that students would not take the help being offered by myself. However, I did not take it personally, because I knew that their lack of concern and/or talent for writing had nothing to do with me. I never found out how any of those students performed on TAAS. Obviously, I hope they performed as well as possible. Even if their chances, along with their efforts, seemed minimal, I had to hope for the best.
I never had a TAAS experience; I grew up in Virginia. We never really prepared for standardized tests in school. We took them every couple of years and all that really went on in the classroom is that we missed a couple of hours of classes and we learned the correct way to bubble in a scantron. I personally liked standardized tests. Maybe it was because I was a mediocre student and always seemed to score in the 95 percentile or better. The tests told me that I was not stupid and helped me not to give up on school. Also, scoring fairly well on the SAT’s helped me be able to get into college (where I am doing much, much better than I ever did in high school).
Even though, I have never had anything to do with the TAAS, I know that it is a system that is not working. From what I have heard, you are not in class to learn how to write a good and effective paper, you are in class to learn how to pass the TAAS test. I have read essays from people who have taken and passed the TAAS and their papers would be considered unacceptable to any of my English teachers. In fact these papers seem like they come from the remedial English classes. I think that the Texas government got it all wrong when they thought up the TAAS. It seems to be hurting students not helping them.
I never had to prepare for Taas. I do know it was a pain in my neck to take the test. I always passed them with no problem. They were a bore and too easy I think. I guess they are good for some people I guess.
I never had to take the TAAS test in high school but my school had us take practice SAT test and these others that showed then how much we remember. I think that it was important because it help us to practice. I feel that the SAT is a waste of time and does not prove anything or show how much you know. The sad thing is that we have to pay for it and everybody is at different levels of math and all had different teachers. That is why people don’t do good because the know that this means them getting in to college.
i never studied for the act i dont think i learned anything from them its not like they tell you what you got wrong so how can you learn anything if you dont know what you got wrong you may think that you know something really well and since you never see you test graded with what you got wrong you dont know that you need to learn it right i dont think it was a good experience but i got into college with my grade
I never took the TAAS test and didnt really know to study for my SAT.
I just moved to Texas 2 years ago and when I got here they told me in order to graduate I had to take the TAAS test. Texas and your tests, so much to worry about it’s hard enough studying for the SAT’S much less some other little pathectic test. I think the school boards or who every requaires it neds to throw them out!!
I never took the TAAS test because I went to school in Canada. I did, however, take the SATs before moving to Texas. I reviewed some but overall didn’t do much preparation for the test. The things I studied and practiced were vocabulary, analogies, and some math formulas I thought I might need to remember. Going into the test I was a little stressed out because I thought I should have made time to study more, but once I was writing it I felt more at ease. The SATs turned out not to be as hard as I thought they would, but I know if I had prepared more I would’ve done better. It was a good educational experience because it showed me how well high school paid off and how much information I had actually absorbed and could apply.
I never took the TAAS test or the TASP test. However I did take two different English AP exams. To prepare for them, my teacher gave us sample essays to write once a marking period. That really helped me develop writing skills. For the language usage part of the exam, we went over the basics, but not in great detail. We had previously had that information engrained in our heads from earlier English courses at my school. For the literature part of the exam, I had two teachers. My class switched back and forth between two different teachers over the course of my senior year. They had the class do a lot of reading such as Shakespeare, C. S. Lewis, and others. That really helped develop my comprehension skills and my attention to detail.
Preparing for those exams helped me develop skills that have really come in handy for college courses. Even if I hadn’t taken the AP exams, I still would have taken the preparation course because it was required at my school. I went to a small private school that was supposed to be a college preparatory school.
I never took the TAAS test. If the class were a subject on the standardized test then we would review the material approx. two weeks ahead of time in class to prepare for the test. I liked the fact that we would review the material, it helped me feel more prepared for the test. But after taking the same standardized tests over and over it seemed like a waste of time.
I only took the TAAS test in elementary school. The only thing I really remember was we had to write about a specific picture they gave us, we had to try to describe as much and as accuratly as we could. My class and I engaged in many activities and practice tests to help us to accomplish this task. I think that it was very useful and came in handy later in life when I had to write about something and was trying to “paint a picture” for the reader.
I do not feel that taking the TAAS test was an educational experience for me at all. It was like I had to go back in time and relearn everything I had already learned in middle school. Of course this process did not take as long because I already knew the material but what is the point in relearning stuff when your wanting to learn new material. At my high school we would spend everyday in English class preparing, we would learn hundreds of vocabulary words, do many writing tests, and practice test everyday. In my math class we would do a ton of math problems that related to the ones on the TAAS test, it would become extremely boring and all I wanted to do was learn math that I had never done before.