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TAAS test were something that every student from my school had to go through. I seemed that we were brought up with only one task at hand. That was to pass this test and make our school look good. We had these special “workbooks” that we had learn out of. These workbooks consisted of different subjects. We had one for math, reading, writing, etc. English was really pushed in school. Of all the subjects, we had to know how to write the perfect paper for the English or writing part of the test. The teachers drilled into our heads the 5-paragraph system. We were told this was the only way to write, and anything else would be unacceptable. We were given prompts about a certain subject, and had to write a response using our learned system. It didn’t matter if the prompts had to do with anything we were learning at the time. As long as we could write the “perfect” paragraph we were considered good students. I remember having to take my writings home, and have them signed by my parents when I got a bad grade on them. I went against the system and was punished by it with grades.
Every year as testing time came around, teachers would start getting serious about passing this test. We were told, not in so many words, that we had to pass or else. This often made me nervous and uptight, but I knew I could do well.
After we took the test, usually about two months would pass before we would know the results. On my exit TAAS exam that I took when I was a sophomore, I did the best ever. By the time I took it I was a pro at testing and so I knew what to expect. My class had to take the TAAS almost every year, and because of this, I believe we had better results. If I could have had my way, we would have only taken the exit test.
TAAS testing is only a vague memory in my mind. Frankly, I beleve the TAAS test is an extremely easy test that does not provide proper assessment of high school students’ learning. TAAS should be administered at the junior high level because it only covers the basic rules of grammar and writing. I had no problem with the TAAS test, breezing through the entire exam. I did not have much preparation for it either. My teachers only reviewed a few grammar rules and formats for letters, persuasive essays, etc. I do not consider the TAAS a good educational experience since the test should be removed from the criteria for students to graduate.
TAAS testing wasted an abundance of valuable class time throughout my entire school career. Usually five or six daily questions were put on the overhead when the TAAS was near. Near, being at least a few months away. In addition to these repetitive questions writing prompts were given usually once a week. In my opinion, this is all pointless. The whole idea is to see how much the individual student is learning from his or her school experience, but we are trained to put down certain responses, and write in a certain style. So, the answers, responses, and writing really is not ours, it is how we were trained by others to think and respond. This helps in no way to get an accurate idea of how one individual student is performing in class on a day to day basis. Nor does this method reveal the students thinking process or why which answer was put, making mistakes difficult to correct. On top of that, rarely are the actual tests ever seen or reviewed by the student. Which leaves him or her at a disadvantage, not able to see actual mistakes and correct them. TAAS was not a good education experience for me because it is only a trained and taught procedure. Regular review for a test is necessary but learning the exact same information for months is not teaching how to learn, it is merely memorization.
TAAS was a boring waste of time for me in my English class. Since I could write I was instructed by my teacher that every paper I wrote was to be TAAS format. Three paragraphs an introduction and a conclusion. In each paragraph I had to have three reasons for each one of my points. When I reached high school I was shocked that I had been taught totally wrong. No high school english teacher wanted me to compose a paper like that. How was I supposed to write a ten page research paper like that? I had been taught wrong my whole life. Passing the TAAS was not hard for me ever. I always passed with some kind of recognition. In class I remember that we would have to spend so many months preparing for TAAS and the teachers hated it as much as we did. Some kids need to be tested on reading, writing, and all that good stuff but others don’t. The test should not have to be taken so often. Once you pass it great! You’re done. In high school I had to take the TAAS my sophomore year. I was in accelerated/GT English. Only a couple of weeks before the TAAS we stopped doing our normal everyday class work and studied for the test. My teacher apologized that we had to stop in the middle of our original lesson plans to practice for this test. I made a four on the writing. For me this test was a total waste of my time and instead I could have been enjoying my lesson in Les Miserables. As for the SAT now that is a big deal. The TAAS get rid of it I could care less, but the SAT, that score determines whether I get into a decent college or not. There were practice tests available everywhere in our town. The library had them and so did the school, free of charge. Others took advantage of the SAT preparation courses offered before and after school. Or you could just go to the local bookstore and spend anywhere from nineteen to thirty dollars on some book that was suppose to boost your score a whopping ten to fifteen points. There will always be some kind of standardized tests.
TAAS was a waste of time to me. I never prepared for it because I did not need to. The TAAS test was an extremely easy test to make sure you learned what you needed to learn in elementary school. If we would not have wasted so much time preparing for TAAS testing in high school we could have spent more time learning new things that could actually help us out in college. All the English portion consisted of was making sure you knew what a noun or verb was and knowing whether or not to use a period or question mark and they ask you these questions to high school level students. If you are in high school and do not have these basic skills you should not be in high school. I believe these students should be held back so that the students that do know what they are doing do not get held back academically.
TAAS was not a difficult test and many of the students are aware of that prior to the test. Though teachers stress doing well on it, students don’t have a serious mindset about it. The English teachers did several preparation exercises to prepare students such as writing exercises and grammar lessons, though the test was not nearly as difficult as teachers made it out to be. I also think that teachers may spend to much time on preparation work and stray away from the curiculumn.
TAAS was not an extravagant experience for me. In all classes, including English, TAAS was the main focus. I feel that it took away from the whole English experience. Instead of reading, or discussing topics, time was spent on writing the perfect TAAS response. So far, in college, I have discovered that it was virtually worthless, although it did teach a uniformed style of writing, it kept us from realizing that there are many different types of writing styles. “In short”(a little TAAS reference), TAAS, although great for instituting format, was not as worthy an adversary as free response.
TAAS was a pretty good experience for me, even though English hasn’t always been my strongest class. I really didn’t do any different activities, nor did I really prepare for the test itself. At that time I had just come from a private school, and suprisingly school was noticably easier. I always expected to pass the TAAS, even though I had never taken it before my freshmen year in high school. As I took the test, it seemed to be just like any other test. To no surprise I passed all parts. I think it was a good experience in that I took the test and I felt good about myself afterwards.
TAAS was one of my first experiences of the USA school system I was in the school for less than 3 weeks and I was told to “just write it to see how well you do”. I had very little experience on how Americans write English essays so I was nervous about the test.
When I came to write to test I was surprised at what an easy topic it was, letting the pupil write anything pertaining to the subject. I remember it was about sports I thought how is any grader going to get an indication of the students writing ability? I find the TAAS test rather irrelavant to the whole school life.
The test is a whole build up which has a let down result I found taking it was a neucense and not very reliable o judge the students ability. Although I passed fairly well I still think that if the seniors in high school took proper final exams on set by the government then the sophmores would not have to waste their time.
TAAS what can I say about the TAAS, well just that my high school loved getting everyone prepared for it. My junior year is when we took TAAS, that year my school started a program for preparation. We had an extra class in between our 2nd and 3rd period only on Monday and Wednesday. There we had different teacher help prepare us for the English and math portions. In English, we learned how to read prompt break them down, come up with ideas to write about the prompt. All the quiz and tests had a prompt which would be similar to that of the prompts on TAAS. Well when our class took them we broke a new record for the school because all the grades were up. I did good on the English, essay and math portion. I received academic recgonation in which case I was exempt from taking the TASP test. Although I did alright I did not like the TASP test because now thinking back on it. It does not help prepare for college English or math.
TAAS, I must admit, was one of the worst experiences of my entire scholarly career. Teaching the TAAS took up valuble class time and ate away at my own sensibilities. The questions were juvenile and pointless. The reason behind this shabby experience was simply the standardization of the test itself. By having to test the median learning of a class, it left those of us above and below the bell curve frustrated. The teachings were, to me, boring and useless. I tested high enough on my TAAS to have graduated high school in the third grade. Unfortunatly, this is why I cannot provide insight into the preperation for the exams. I never prepared for them. I ignored my teacher when we were studying for the TAAS and usually just scribbled out a half effort paper to pass. The scores, when they came back, were as to be expected. I learned nothing from the test.
TAAS, was what every teacher prepared you for each, and every year. My English teacher was very good at preparing us for this test, but we never really improved our writing skills. I hate any kind of test because we are judged by a score. This disappoints me because I really don’t enjoy being known as a name and score. TAAS got to be really old, and when we were young we thought that we were taking it for real. It turned out that not till our sophomore year was when it was for real. Most of my school years were focused on TAAS, and it became very boring were you never learned anything else, but TAAS skills.
TAAS, what can I say about TAAS? The main thing that I remember from the TAAS test was that I got to miss school the days the years in which I didn’t have to take the test. The year that I did take the test, I remember that all of my teachers were worried about everyone passing it. We’d spend hours each week preparing for it. I personally was not worried about it at all, because my best friend had taken it the year before. He had told me that it was the easiest test that he’d ever taken in his life. Turned out, it was much easier than I had even expected. I don’t remember my exact score on the test, but I do remember not studying for it at all or paying attention to any of my teachers lectures. I ended up receiving very high scores on it with very little effort. The test was too long and it was more or less a waste of my time.
Taking the TAAS test was a nail bitter for everyone. We started taking the TAAS test in elementary school so by the time I got to high school I was not so scared. That is just the same way I feel about college. By the time I was in college I was prepared and ready for any challenges. The experience on taking the test was normal to myself. Yes, I knew it was an important test and I really needed to pass but then again I thought of it like a regular test. In my high school we studied and studied in almost every class. So by the time the test was in front of my face I felt as if I was ready. I did not feel scared or worried because I knew I could do it. When I got the results I knew that the feeling I had was right. I passed and I felt great. The educational part is true. I did feel prepared and I felt as if I expanded my thinking skills. Many think that the TAAS test is and will always be a waist of time, But to me as a student I thought it to be a challenge and that is what students need in life. So all in all, I see the TAAS test as a learning experience and that experience helped to shape the student I am today.
Taking the TAAS test was really easy about 98% of my class pasted it. If they do give the TAAS they should consider giving it to younger students not high school. Plus, I didn’t and still don’t understand why you need to divide it in different days. Sometimes people would finish the test really eary they still had to to do another section.
Taking the TAAS was a nerve racking experience. Since everyone was making such a big deal out of it, saying that you could not graduate unless you passed it, it was a little scary. Before I got my test results I was not too worried because I was pretty confident that I had done a good job. It was not as hard as everyone made it seem.
Talk about the most nerve-racking part of middle and high school, even more so than biology. The TAAS was held to see if we were ready to go on to the next level, or smart enough. Every year this meant that we had to practice writing essays over topics that could appear as the prompt and that never seemed important; however, they never really emphasized correct grammar. Some practice it would be when you would be graded on it for grammar and punctuation as well. The procedures that we took to practice for it in English, was simply getting a prompt from old TAAS test and then write. Sometimes, the questions made no sense or seemed pointless, but don’t we have conversations like that everyday?
For me, I was a bit skeptical and nervous about the test and I always got test anxiety before, which made me do bad even though I knew how to do it. I did not want to get the test back and be compared by my friends that did better thus making me feel like a retard. I do not understand how they can judge how intelligent a person is or place them in certain classes because of the result of the test. What if they were just having a bad day?
Overall, taking the TAAS never prepared me for anything that was to come in life or college. It did show me that I need to overcome my fears and just prepare as best as possible. These tests also showed me what areas I needed to improve on before I took classes that I could not handle. In general, the test was a waste of time that took away from learning something important that could help me in other classes. Teachers would only teach what was on the TAAS as far as math went; for that reason, I fell behind other students that could catch onto math quicker.
If it was up to me, I would get rid of the TAAS and only go by test the teacher felt was appropriate. In the end, TAAS was a horrible, stress-causing roadblock in my learning.
The English portion of TAAS was really easy for me. I was in an Advanced Placement English course so we didn’t spend a lot of time on TAAS exercises, we were just expected to know it. It wasn’t too big of a deal for me because English is my better subject. The AP exam I was more prepared for. I was nervous about that, because we spent the entire year preparing for it. It really helped me a lot, in feeling prepared or my future college experience.
The entire TAAS experience for me was somewhat exhausting. The information and skills that needed to be known were constantly drilled in all my english classes. At one point I felt I was going to forget all that I had learned because I couldn’t take anymore. Especially, when it came down to weeks before the actual test, teachers became frantic, almost, and it only put more pressure on the students. Then when the test came and it sat, on my desk, in front of me, I felt horrified, because the topic was or seemed difficult. I think the teachers should focus more on the topic the test might be on, cause, in my case, my preactices in class didn’t relate at all to what I had to write about. Over all, though, I learned a lot and it was a very memorable experience.
The experience of TAAS in English classes was that in my sophomore English class we seemed to waste the whole year on trying to prepare us for TAAS. The teacher could us taught us more about English instead of TAAS preparation. Also in my school the sophomores have to give up their study session for a “TAAS study session” which is a 30-minute class every 2 weeks that has a teacher that teaches English to try to prepare us more for the TAAS English and Writing section. The TAAS isn’t such a big thing that needs to take a whole year of English class to “prepare” for it. I really don’t think that the TAAS English helped me in writing or grammar, it was just another test we have to take to graduate.