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The TAAS was not a bad experience for me, however I am tired of taking the test. I took the TAAS every year until,my freshman year in high school. Like always before the TAAS, every class had to do some TAAS preparation. This interupted our regular learning, because we had to write papers in every class. I think all of it is a waste of time. Besides what we did in class, I didn’t do any studing or reviewing of skills before the test. After the test, I knew I had done good because the math was just basic 8th grade math, and I am good at reading so I wasn’t too worried about that. When I got my results I had mastered all objectives and I scored a 4 on the writing. But in the math I was one point short of exempting the TASP. I don’t think TAAS proves anything because Texas keeps lowering the passing average which only helps those schools who have low TAAS scores. So in reality how are we going to know which schools need to work on their educaton? I think the test is stupid.
The TAAS was not that bad for me. I dreaded preparing for it. We spent countless hours working on old practice test that everyone hated the word TAAS. It was never that hard for me. It was just more time consuming and of little interest. We prepared so long and hard for it that I got academic recognition on the math and reading. All the work that we had in preparation made it seem pretty easy to me. I did about average on the writing part, as that was not strength of mine at the time. The writing seemed long. I believe from a personal standpoint the TAAS was a good experience for me. All the countless hours paid off in the end. I can’t speak for everyone though. I can remember some of my friends dreading the TAAS and it making their life hell. It was so hard for them. Their struggle resulted in many bad grades in class as well as having to re-take certain parts of it again. It seemed to them that it caused more problems than it helped. That is just the difference that it had on me and some of my fellow classmates. For me the TAAS was a good experience. It didn’t seem like it at the time, but now I feel it was. For some of my friends it was a nightmare.
The TAAS was very easy. It seemed to do nothing. The english part was very simple and I had no difficulty with it. I had not problem with the other parts of the exam. It was very easy and a waste of time. We could have been doing more productive things than the TAAS.
The TAAS writing was a very easy thing for me. I didn’t like doing it, but it was easy. I think the English classes made too much of a big deal out of it. My activities and feelings as I prepared for the test every year that I took it (not just at the exit level, but at all levels) were inconsequential. I didn’t see it as anything to stress over. I definitely didn’t like how many promts the english teachers made us do to get ready for this amazingly simple task. I am, however glad that they made me do it. I can now write on any number of topics with little problem because of those practice prompts. I never stressed over the results of the TAAS test, I knew I would do well, and I don’t mean that to sound conceited, I just have always been very confident in my ability. Overall, I wouldn’t call it a good experience, but I wouldn’t call it a bad one either.
The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test, better known as the TAAS, is used as a high school exit level test. That is what it is supposed to used for. If you was me it is a joke and an insult to students who take the exam. I have taken the test so I know all about it, first of all it is like an eight grade level exam. If you cannot pass the TAAS test I personally feel you do not belong in high school. One reason I am so bitter about this exam is all we ever did from elementary to middle school and even the first years of high school was get ready for the TAAS test. I feel my education was a waste of time, always doing practice TAAS problems or practice writings.
My mother is a public school teacher in Texas and they put extremely high pressure on the teachers to get those scores up. The only reason schools care about the test is so they can put that banner up that says it is an exemplary campus. Somehow the state must have interest in this I exam, maybe they are receiving money or something but it has to be some kind of conspiracy.
Why do they push this TAAS down our throats so much? I have gone to Texas public schools since I was five and took numerous TAAS test. By the time I was a sophomore in high school I was so sick of the silly test I could have ripped it in half when it was passed out. My school took it so serious that if a certain amount of people passed they would take us to Schlitterbahn. If they were less concerned about TAAS and more concerned about learning I feel I would have been ten times more ready for college.
I never paid attention to any of the reviews for the TAAS because they were so boring and if I knew we were doing TAAS review I would skip school. The night before the math section of the test I went out with some friends aid drank beer and got I in late. I went to take the test still half drunk on about 3 to 4 hours of sleep, and my scores were still perfect. Now I am not bragging about my foolishness but I am just trying to explain to you how easy this test really is. My only motivation to pass the test was to of course be able to graduate and so my teachers would not be fired. I was the least bit concerned about personal gain or trying to prove something to myself. I hope my input will help show everyone how dumb the test really is.
The whole idea of the TAAS test is a sad joke. From the first day of first grade it’s all I heard about. Really, it was all the teachers were allowed to talk about! We had to PREPARE for the upcoming test, even though it would be two years before I even took it. The schools were all in competition. Who would be awarded for the highest scores this year? If it was our school, we got a pizza party. Come on kids, this test is really important, you’ve got to do well on it! Why? I always wondered why we couldn’t just read books for fun, we had to analyze and spell check and see if this verb fit here or there. Give me a break! We were 6 and 7 year old kids! Drills, drills, drills. TAAS practice tests. Everything was always timed. For what reason, I still wonder why they don’t just let the teachers teach, rather than quiz out of a manual for twelve consecutive years. The TAAS test is way over rated. I feel that kids should learn more from school than simply what is on some pointless test.
The whole TAAS experience for me was pretty much a total waste of time. Year after year, we studied for the same test that year after year was incredibly easy. All the time that we spent on studying for this test we could’ve been working on something to expand our knowledge. We did little analogy activities, talked about the whole 5 paragraph essay and how to tackle it, and went over little simple forumlas that help us take the test. When I took the test I felt like I had already taken it 30 times that year alone. When I got the results I thought that would also be a waste of my time because I already knew the results. Once you pass the TAAS test once, it’s pretty much the same thing year after year, just a little bit harder. Overall, it was an educational experience that wasted much of my time learning how to do a few simple things.
In the early years of High School, TAAS was a big deal. Before the TAAS test, our school babied us--fed us a huge breakfast and provided sweets in the testing room. They also gave us an incentive to do well. If 90% of the class passed we would get to go on a trip. It was easy, but we were also over prepared. It didn’t bother me then, but now I wish that we had spent more time learning the content rather than the layout of the test.
The whole TAAS experience was boring. If the topics were better than maybe it wouldn’t have been as boring. Preparation was a long process. My class would have a warm up everyday in class for the test. We really worked on the passages, and their questions. It was educational, and when I look back it was a good thing. If it wasn’t a mandatory test, then I wouldn’t have worked hard to pass it. If I had to take the test for regular english class then I would have looked at the test different. In school I didn’t prepare for the SAT. I had to do that on my own. The school would tell me that I need to take the test, but they had no SAT prep class. I used a disk to help me prepare for the test.
This might sound a little rude but the TAAS test was B.S. We spent all year practicing for that stupid test when we could be learning about things to better prepare us for life. When the “big day” arrived and it was time for me to take the test I found that it was the eaisest test ever given to me. I could have passed it without ever looking at any practice worksheets. My teachers could have been helping me with my A.C.T.’s and S.A.T.’s instead of wasting their time with the TAAS test.
Throughout my high school career I was being prepared to pass the infamous TAAS test. English classes persisted on forcing the same information on how to pass the writing portion of it. They would say use the Jane Schafer technique of writing the paper. This was to state a fact, called a concrete detail, and follow it with at least three commentaries, or supporting details. I was well prepared but still managed to pull off the minimum score of a 2. The TAAS was made to assess people. I felt I was a decent writer, but the test said otherwise. Because of this I don’t believe in the accuracy of the test.
To be completely honest with you I hated the TAAS test. I think it was a total waist of time. In preparing for these tests our teachers would usually hand out a bunch of worksheets for us to complete. They were always very easy and no help what so ever. In our English class we would spend a couple week doing writing prompts in preparation for the TAAS. Not only were they boring, but they usually didn’t help much. The tests themselves were quite simple also. I got academic recognition for the TAAS, and I think I mastered most of the sections.
It wasn’t a very pleasant experience. I remember sitting in the rooms sleeping because I was through with my test. They wouldn’t let me bring a book or something to do when I was through, so all I could do was sit there. I also think it was stupid that we were not allowed to leave when we were finished. I never understood what the harm would be in letting us leave early. No one ever took the entire time to finish, so there would be a bunch of bored kids waiting for thirty minutes until they were allowed to leave. The TAAS tests, in my opinion, are pointless. They are a complete waist of everyone’s time including the teachers. I think the time spent in preparing for and taking these tests should be spent learning something more valuable.
To be honest i think there was too much preparation for taas, i mean we took too many practice tests for it and wasted a lot of time on it in class. i passed it very successfully in the 8th grade so it doesnt take very many acedemic skill and certainly not as much studying and prep we did for it
To be perfectly honest the TAAS experience wasn’t one that I enjoyed. I felt like we, as a class, were going over things that we had learned years ago. As I prepared to take the test all I felt was unhappiness. I do not like the TAAS test and I am glad I know longer have to deal with it.
To me as a learning disabled student I have found that most standardized testing is an unfair way to track a students growth through education. The TAAS for me was a difficult test to take. I was almost 7 when I found out I had dyslexia this was what I would be labeled with through out my schooling life. These test did not prove to any of my teachers or my parent as to what I could do. It only discouraged me in my feeling of different. I testing not a base at the understanding of material. I have seen many young students just like me go through school and feel like they did not learn one thing. I also know students with the same problems as me who gain a welth of knowledge but still they could not prove this through test. But ask them questions on the subjects and they will know all the answers. To me I feel that those types of test can be discriminatory in many way I feel that even by which area of the country you take the test some will not understand. Over all the testing system is a good thing. Yes I know I just said I disagreed with them but this is also a way to find students like me. Some may not understand but they will see what is wrong this will help. What I don’t agree with to judge the ability of the student. This issue should be looked into an studied more and more.
To me the test was pointless. I think it is just a big waste of time. I don’t think tests like that are very good because you can’t really judge a person’s ability to write on one test. Another thing that bothers me about these tests is that the teacher focuses so much on the TAAS that they don’t teach anything else but that. Therefore it cheats the students out of other information that would be more helpful to the students education.
Very simple and basic grammar and writing skills are tested on the TAAS test. I had absolutely no difficulty mastering the TAAS test. I thought that it was a waste of my time preparing for these exams because it was all information that I already knew. My English class spent countless hours preparing for the TAAS, which only consists of skills that most people learn in middle school. I also hated how everyone had to use a certain amount of time during the test before they were allowed to go on to the next section. I probably only used one half to three fourths of the time they allowed us. I was not worried at all that I was in danger of failing the TAAS. I did not even study my results. All I know is that I passed. I believe that for some people the TAAS may be a good educational experience, because if they are having a problem with reading, grammar, or mathematics, the TAAS is a good way to help them pinpoint their weaknesses so that they can correct them. For me, I thought that the TAAS was worthless, boring, and a waste of my time that could have been spent learning things that I didn’t already know. I do agree that it should be a requirement to pass the TAAS before people can graduate high school because if they cannot even master the simple skills on the TAAS then obviously they do not know enough to graduate. If people cannot even pass the TAAS test how do they expect to get into college. The ACT, SAT, and TASP test exercise much mare difficult skills that the TAAS. I believe that the TAAS gives students a false sense of what to expect on other standardized tests like the ACT and SAT. These tests are so much more difficult than the TAAS. I think that more class time should be spent on emphasizing how important the SAT and ACT tests are because those are the tests
Well I never like tests. To be honest I hate them especially test that you have to take to graduate or to get into a college. I believe that it is very dumb not every, one is good at taking tests and I am one of those people. Anyway when I took the TAAS I passed all of the subjects except for the math. I thought that it was the hardest thing in the world. Well I eventually took it again and passed with a 70 or something. I never studied for it and I don’t really think that the teachers prepared us for it. I think they would encourage us to be positive and pass but like that really help. I think that I would have been better of not taking the stupid test it was a waste of time and it puts a lot of pressure on us or me to pass and do good just to please teachers or principles. When I got back my results I felt so nervous and I didn’t really want to see what kind of grades that I had received. When I did look I found out that I had failed the math I was down for the reminder of my days at school but just until I took it again and passed the test. So I feel that it should be done away with. If you really want to view the intelligence of a high school kid or see if he qualifies for what ever you look for just look at his grades or progress in the classroom. That’s all that really matters.
Well I never really had a talent for writing so the English portion of the TAAS test was always a nightmare. I never scored poorly on the tests because I always had to write persuasive papers and I can persuade anyone to do anything. By my sophmore year in high school I was so sick of hearing about the TAAS test, I usually slept when the teacher was talking, because I wasn’t really learning anything new. My school preached TAAS, we always had visitors from other schools coming to find out how we prepared. Taking the test didn’t scare me it was just the fact of knowing that I was going to take a 45 minute test and then I was going to be stuck in that room all day with nothing to do. Overall my TAAS experience wasn’t bad it was just boring.
Well I took the TAAS many years ago but I can help with what I can remember. In English I didn’t feel a change because I enjoy english and writing in fact I felt that there was not enough space to write all my ideas on the topic. I had math tutoring scheduled 2 times a week prior to the TAAS which did help since my skills are weak in math. So I felt the TAAS helped because it gave me a reason to work on my weak areas.