Testing History – Academic Equity Advocates

TESTING HISTORY:

The documents in this category focus upon the foundational years of the creation of the first formal public education accountability system in Texas starting officially in 1992-93. The preparation for that system started with the field testing of the TAAS test in 1989.

There will not be any NEW stories added to this category going forward. This captures the history of accountability creation and issues related to the transition of the second-era test of TAKS and transition to the current era of STAAR.

There WILL BE many articles published on the home page that refer and link to these documents.

The foundation of the systemic academic corruption of the student testing programs that extend through today’s State of Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (STAAR) testing program was created in the implementation of the Texas’ first accountability test – Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS).

Now, as your prepare to review the articles here:

Consider your common-sense knowledge of academic integrity as you evaluate this actual question from a 10th Grade TAAS ‘exit’ math test used as a component of asserting college readiness:

“At a restaurant, Steve ordered food costing $6.85. If he paid with a $20 bill, how much change should Steve receive?

Beyond the self-apparent upper elementary school standard of the question, also consider that parallel questions just using different numbers appeared on 5th and 6th and 8th grade TAAS tests over the TAAS testing era.

Consider your common-sense knowledge of academic integrity as you evaluate that during that era, Dallas I.S.D. advised the Texas Education Agency that its own student-by-student statistical correlation analysis confirmed that ‘passing the TAAS test’ in 10th grade math was equivalent to the 23rd percentile on the Iowa test of Basic Skills (ITBS). And, that passing the 10th grade English/Reading test in the 10th grade was statistically correlated to performing at the 10th percentile on the ITBS. And, that at the time the TEA was in a federal court defending the academic integrity of TAAS knowing of these correlations on what the State deemed to be ‘constitutional’ equity.

Here’s the deal if you genuinely want to understand:

The TEA launched its accountability system with pervasive compromises in even the pretense of academic integrity…
That the old saying “Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive…” very much represents the current deception of the STAAR testing era – different methods but same underlying methodologies of eviscerating even the appearance of academic integrity.

Here’s what we have in TESTING HISTORY (Includes some 35+ links to documents and reports):

Documents and reports and excerpts from these documents that provide a thorough understanding of the judicial, statutory, and administrative foundations of the accountability system of which closing the academic achievement gaps for at-risk, disadvantaged students was a directive accepted by the State of Texas.
Links to actual public record documents, reports, data and statistical analysis that remove any doubt about what happened and how it happened during these foundational years.
Actual public records and documents (and excerpts) showing the transition from TAAS to TAKS and from TAKS to STAAR. The chain of deception was forged in steel.
Published reports including news media stories (from the New York Times, The American Spectator, and the Houston Press & more) raising grave questions (and answers) to the issues of academic integrity.

All of these documents will be the focus of individual stories providing more context as Academic Equity Advocates continues publication, but we think it is important to publish the documents from the start. Here they are: