The TAAS Case: A Recapitulation and Beyond

Abstract

The authors organize this article around five areas of discussion: First is a recapitulation of the major issues germane to the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills case. Next, the authors discuss the second wave of standards-based school reform in Texas, embodied in Senate Bill 4, pending legislation that would eliminate social promotion and institutionalize retention at several promotional gates for students who fail the state-mandated achievement test. The third section discusses a development at the federal level that could have profound effect on limiting the use of high-stakes tests in standards-based school reform movement in the United States. The fourth part, addressed to psychometricians and policy makers, reviews some of the lessons learned about state-mandated testing from the TAAS case. The final section speculates on what the real agenda for the TAAS may be in terms of maintaining the general social and economic value of the high school diploma at the expense of nondominant racial/ethnic students.