Texas' Education Reform

Recently there have been many Education Reforms taking place in different States. After NCLB’s attempt to raise standards by requiring more testing many legislatures are now heading in the opposite direction. Lawmakers have been looking into reducing the amount of standardized tests that are required to graduate from high school. Some states will have new graduation requirements that do not require that students take four years of math science, social studies and English. Students will have more time for “technical training” leading to high-paying industrial jobs.

Like many other states Texas is rethinking its testing curriculum standards. The Texas House has approved 145-2, HB 5 that allows students to graduate without having to take Algebra II or other advanced math and science classes. Republican Sen. Dan Patrick, chairman of the Senate Education Committee states that, “algebra II should no longer be treated as the ‘holy grail’ of education”. The number of high-school standardized tests in core subjects has been reduced to five from the original fifteen tests that were established in 2009. I’m sure students will be pleased to know about this, but I also fear that Texas may be moving a bit too fast with its changes.

Of course like any current issue there are those who favor the change and those who entirely oppose it. Some say the change will be great because it will reduce the amount of high-school dropouts caused by the great amount of students who do poorly in the standardized exams. It will also help students be better prepared to join the workforce without needing to graduate from a four year college that come along with a lot of debt. Others however, are not in favor of the change and believe there should be more time and thought put into it before making a decision. Many believe the proposed curriculum changes will create mediocrity. They do favor a change, but fear that schools will shift from testing to not testing at all while many school districts will only offer enough courses to meet the new minimum requirements.

As a future teacher I am glad to hear that there are reforms going on although it does worry me a bit. I do believe a change is needed regarding existing testing policies. However, I do not believe that nearly eliminating testing is the solution. Every school should aim to have high standards, but not every standard should be required to graduate. Legislatures need to be careful not to head in a complete opposite direction that may not have the outcome desired. It’s true that there are probably many students who do better in life without even attending college, but there are also many who would do better in life if they did attend college. Every student in high school has a distinct and unique future. We should encourage them to continue with there education, but at the same time we should offer them real life standards that will help them experience their future life in the best possible manner.