Problems w/ Standandized Tests

Dear Commissioner of Education, Education has always been an issue in everyday life, and continues today to be very important. The effectiveness of statewide testing has been under much discussion as President Bush has made education a top priority in his administration. In my opinion however, the method used in Texas, TAAS testing, is not effective and should not be implemented nationwide because this method pressures teachers to teach specifically toward the test, specifically encouraging …

…TAAS skills that a student has already mastered, it is literally a waste of time and talent. I hope that your state will consider doing the right thing, by not mandating statewide testing. Surely there are other ways we can evaluate our school systems and not put students in jeopardy or being held back from the joys of learning new information and our teachers from exploring new and exciting methods of encouraging students to learn.