But the TAAS is not the answer. We have felt that for so long because we are shortchanging the kids. They aren't getting a broad education. The Texas Education Commission office has been a fairly unresponsive, lumbering giant for more than 20 years. The teaching and the test are going to match.
Some schools do too much on drill and review.
Mindless drill is not necessary. In response to the criticism that children are losing out on a broad education, Ratcliffe said Governor Bush and the education commissioner, Jim Nelson, both believe schools must focus on reading because children who can't read struggle in other areas. The Texas legislature enacted a law, however, that will require tests to include science and social studies in three years. Ratcliffe said that Texas does not include students who earn GEDs as dropouts, which lowers the dropout rate. Another reason academic gains were inflated was that the number of exemptions for special education students rose, according to the RAND issue paper, which Ratcliffe confirmed.