About 24 percent of the eighth-graders in the Temple school district are waiting to see if they will be high-schoolers next year, after retaking the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test last week.

It was the third opportunity for the students to take the test. For the first time, eighth-graders are being held accountable for their scores and language arts skills in order to be promoted to high school.

TISD finished the school year with 584 total students in eighth grade, while about 140 students were involved in testing last week.

“It’s a waiting process right now for those students who are on their third chance,” said Lisa Diserens, TISD director of accountability, assessment and teams.

Ms. Diserens said the school would be sending out students’ answers this week to be scored. Students who retook the test should know their high school fate within the next two weeks.

Statewide estimates had at least 55,000 eight-graders retaking the test last week, according to several articles.

“The current group of students is use to this type of testing,” Ms. Diserens said. “Even though this is the first time eight-graders are being held accountable, when these students were in third and fifth grade, they were required to pass before moving to the next grade level.

“I wouldn’t say that our (retake numbers) are any higher than they have been in the past for this current group of students,” Ms. Diserens said.

Across the state, eighth-graders took the test for the first time in March and were given an opportunity at a retake in April.

Ms. Diserens said students who don’t pass the test the first time are placed in special groups, where they are matched up with a teacher who individually tutors them. Ms. Diserens said the groups have a 10:1 student to teacher ratio, and the teachers assist the students until they pass the test.

According to testing rules, teachers who administer TAKS tests are not allowed to look at the answers before or after testing.

“There are a number of other factors that go into a student being promoted,” Ms. Diserens said. “Some of the students who are retaking this test may not have met the district’s requirements in passing the grade level, when it comes to grades and attendance.”

Texas laws are among the strongest in the country when it comes to standardized testing. Besides third- , fifth- and eighth-graders being held accountable for their test scores before being promoted, high school students are held responsible for an exit-level TAKS exam, which they must pass before they are allowed to graduate.

“I think the way testing is set up now gives the students a big boost in the long run,” Ms. Diserens said. “These students will be used to the process. They will know that they have to pass the tests again in high school before they can graduate.

“The kids are going to benefit from the accountability factor,” Ms. Diserens said. “Unfortunately, a lot of the students who have had trouble with exit-level testing in high school over the last couple years haven’t been held accountable in the past.”

TAKS critics often question the value of strategic preparation, wondering if valuable classroom time is wasted because teachers are forced into teaching for the test.

A study conducted by Creative Consumer Research of Houston revealed more than 60 percent of those surveyed said the TAKS has “reduced learning to how well a student can take a test,” according to The Dallas Morning News.

Fifty-three Temple High School seniors were not allowed to participate in their graduation ceremony in June after they failed to pass the exit-level TAKS exam. According to the TISD event calendars, several of those students will be retaking the test in the next two weeks in order to receive their diplomas.