As one-fourth of the eighth-graders attending school in the Temple Independent School District wait to see if they’ll be high school students in the fall, there remains great debate over Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills testing.

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.

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.

And according to workers at private schools, TAKS testing is actually a sticking point for many parents, since students who attend parochial and private schools don’t have to take the test.

“We’ve heard from parents that had their children in public schools that they didn’t like the fact that so much emphasis is placed on a single test,” said Karen Luckett, the dean of students at Central Texas Christian School. “We hear concerns about teaching being strictly based to correlate to the test.”

“I’ll be honest - we do get some students at this school whose parents are tired of testing in public schools,” she said. “They want their students to have a well-rounded education, that isn’t based on passing a test.”

At CTCS students are tested using the Stanford Achievement Test Series, commonly referred to as the SAT, which should not be confused with the college entry SAT test.

Ms. Luckett said the students at CTCS, which has kindergarten through 12th-graders, are tested every year, however they are not held accountable for the results.

“I think that by not putting so much emphasis on testing, you get truer results,” Ms. Luckett said. “A student is not cramming in information they know will only be on the test, and they’re not going to be stressing out over it.”

CTCS uses the tests as a gauge, she said.

“They’re used to determine how well the students are grasping concepts, and how well we’re teaching them,” she said.

“If we can find patterns where students are struggling, we can use the information to work with them and improve our curriculum,” Ms. Luckett said. “We don’t believe there’s a reason to hold a student accountable for a single test, though.”

Students who are home schooled don’t have to participate in TAKS testing either.

“I know there are an awful lot of people who complain about (TAKS testing) in public schools, but I can’t speculate as to whether or not it makes a difference in the number of kids being home schooled,” said Tim Lambert, president of the Texas Home School Coalition.

“We don’t tell parents who are home schooling their kids not to test them,” he said, adding that a lot of home school children are being tested with national standardized tests.

“They’re the same types of tests that students are taking in public schools, it’s just the emphasis being placed on the results is up to the parents,” Lambert said.

For the eighth-graders attending TISD schools, their good or bad news could come any day. For the first time, they’re being held accountable for their scores and language arts skills in order to be promoted to high school.

This spring marked the third opportunity for the students to take the test. TISD finished the school year with 584 total students in eighth grade, and 140 students had to take the TAKS for a third time.

“I can’t really speculate on what goes on (in terms of testing) at private schools or how that may impact enrollments,” said Lisa Diserens, TISD director of accountability, assessment and teams. “We’re serving the public, so we follow the guidelines that are put forward for us.”

She did say that parents focus heavily on district state accountability ratings, and they have direct connections to TAKS scores.

“Personally, I feel as though the (TAKS) tests are in the best interest of the students,” Ms. Diserens said. “The results let them know where they may need to grow or work harder.”

She said she also believes testing gives the district a chance to see where they need to improve, or where they may merit recognition.

As for claims that districts are basing their curriculum around the test, Ms. Diserens said it’s not the case.

“TAKS tests, and the questions and content in them are pulled directly from the curriculum. It’s not the other way around,” she said. “The idea that school districts base their curriculum around the TAKS is just not true, at least not in our case.”

Ms. Diserens said she has not run into a parent who has tried to pull their student from TAKS testing.

“If you want your child to graduate or move to the next grade level, they have to pass the test,” she said. “I think parents understand that. We do a good job communicating that to them.”

Parents interviewed said they didn’t understand why so much emphasis was placed in TAKS.

“I really don’t understand it,” said Raymond Walsh, who has a fifth-grader in the TISD. “I don’t know how a single test indicates how smart you are. You could be a great student and hard-worker, but be a bad test-taker.”

Walsh said he’s just glad the students get the retake opportunities.

“I was tested a lot in school, but I don’t ever remember having to pass one just to move on. I’m glad I’m not the one taking it,” he said.

Sara Beniot, who has a 10th grader at Temple High School, said she didn’t know the students in private schools were tested differently.

“I don’t like the fact that so much weight is placed into one type of test, and I hope someday that changes, but still, you have plenty of chances to retake the tests,” she said.