Texas Phasing In New End-Of-Term Exams For Freshmen

The Houston Chronicle (10/11, Brown) reports that next spring, high school freshmen in Texas will begin taking the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam at the end of the term, but notes that "teachers won't know how the exams will be scored until February, about a month before students take" them. "The uncertainties surrounding the new tests, which are replacing the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exams, have school districts scrambling to prepare teachers and students," the Chronicle reports, adding that administrators "their strategy is to work to make sure teachers are covering all the material in the state curriculum."