TAKS Article

Understanding the TAKS Test ©

by John Vega / Staff Writer @ TAKS Strategies.com

Part of any successful enterprise involves deep understanding—
And so it is with the TAKS.

Section 1: Teacher’s Basic Understanding

Before we begin, let’s review some basic terms will that will be used in this article.

· TAKS – Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
· TEKS – Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
· TAKS Objectives – Content specific objectives tested on TAKS.
· TEKS Student Expectations (SEs) – This is the minimum of what a student is expected to know for the specific content (reading,
math, science, etc.); test items will measure this content on the TAKS test.

Let’s take the 3rd grade Reading test, since this is a high-stakes test for the student, meaning the student must pass to be promoted to the 4th grade.

The test measures four objectives.

Objective 1: The student will demonstrate a basic understanding of culturally diverse written texts.

Objective 2: The student will apply knowledge of literary elements to understand culturally diverse written texts.

Objective 3: The student will use a variety of strategies to analyze culturally diverse written texts.

Objective 4: The student will apply critical-thinking skills to analyze culturally diverse written texts.

Below each objective are the TEKS that will be tested on the reading test.

Section 2: Connection between TAKS Objectives & TEKS

Let’s take Objective 1, 3.9H

(3.9) Reading/comprehension. The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend selections read aloud and selections read independently. The student is expected to

(C) retell [or act out the order of] important events in stories (K–3); and

(H) produce summaries of text selections (2–3). For this particular expectation, the student is expected to produce a summary on the test.

Now let’s look at Objective 4, 3.9F

(3.9) Reading/comprehension. The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend selections read aloud and
selections read independently. The student is expected to (F) make and explain inferences from texts such as

determining important ideas, causes and effects, making predictions, and drawing conclusions (1–3); For this particular expectation, the student must be able to point out causes and effects in a story, make text-dependent predictions, and draw conclusions form the selection.

In summary, the teacher must know the specific objectives along with the student expectations that will be measured on the test.

Section 3: TAKS Blueprint


Next, the teacher needs to look at the TAKS Blueprint to see how many question each objective will have.


The action plan for the teacher must include understanding what types of items are measured for each objective. We have already looked at summarization, causes and effects, making, predictions, and drawing conclusions- these are but a few.

The student must also have a basic understanding of setting, plot, characterization, and text structure. The teacher must analyze each objective and draw out the skills to be taught throughout the year.

If the teacher takes the time to analyze, her class can expect 100% passing on test day.

Section 4: Sources and Resources

TEA

TAKS Reading

TAKS Help

TAKS Math

TAKS Prep