Dangers of Technology with New Online STARR

A student’s thoughts about the online State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness

BY NORA ESSINGER

(WITH THE HELP OF ERICA ZATZKIN)

Technology may be the greatest thing to ever happen to us. But this year, I thought about how it could be dangerous to our future, as students.

The STAAR test is a test that Texas students, grades 3-8, take, and is an acronym for State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness. 2011 was the first year Texas students began to take the exam. STAAR replaced the TAKS, or

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. In the beginning, districts administered a paper exam. Many districts in Texas, however, started taking the test online. But because Houston Independent School District was a bit late to the trend, we started this year. These are my thoughts about the change to an online STARR.

What is really bad about the online STAAR test? What might scare students, parents, and teachers?

Honestly, the unknown scares students, parents, and teachers. Everyone knows how to bubble in an answer document, but not everybody is familiar with the numerous new possible ways to answer a question, i.e., type your answer, choose the best answer from multiple choices, drag and drop your answer

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