The TECAT, the Texas Examination of Curre~ñT7iïfiĩiintstrators and Teachers, is a test of basic literacy that iυas given to Texas teachers in March, 1986. The test, seen as politically essential to leverage a tax increase and pay raise for teachers, was in tended to raise thepublicesţeemof teachers by weedingo~ĩīfĩñcompeteñts. Teachers ex pended massive effort in reviewing basic skills and drilling on test format. After tiυo tries^99% of the 210,000 who took theΊéŝT had passed. Shopjeachers, spec¡aleducation-teachers, and coaelies werej¡verrepre-senteð^nom ¡ Jhę^faúure L The,costs of district-sponsored lũōřkğhops and the inservice day to take the test brought its public cost to a sum 10 times greater than policy makers had anticipate^. Though most teachers agreed that literacy skills are prerequisite to good teaching, jmradoxically, most also reported that being threaten ed by a loiυ-level test of fundamental skills was demoralizing. Ironically, many think that the TECAT damaged publicesteem for teachers because stories about incompetence in teaching and portrayals of teachers' trepidation appeared alongside examples from a very easy test.
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