The Significance of the TAAS Test for Mexican Immigrant and Mexican American Adolescents: A Case Study

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Abstract
This article draws primarily from a 3-year qualitative case study to offer evidence that high-stakes testing is one among a number of alienating features of schooling. The focus is on low-achieving Mexican-origin students attending a segregated, urban high school located in Houston, Texas. The data show that the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test often discourages regulartrack, Mexican American and Mexican immigrant students from completing high school or considering a college education. The required, English-only nature of the exit test is also highlighted as a key reason why limited-English-proficient, primarily Mexican immigrant, students fail to meet the passing requirement at high rates. High-stakes testing is characterized herein as embedded within a larger logic that systematically negates Mexican youths’ culture and language.

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