Volume 59, Issue 5  - September 18, 2006

For education majors
No THEA exemption
By Isis Lopez
Staff Writer

Exempt should mean exempt.

That is what sophomore education major Gracie M. Garza thought about her THEA exemption.

But Garza’s academic adviser told her that even though she was exempt from taking the Texas Higher Education Assessment because of her high score in the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, her major requires it.

Education majors are required to take the THEA, or one of three other exams, even though they are exempt from the tests by their TAKS score, university officials said.

The School of Education accepts only those students who score 260 or higher on the reading section of the THEA, although 230 is passing, Academic Advising Counselor Andreina Galvan said.

There are three other tests that students can take besides the THEA.

“It was the only test here in the state of Texas that a student would take before they could take college-level course work and it was also required for people that wanted to get into education,” Testing Office Director Patrick McGehee said.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board accepts the ASSET and COMPASS, offered by American College Test; the ACCUPLACER offered by The College Board; and THEA, offered by National Evaluation Systems Inc.

McGehee said 95 percent of education students are now taking the COMPASS.

He said National Evaluation Systems, which created the TASP (now THEA), was “the only game in town. State law changed that and opened it up to other testing companies, [and] now we have four exams.”

He said the university’s Nursing Department also requires its students to take one of the four tests.

McGehee said the COMPASS test is offered daily, the THEA six times a year.

Each test costs $39.