Ben Sklar for The New York Times
Students at Akins High School in Austin. The principal, Daniel Girard, said he worries that if the state cuts back on standards, "some adults may not push kids on the potential that is there when it's not required by the state as a graduation plan."
AUSTIN, Tex. — In this state that spawned test-based accountability in public schools and spearheaded one of the nation's toughest high school curriculums, lawmakers are now considering a reversal that would cut back both graduation requirements and standardized testing.
Ben Sklar for The New York Times
In the state that spawned test-based accountability in public schools, some parents and educators believe it has resulted in limited flexibility.
The actions in Texas are being closely watched across the country as many states move to raise curriculum standards to meet the increasing demands of employers while grappling with critics who say testing has spun out of control.
The Texas House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill this month that would reduce the number of exams students must pass to earn a high school diploma to 5, from 15. Legislators also proposed a change that would reduce the required years of math and science to three, from four. The State Senate is expected to take up a similar bill as early as this week.
The proposed changes have opened up a debate in the state and beyond. Proponents say teachers will be able to be more creative in the classroom while students will have more flexibility to pursue vocational or technically oriented courses of study.
But critics warn that the changes could result in the tracking of children from poor and minority families into classes that are less likely to prepare them for four-year colleges, and, ultimately, higher-paying careers.
"What we all know is when you leave it up to kids and schools, the poor kids and kids of color will be disproportionately not in the curriculum that could make the most difference for them," said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a nonprofit group that advocates for racial minorities and low-income children.
Texas is currently an outlier in both the number of exit exams it requires students to pass and the number of courses its default high school curriculum prescribes.
Legislators raised the number of high school exit exams to 15 from 4 in 2007, a year after they passed a law to automatically enroll all high school students in a curriculum that mandates four years of English, science, social studies and math, including an advanced algebra class. (Students may enroll in a less rigorous course of study with the permission of their parents.)
Texas now requires more than double the number of end-of-course exams used in any of the eight states that currently mandate that students pass such exams, according to the Education Commission of the States. And only two other states and the District of Columbia set similar graduation requirements, according to Achieve, a nonprofit organization that works to upgrade graduation criteria.
Here in Texas, the backlash has been fiercest among parents and educators who believe testing has become excessive, particularly after a period when the state cut its budget for education.
On a recent afternoon, Joanne Salazar pulled out a copy of a testing calendar for the school in Austin where her daughter is a sophomore. "Of the last 12 weeks of school, 9 are impacted by testing," Ms. Salazar said. "It has really started to control the schedule."
Test critics also argue that standardized tests stifle experimentation in the classroom. "It turns our schools into these cookie-cutter manufacturing plants," said Dineen Majcher, president of Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment, a grass-roots group.
Some educators say the tests do not account for students who learn at different paces. "We expect every student to perform at certain levels with the same amount of time," said H.D. Chambers, superintendent of the Alief Independent School District west of Houston. "That's fundamentally flawed."
But at a time when about half of the students who enroll in community colleges in Texas require remedial math classes, Michael L. Williams, the state's commissioner of education, called the proposed changes "an unfortunate retreat."
"What gets tested gets taught," Mr. Williams said. "What we treasure, we measure."
Champions of more stringent graduation requirements say they also help push students — particularly those who do not come from families in which college attendance is assumed — to achieve at levels they might not have considered on their own.
Since the tougher recommended curriculum was signed into law, the proportion of Texas high school graduates taking at least one Advanced Placement exam who were from low income backgrounds rose to 45.3 percent in 2012, from 30.5 percent in 2007.
But some argue that the current recommended curriculum could drive more students to drop out if they struggle with advanced courses. (The graduation rate in Texas actually rose from 63 percent in 2007 to 72 percent in 2011, the most recent year for which state education agency data is available.)
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