http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/when-an-adult-took-standardized-tests-forced-on-kids/2011/12/05/gIQApTDuUO_blog.html
A longtime friend on the school board of one of the largest school systems in America did something that few public servants are willing to do. He took versions of his state’s high-stakes standardized math and reading tests for 10th graders, and said he’d make his scores public.
We live in a time when the role of local school board member has been greatly reduced by the overstep of the federal government and its imposition on states' rights. On face value, that such a board member would take the test is minutia and less than newsworthy. Unless...
I asked him what he now thought about the tests he’d taken. “I won’t beat around the bush,” he wrote in an email. “The math section had 60 questions. I knew the answers to none of them, but managed to guess ten out of the 60 correctly. On the reading test, I got 62% . In our system, that’s a “D”, and would get me a mandatory assignment to a double block of reading instruction.Federal validation that local school board members know nothing of which they speak and govern - justification for legislating the control of public education from their foolish hands.
Holy shit! A Bachelors, Two Masters, and credit towards a Doctorate? This guy must have bought his degrees from some fly-by-night internet diploma mill. Masters and Doctorates? No legitimate university would convey such degrees on a student who earns nothing more than a "D" and requires double reading blocks to assuage the test-makers.
He continued, “It seems to me something is seriously wrong. I have a bachelor of science degree, two masters degrees, and 15 credit hours toward a doctorate.
“I help oversee an organization with 22,000 employees and a $3 billion operations and capital budget, and am able to make sense of complex data related to those responsibilities.
What you don't know about this test-taker is a run-of-the-mill schmuck that ed reformers would have you believe of all school board members. His children are well educated adults. He lives in a nice home in an affluent part of town, owns a condo in the Caribbean and has racked up the frequent flier miles to go with it. He's well-respected with influential friends, wins his elections by large margins, engages in open dialogue, and is held in high regard by teachers, administrators, unions, and parents.
And this part here, what he tells us, sums the millions of reasons that THE TEST is a sham:
“If I’d been required to take those two tests when I was a 10th grader, my life would almost certainly have been very different. I’d have been told I wasn’t ‘college material,’ would probably have believed it, and looked for work appropriate for the level of ability that the test said I had.So, fellow bloggers, it's time to use our collective voice and demand that our Governor take the DAMN test, himself. He won't. And if we actually succeed in getting his attention, he'll probably get his gym teacher to take it for him. But, the message is clear - The Test is a Sham.
It's right here, Jack: https://dept.tds.airast.org/student/Pages/LoginShell.aspx?logout=true
2 comments:
Hi Liz. I saw your comment on another thread, and decided to leave a response here. I have called on legislators on both education committees to take the test, because I think that would do more to expose the fallacies behind Common Core than challenging it's most fervent supporter (who might pull a Michelle Rhea and cheat to get a higher score.)
In other words, having a John Kowalko or Dan Short bash Common Core from opposite perspectives will do much more good than having Jack bury his score somewhere where it won't be found..
In this post you use the term DCAS. you might want to upgrade that to the SBA. I took the DCAS the last week in August and last week went back to write about it, and it had been changed on the website to the SBA assessments. I recently posted my results from my taking the SBA's, and posted links for all to take the test at any grade level themselves... THe SBA is much much worse than any DCAS.
Just a head's up... :)
Hey Kavips,
Thanks for the heads-up. The fact is that it doesn't matter test he takes, they are all disgusting. I was hoping that the bloggers would use their collective voice - as we are the only ones in this state with any means to tell the "rest of the story." The NJ has rolled over for Jack.
My question: why should I subject my children to high stakes testing when the Governor won't take it himself? I am seriously considering challenging DOE and demanding the right to opt out for my daughter. The document that DOE sent us this summer with her DCAS scores was horrific. I couldn't possibly show it to her because the language was literally offensive and would have turned her off to school altogether. I understand how the board member who took the Florida test would come to the conclusion that had he taken that test as student, his choices regarding his future would be entirely different.
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