Standardized Testing

Continued from TT blog.

TT - Where to begin? Education isn't horse race; it's a process of learning and accomplishment. Testing is a tool that measures accomplishment. The National Report Card isn't a competition between states but a means of trying to curb the 30-year trend of dumbing down state tests to disguise lower expectations for students and hide the lack of classroom instruction.

Every excuse in the book has been used. For 30 years schools have complained that the problem was that poor students, students whose first language isn't English, or students who were victims of cultural deprivation were the reasons for turning out illiterates who then moved on to college and spent one year taking remedial classes just to perform at high school level. Only to drop out. It's been happening since the 1970s.

Educrats in every state asked for a pass so that special category students could be treated separately, but unequally, on tests catered to "their needs." As if the students were mentally unfit to learn. We weren't spending enough money. Classrooms were too crowded. Eubonics would help communicate better.

The influx of Asian immigrants in California and other states challenged that smugness. These students suffer from the same language deficiencies but perform at the top of their classes. Sites like GreatSchools.net show the average classroom sizes and, guess what? Schools with 12 students to a teacher are no more likely to test well than schools with 30 students. The money that the District of Columbia spends on education is the highest in the nation. Their failure rate is also the highest in the nation.

The District of Columbia spends a staggering $13,280 per student. The pupil/teacher ratio is 14.2 Their scores are abysmal. Unless you're an outright bigot and believe that blacks and Hispanics are incapable of learning, how do you explain such colossal and expensive failure?

Money isn't the answer. It's the problem.

We don't have Public Schools anymore. Public Schools were created to assimilate and teach immigrants to give them an opportunity for upward mobility. Public Schools taught children and were proud of their achievements and the achievements of their students. Public Schools hired professionals and established standards of conduct and performance that guaranteed teachers of impeccable character and purpose.

What we have now are Government Schools. Think DMV. Cause that's what we've got.