The General Patton of the Testing Wars

Men's News Daily ^ | 10 March 2004 | Nicholas Stix

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Heads up!

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[dirtboy]

The entire testing issue IMO is rife with problems on all sides. Parents naturally want accountability for Junior's underachievement, as long as they and their apathy are not implicated. Teachers unions don't want the incompetents within the ranks of teachers unmasked. Politicians want to seem to be doing something about it without offending either constituency too much.

Testing is fine and dandy, but it really doesn't address the considerable variability in types of intellect or a student's discipline - which is probably the most important trait for success in college. Having teachers assign meaningful homework, having parents involved in homework, and assigning as much importance to regular completion of homework should be just as important as any test scores.

[mrustow]

Zing!

[Jim Noble]

Right now, public education is involved in propagating the absurd notion that all American children (or virtually all) can master a real twelfth-grade academic curriculum.

This is a lie, in fact, it's absurd. Our ancestors would think we were insane to premise a system on this obviously false premise.

But that IS the premise of the public education system.

Standardized testing exposes the fraud for what it is.

Either the system or the testing will not survive.

Bet on the system. The tests have to go, or the system will.

[Free ThinkerNY]

Dumbing-down Americans is in the DemonRats best interest. More dumb voters means more votes for Kerry and other Rats.

[mrustow]

The entire testing issue IMO is rife with problems on all sides. Parents naturally want accountability for Junior's underachievement, as long as they and their apathy are not implicated. Teachers unions don't want the incompetents within the ranks of teachers unmasked. Politicians want to seem to be doing something about it without offending either constituency too much.

Correct.

Testing is fine and dandy, but it really doesn't address the considerable variability in types of intellect or a student's discipline - which is probably the most important trait for success in college. Having teachers assign meaningful homework, having parents involved in homework, and assigning as much importance to regular completion of homework should be just as important as any test scores.

Testing is a tool. It's up to educators and parents to use it properly. But if a student lacks discipline, and isn't doing his homework, that will show up in his test scores. And if he is poor in a particular subject, and needs extra help, that too will show up in his test scores.

[mrustow]

FYI

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[dirtboy]

But if a student lacks discipline, and isn't doing his homework, that will show up in his test scores.

Not always. Prior to college, school for me wasn't very challenging, and I did very well on tests but didn't have good study or homework habits. It caught up with me in collge.

[Lancey Howard]

Stix is one of the best in the business.
Thanks for the ping.

[mrustow]

Heads up!

[TheBattman]

Before anyone goes too far out on a limb on this subject, you might want to do a little checking into the reality of standardized tests.

What is the purpose of standardized testing? Supposedly to measure the information that students have been able to assymilate (how much they have learned).

Unfortunately, if you look at how many of these tests are put together, you would wonder what the testing authorities were testing. From questions that are difficult for even some educated adults to understand what is being asked for, to blatant social engineering questions, you would be surprised at what is on these tests.

As a teacher, I have no problem with standardized testing, IF the testing is conducted in a professional manner and the test itself is a clear-cut test. I also would demand that accountability be pressed across the board - students+parents+teachers.

One question from an actual standardized test (state mandated) I helped administer a couple of years ago was obviously slanted. The question was a basic "which word best represents the meaning of "successful". The answers provided were: Poor, living, wealthy, confused. The "correct" answer was "wealthy". This was not the worst question, but is the one that has stuck in my head over the last couple of years.

[agitator]

If you ask me, the biggest problem is incompetent teachers. When testing of teachers exposed the incompetence of vast numbers of teachers here in the People's Democratic Republic of Taxxachusetts, the cries went up that many "good" teachers were going to be thrown out of work. Read that: "nice" teachers.

The tests the teachers took demonstrated that huge numbers of teachers could barely pass highschool level tests. Some were given 5 and 6 tries at it and still couldn't pass. Teachers that can't read can't be expected to teach their students to read.

[LibWhacker]

. . . testing is causing an epidemic of cheating.

Liberalism causes an epidemic of cheating because liberals teach kids (and everyone else) that cheating is okay. Cheating is okay, they say, because testing is bad, corporations are bad, the law is bad, capitalism is bad, the white man is bad, God is bad, cops are bad, America is bad, etc. Therefore, cheating is okay.

[mrustow]

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Heads up!