Is bar set too high for schools?

Sacramento Bee ^ | 3/19/6 | Jim Sanders

[SmithL]

Too many students fail to meet California's standard for proficiency, sparking a simple solution under consideration in the Capitol: redefine "proficient."

By changing a few words in state law, legislators could dramatically affect how the federal government rates the state's education system.

"I think it's a totally sensible thing to do," said Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley.

Critics of Hancock's proposal, Assembly Bill 2975, say the state's goal should be to improve schools, not alter words.

Hancock counters that both are needed to avoid severe sanctions in coming years under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB.

"What all of this needs is for grown-up egos to be set aside and to focus on the young people," she said.

The California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators have taken no position on AB 2975, but they say Hancock has seized on a very real problem.

Jack O'Connell, state schools superintendent, opposes AB 2975.

"It's a measure that would have the net effect of watering down our standards," O'Connell said. "It takes us in the wrong direction."

[Mogengator]

Under AB 2975, proficient students need not necessarily perform at grade level. Rather, test scores must show that they are acquiring adequate skills, year by year, to pass the state's high school exit exam by the end of 12th grade.

Since California grants diplomas to students who pass the exit exam, it should consider those children proficient, Hancock contends.

The exit exam measures English-language arts at about the ninth-and 10th-grade levels, and mathematics at about the seventh-and eighth-grade levels, said Hilary McLean, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Education.

Yesterday's local paper contained interviews with high school "students" who were unable to pass the exit exam. Their basic argument went something like "I'm a dumbass and this test is unfair to dumbasses".

[Riverman94610]

I had the same rigorous curriculum as you stated in your post.
If those standards were reinstituted in my local district,I can guarantee you that at LEAST half the students would not get passed on to the next grade.

[SoftballMominVA]

Most tests are unfair to dumbasses. Truer words were never spoken

[Tokra]

Is The Bar Set Too Low For Schools?

Answer:

Yes, much too low.

[bboop]

For the California test? (that it is 8th grade level?) It was one of the practice tests. I wonder. I hope. My remedial student won't be able to do the statistics/ nor could I. Just the language was very specific and confusing. And I am good in math.

[bboop]

Our son homeschooled. We did not do General Ed anything, just the things I thought were compelling to learn. He took a year at a Jr College (age 16) and they ONLY used those grades when he applied for universities. Never really bothered with his High School stuff. Altho our hs office made us a beautiful diploma. The course work did not match the standard -- World History in 10th, etc.

[bboop]

Perhaps, then, we are talking about two separate things we saw, do you think? And, frankly, is sarcasm really needed to make your point?

[Bob]

From another post:

The exit exam measures English-language arts at about the ninth-and 10th-grade levels, and mathematics at about the seventh-and eighth-grade levels, said Hilary McLean, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Education.

I'd recommend double-checking on just what the math curriculum covers at those grade levels. None of the sample problems that I've seen published have covered much more than simple fractions, percentages, and formulas for area and the like.

While I can't be absolutely certain, statistics, especially obscure and complicated ones, would be far from what I'd expect to find on the test.

[luckystarmom]

If we homeschool, we're actually going to do it through the district. They have a home study program, and then my daughter will receive all the services that she needs (speech, occupational therapy, and reading/writing help). I've already talked to the home study teachers, and they are nice and very flexible. We have to jump through some hoops, but I'm okay with that.

[luckystarmom]

Here are the questions that I saw on statistics and probability. I've also included a link to where sample questions are.

They are very simple questions that a high school graduate should be able to answer.


30. Donald priced six personal Compact Disc
(CD) players. The prices are shown below.
$21.00, $23.00, $21.00, $39.00, $25.00, $31.00
What is the median price?

A $21.00
B $24.00
C $27.00
D $30.00


33. The box below shows the number of
kilowatt-hours of electricity used last month
at each of the houses on Harris Street.
620, 570, 570, 590, 560, 640, 590, 590, 580

What is the mode of these data?

A 560
B 580
C 590
D 640

31. Rico’s first three test scores in biology were
65, 90, and 73. What was his mean score?

A 65
B 73
C 76
D 90

To see more, look here.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/documents/section2math.pdf

[wintertime]

Sounds like a good plan to me.

[bboop]

Yeh, medians, no problem. My test book is at work, but the questions were esoteric.

[bboop]

The esoteric statistics questions were from some Test Prep book. Evidently I'm/ they are mistaken.

[Bob]

The esoteric statistics questions were from some Test Prep book. Evidently I'm/ they are mistaken.

I was thinking that might have been the case; I think it's them rather than you. I would have expected that the education department would put out some sort of guidelines for the content involved. The post above shows some references but I'm not sure where you'd find the details on them.

BTW, I was racking some brain cells trying to remember the differences between the mean, median and mode. :=) That's not the kind of thing that I use on a usual basis.

[bboop]

hahah, I can tell you -- have been doing (cursed) mean/ median and mode all year with my tutees. Mean is average; mode is the number that occurs most frequently in a data set; median is the middle number in a data set, or the average of the two middle, if there are two.

We tutors roll our eyes about these -- you can end up looking like an idiot when it comes up, because WHO ever uses these things?

This was not even one of those terms. And I do think the test book is off. aaahhhhh. Six of the questions of 40 were on this one thing, and I would have missed them all.

[Bob]

I knew that there were three of them and that there definitely was a difference between them. The mean is easy to remember. I don't know why but I'm always unsure about which is the median and which is the mode.

Perhaps thinking of a highway median running right down the middle and remembering that the words 'mode' and 'most' both start with the same letters will help me keep them straight. You're right, though, who ever uses these things in 'ordinary' life?

[bboop]

I had to write up a cheat-sheet.