Posted on 11/07/2006 12:15:26 AM PST by Antioch
Nine year-old Tyler Stoken, a student in the Aberdeen Public School District, didn't know how to answer an essay question on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test. As punishment for leaving the question blank his principal suspended him for five days.
Tyler paraphrases the question saying, "You look out one day at school and see your principal flying by a window. In several paragraphs write what happens next." He's asked, "So why didn't you answer that question?" He says, "I couldn't think of what to write the essay without making fun of the principal."
He refused to answer the question even after his mother was called to the school. Tyler's mother Amy Wolfe says, "And he said he didn't know the answer. He just didn't know what to write. And they were telling me to make him answer the question."
He still didn't, so Tyler was given a 5-day suspension. In the letter that went home to mother, the principal writes, "The fact that Tyler chose to simply refuse to work on the WASL after many reasonable requests is none other than blatant defiance and insubordination." Shortly after receiving the suspension letter they received a phone call from Superintendent Marty Kay apologizing for the suspension.
"Because I think a mistake was made and over reacting to Tyler's refusal to complete the test," said Aberdeen school superintendent Marty Kay. ... The superintendent wants Tyler immediately re-instated at school. But Tyler’s mother says the damage has been done. Mom tells son, "Well, nobody will scream at you again. I promise you that." Tyler doesn't want to go to that school any more and you can't blame him. He was manipulated and then punished because he couldn't answer a test question.
WASL opponents also believe the principal and teachers broke the law by interfering with the WASL test. It had better have been a violation of the testing rules. If a teacher and principal browbeating a test taker into answering a question in any particular manner is not against the rules then the test is worse than useless.
I gather from your post that idiocy is catching.
LOL!
There was nothing "standardized" in that absurd exercise.
This is an assessment test not a typical graded tests. The schools are graded based on these tests as well as the student. That might help to clarify the over reaction of the principal.
The reason the US has a highly educated and productive citizenry is BECAUSE of public schools. They have worked well for almost two hundred years and are the first thing a modern nation establishes.
There is no way a Christian school or even a "Christan" one would have acted this way. Nor would anyone with any understanding of children jump to the hysterical opinions you have about this little kid or his mother.
The reason the US has a highly educated and productive citizenry is BECAUSE of public schools. They have worked well for almost two hundred years and are the first thing a modern nation establishes.
There is no way a Christian school or even a "Christan" one would have acted this way. Nor would anyone with any understanding of children jump to the hysterical opinions you have about this little kid or his mother.
Actually the problem with public education is mainly parents who don't give a damn. In the big cities the Welfare Class has destroyed public education.
He was probably raised, correctly, so that, "if you can't say something nice about a person, don't say anything at all."
And seriously, given what transpired, what do you think would have happened to him had he actually written a blurb about the principal being a "witch"? The principal has already demonstrated beyond all doubt being possessed of skin too thin.
CA....
If you tried to fail a child of mine because of this exercise not only would you not get away with it but you would regret ever trying.
A nine year old would believe there was an actual answer to this absurdity. How would he be expected to distinguish between "creative" writing where he can make up anything and a question demanding an objective answer. "Well I felt like being creative and answered 2x2=5."
Nine year olds are barely beginning to write at all are not ready for "creative" writing exercises. They are probably there only to allow subjective fudging on the test so the schools look better.
Exactly. This is an absurdity.
Yeah, but that genius' kids go to a "Christan" school.
It does show the kid has more sense than the test maker and some on this thread. He had been answering questions with objective answers then this crap comes up.
I am in full agreement with you.
He could have "Not answered", as you so glibly put it, by writing, "What kind of question is this?"
Many in the school would have immediately recognized him as lawyer material!
CA....
We should all help this poor boy by giving him ideas for his question's answer. I'll start:
1. Everybody says "Wow, he's got a new broom!"
2. My mom says "I told you, Pow, Right in the kisser if you touch me agian and what does he do?"
3. I give Billy the five bucks, "yep, he was dumb enough to try to pry up the quarter we glued to the road."
4. I told him my dad could beat him up, but Nooooo.
5. Then the smell hit us.
6. I yell "I told you the brakes werte touchy!"
7. The teacher says, that's what streaking is.
8. I yell "Stop drop and roll! you idiot!"
9. Billy gives me five bucks, and sys "I knew he couldn't use wheelies"
10. The teacher says, "Well, I said when Pigs fly, so class dismissed!
I would not have accepted a failing grade for not doing this stupid exercise had my kid been involved. And I am almost always on the side of the teacher but this example shows NOTHING about learning. My kids got away with NOTHING when in conflict with the teacher.
The test maker is an idiot.
A child this young can barely write. Almost ALL his writing would be "creative" even when not trying. What kind of teacher thinks this shows anything?
And my kids will tell you they NEVER had me take their side versus their teacher. But with an absurdity like this they would have.
That was my first thought too.
Anything written would have been acceptable/passable and nothing written would be failing the school.
Whatever happened to what I did on my summer vacation?
That is true. If these people were trying to force a kid to answer something, then probably so were other people. The 'standard' for the test no longer exists. But some of them may have been "helping" the kids, too, if there was a multiple choice section. (Everyone repeat after me: BDACE DCAEB)
Anytime you have accountability depend upon tests like this, it needs to be given by someone other than the kid's own teacher. (The CEO has your boss evaluate you and tells the boss he will get a raise if you get high evaluations.) That would be a clear conflict of interest. Even then, if the person is ANY employee of the school or district, there is still a conflict of interest.
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