A `really big step' for Spanish TAKS tests in Texas

Houston Chronicle ^ | 2-21-07 | Jennifer Radcliffe

[BUSHdude2000]

And the Balkanization of American continues...

[BUSHdude2000]

An 'I'm so glad we can accomodate' Ping!

[pax_et_bonum]

Texico Ping

[Paleo Conservative]

This is discriminatory. Why isn't there a TAKS test in Vietnamese?

[BUSHdude2000]

Good point, we have a large Vietnamese population in Houston. I'm so glad there is no need for assimilation in this country.

[ROLF of the HILL COUNTRY]

Hey what about the Germans? We're one of the largest ethnic groups! Oh, wait, that's right, we assimilated.

[j. earl carter]

"It's a really big step, and it's an exciting step," said Laura Ayala, the Texas Education Agency's English-language-learner assessment director. "Sometimes what works in one language doesn't work in another language

My point exactly

This is why they should be taught English.

[WOSG]

"The difference in passing rates on the Spanish and English versions of the exam exposes a built-in bias, Valenzuela said."

NONSENSE. That is an anti-scientific and absurd statement.
Difference in passing rates could be 100% due to differences in capabilities.

[WOSG]

Blogged on this here:

http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2007/02/taks-test.html

[johnmark7]

And the kids will seem just as stupid in Spanish as in English if they bothered to try.

My great aunt Marnie taught school in the early 1900's to a class of immigrants of 50 children. She taught in English and they all earned because she would hit them with a ruler if they didn't.

Now, the system encourages both ignorance and stupidity.

[BUSHdude2000]

Hey what about the Germans? We're one of the largest ethnic groups! Oh, wait, that's right, we assimilated.

You guys do have that hateful celebration called Wurstfest each year. How dare you...that could be seen as insensitive.

[SwinneySwitch]

Mexas Ping!

If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.

[Froufrou]

Que paso? Esta necessario?

[stephenjohnbanker]

Asians work hard, and study hard. They are not allowed to be minorities, as they don't buy into the "Victimization Proclimation".

[WesternPacific]

signifies an increasing sophistication in the state's test-development process

Sophisticated? Aren't we uppity now.

[BUSHdude2000]

"We're doing a disservice to these children."

I love this line. This real disservice is not teaching these kids (while they are young) to learn the language of the economy they will be competing in.

[Froufrou]

Yep. It's been said for eons that learning a language is easiest for children.

[wolfcreek]

"And a concept such as "bobsledding" sometimes isn't familiar to students from the Rio Grande Valley or some Spanish-speaking countries, educators said."


Most white children in Texas don't know about *bobsleding*



"Test questions written by people familiar with the culture are more likely to incorporate concepts familiar to students."


Questions like; If Jose has ten lbs. of coke and shares 3 ozs. with Paco, how much coke will be left when they sneek across the border?

[wolfcreek]

"Why isn't there a TAKS test in Vietnamese?"


Most Vietnamese I know at least try to speak English, some very well. I guess they're not as arrogant as our neighbors to the south.

[af_vet_rr]

And the kids will seem just as stupid in Spanish as in English if they bothered to try.

My great aunt Marnie taught school in the early 1900's to a class of immigrants of 50 children. She taught in English and they all earned because she would hit them with a ruler if they didn't.

Now, the system encourages both ignorance and stupidity.

I would bet that your great aunt Marnie didn't have the bureaucracy from hell breathing down her neck. It was bad enough that we had the state getting closely involved in the schools, but when No Child Left Behind kicked in, the amount of pressure the Federal Government is putting on the states who are then putting it on the districts is unbelievable.

It's insane - our local district is under so much pressure, they had people out with tape measures checking teacher's classrooms to make sure they had X amount square footage of bulletin boards on this or that subject in the misguided belief that somehow having the exact amount of bulletin boards on certain topics would somehow rub off on the kids.

When I heard that, I just thought "huh, so if my teachers had 10 square feet of bulletin boards about math, then I might have done 5% better in school. My parents riding my butt to study had nothing to do with it. I just needed the government to step in and force the teachers to add a few square feet of bulletin boards to my classrooms. How did I ever make it through high school or college?