Race for education in Florida
The Sun-Sentinel has another article on the education issue that's dominating Florida's gubernatorial race:
Education has become the defining issue of the 2002 governor's race. It has dominated the ad war between the candidates and has become the overriding issue in each of the candidates' three face-to-face debates. And despite Bush's claims that he has greatly improved Florida's public schools, polls consistently show Florida voters want more.
What "more" do they want? Smaller class sizes, more money for failing schools, and more money for teachers. And less emphasis on the FCAT. Unsurprisingly, the article contains no quotes from anyone sympathetic to the high-stakes test:
Before [teacher Kristy] Kuches moves to the suburbs of Atlanta, however, she plans to vote for Bill McBride...she's tired of the increased paperwork and the pressure of making sure students perform well on the state's controversial standardized test, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, better known as FCAT. "We're an `A' school, but compared to what?" she said. "Why do you think the test scores get better each year? Because we're teaching the skills to pass the test. If the average parent had to take the test, they'd be horrified."
Really? Why? Is the test that bad? Are the skills tested by the FCAT so utterly incompatible with education that it's a bad thing students are learning the skills on it? I took a look at sample FCAT reading tests online, and didn't see anything "horrifying".
Dawn Heuer is a registered Republican whose vote might be swayed by McBride's education platform... she definitely doesn't like the FCAT, which is given in grades three through 10. Results of the annual test are used to help determine if students should be promoted and to grade each school. Students attending schools that get two Fs in four years can get a tax-paid voucher to attend private school...."Everything is geared toward the FCAT," she said. We're spending so much time and energy trying to get through the FCAT. You take a big breath when it's over and then everyone waits for the school grades to come out."
Well, yes, that's the definition of high-stakes testing. And accountability. I have a hard time seeing how this is different from children working to get through their classwork in general.
Lori Lerstad, a Coral Springs mother of three, describes herself as a "die-hard" Democrat who plans to vote for Bill McBride but said she sees some benefits of what Bush has tried to do in making schools more accountable. "He has lit a fire. A lot of excuses were being made on why children can't learn," she said. "There's nothing wrong with putting demands on the kids, but there doesn't have to be hysteria over this. You don't have to grades school an F. Tests should be used for diagnostics."
Yes, but when tests are used in low-stakes situations, it's difficult to get kids to take them seriously, and so you end up with meaningless results. Diagnostic exams place no demands on kids. And why can't we give schools failing grades? People fail, businesses fail...why can't we acknowledge that some schools fail? After all, the alternative is allowing students to remain in schools that don't educate them.
Update: You know, I had wondered why I was hearing so much about Mr. McBride's educational platform. It seems that education is his only platform, and he might be in a great deal of trouble. (Thanks to PejmanPundit for finding it first).