The story of one high school junior who is competing for a spot as the student representative on the Maryland Board of Education:
Brian Williamson, 17, a junior at North Hagerstown High School, is one of five finalists for the position...On Saturday, at an annual association meeting in Queen Anne's County, Md., about 720 students representing schools from across the state will hear speeches by the five finalists and vote on a student member on the board, Williamson said last Wednesday.
Gov. Robert Ehrlich has the final say, choosing which of the two finalists with the most votes will serve, Williamson said...
Williamson said he is fascinated by politics and educational issues...
Each applicant was interviewed in December and had to make a presentation on an educational issue, Williamson said. His presentation was on the High School Assessments, a series of state standardized end-of-course exams given in government, algebra I, geometry, English 9 and biology.
He thinks students who feel comfortable in a particular area should be able to take the test before the course and, if they pass, opt out of having to take the class, he said.
If appointed, Williamson would not be able to speak for all students, but he can provide a student perspective, he said. For example, he has been directly affected by the numerous tests students must take to meet state requirements...He said he thinks the number of tests being administered is excessive.
Given that many teachers now have a love-hate relationship with these exams, I wonder how many of them would feel comfortable with the use of the High School Assessments to opt out of a class altogether? As a psychometrician, I'm very uncomfortable with the idea of a test that is meant to assess progress in a class being used as a means to avoid the class altogether. The validity of an exam is directly related to the purpose for which the exam was originally developed, and the exam won't necessarily be valid in other circumstances.
It's not that I know the exam would not be useful in that situation, but there's as yet no evidence to suggest that it would, and there are certainly plenty of other arguments to be made in support of taking a class rather than skipping it entirely.
Posted by kswygert at January 26, 2004 10:08 PM