Work pressures have intensified, so I'll be off the grid until tomorrow afternoon or so. Until then, enjoy the tour of N2P's "Believe It Or Not!" educational museum.
Wonder at the naivete exhibited by this editorialist, who insists that all standardized tests are useless because early psychometricians were eugenicists who created tests that ignored "cultural and background differences" and "social or economic opportunity." He reports this with breathless spite, not realizing that we all know the background story, we all know eugenics hasn't been part of psychometrics for 50 years, we all know that testing now strives to be as culture-free as possible, and so on.
Gaze in mystery at the school districts that have hysterics over the idea of chaperones sipping one alcoholic drink while at dinner with a school group. God forbid that even responsible adults of legal age should be allowed one beer if any students are around.
Marvel at the teacher who thinks that wearing left-wing t-shirts every day to class is the appropriate way to get kids "thinking" about the issues.
Thrill to the efforts of this man's attempts to get rid of Colorado's state standardized exam. He considers the requirement that students meet state standards on reading, math, writing and science to be a focus on "superficial values." His suggested replacements are tests that differ by location (thus removing any basis for comparison) or letting educators judge whether students are proficient (thus introducing substantial bias and unreliability into the measures).
And finally, cheer for the kid who got trampled going for that Texas Rangers foul ball. He has now been rewarded many times over, and has hopefully learned the lesson that Americans do indeed have a sense of justice and fair play.
Update: Independent George complains, "What, no midgets or two-headed animals? What kind of joint is this?"
Never say I don't deliver. And here's another marvel, because I know some people who are too clueless to figure out how these doors work.
Posted by kswygert at June 17, 2004 10:44 AM