John Jay Ray at Dissecting Leftism discovered two good education-related posts today. The first, from Dangerous Liberty, is from someone who's been writing about education in Florida for 10 years, and isn't happy with the anti-testing movement:
....Apparently, it is impossible to criticize public education without hating it. I don't hate public education. I want it to be better than it is.
And so, here we are today, and educators and Democrats are using the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test as their whipping boy as if the fact that this remedy was deemed necessary comes as a total shock to them; as if there were no red flags, no warning bells, nothing whatsoever to alert them to the fact that our kids have, for a long time now, been in serious academic trouble and that the policies of government schools have, for a very long time, been the agency of this trouble.
Let's talk a little bit about FCAT, this test that has surprised and dismayed so many people.
Educators should have foreseen something like the FCAT. The National Assessment of Educational Progress has been showing us a more and more dire picture over the last decade or two. More kids are dropping out. Fewer of them can write or read well enough to hope to prosper in the real world. More people have begun to notice and to complain.
And yet, when we get the wonderful news that of the 230 kids who repeated third grade after failing the FCAT once, 147 passed it, the entire focus is on the 83 who failed the test again and hand-wringing abounds. The concern is for these children's sense of self-esteem, but what self-esteem can they have if they get out of school unable to read?
Why, they can have the kind of self-esteem that some educators believe in, that comes not from accomplishments but from constantly being told you are fine just as you are, and that you always know best, even if you don't know anything. Other people might term that "narcissism," but hey, why quibble over the fine details?
And then we get the story that the “FCAT is frustrating seniors' plans” (May 10). We learn that a student with a B/C average in high school “has yet” to pass the test.
“It's like you went to school for twelve years of nothing,” says this high school senior.
The observation hits ya right between the eyes, doesn't it? If she has a B/C average and still cannot pass the FCAT after two years and four more opportunities to take the test, she evidently did go to school for 12 years of nothing!
But blaming the test is easier, and it makes for snappier quotes.
I understand that any test is going to be imperfect and that there are bugs to be worked out of the system, but we're seeing some real gains happening that moves me to wonder what the true problem is here. Could it be simply that teachers and schools are not used to being held accountable?
Mmmm, I think this writer is on to something.
The second article is by a guest commentator, Tina Blue, on the Irascible Professor's site. After reading it, boy, do I see why she's Blue:
Those of us who teach college English classes are always overwhelmed by the astonishing deficits in our students' ability to get their facts straight, to think clearly and logically, and to express their ideas in language that actually makes sense and that follows the most basic rules of grammar.
Even our best students write incoherent essays and make grammar and usage errors that would have failed a third grader in the 1950s, when I was in grade school. They get to college with such writing deficits, of course, because no one has ever required them to learn how to write any better, and no one has ever penalized them for making such errors...
Here is an absolutely true story.
When I was in third grade (1958), our teacher, Mrs. Colona, would come in twice a week and present us with an essay topic. We had no prior notice of when we would write our essay or what the topic would be. What we had was 45 minutes to write a 500-word essay on that topic, and we were required to do it right. Mrs. Colona took off points for everything we did wrong. We had to follow her formatting instructions to a T, and if we put our names in the wrong place, or didn't leave appropriate margins, if we forgot to number our pages, or if we wrote in pencil rather than ink, we lost points.
We also lost points for errors in grammar and usage, for structural flaws, for logical lapses, and for stylistic weakness (e.g., writing short, choppy, repetitious "Dick and Jane" sentences or using vague or inappropriate words).
Now, Mrs. Colona did not give us "deep" topics to write about. One I remember was "Write about your favorite holiday memory, and explain what makes that memory so special to you." But you know what? Almost none of the college students I have taught since 1972 could write a 500-word essay on that topic in 45 minutes without that essay's being marred by numerous errors or infelicities in one or more of the following areas: grammar and usage, diction, style, formatting, structure, and logic. I know this for a fact, because we often do give such simple topics as the first essay assignment in English 101.
Why, I see the problem right there. They aren't giving "deep" enough topics these days, for those "deep thinkers" with "deep minds" who can't be expected to do well on standardized tests, much less essays. After all, what is self-discipline, structure, dedication, and instant, objective feedback when compared to the merits of having a "deep" mind?
For more essays by Ms. Blue, visit her Teacher, Teacher website. I've read through some of them, and let me tell you, Ms. Blue has NO problems with expressing exactly what's on her mind in language that is grammatically correct and to the point. And I agree with everything I've read so far.
Posted by kswygert at July 6, 2004 06:18 PM