An article about political response to Illinois' recent cutback of standardized tests has some telling comments. Some legislators are horrified about the cuts, and it's worth noting why they fear this will have a negative impact on education:
A decision by state legislators to scrap social science and writing exams in Illinois grammar schools is drawing mixed reactions from local educators.
Norridge District 80 Superintendent Sue Knight is dismayed. "I was absolutely speechless," she said. "I couldn't believe this was happening. It's a blow to all of us who are dedicated to doing the very best for our children."
In the late 1970s, Knight was part of a group of teachers who developed the standards upon which the state's writing program are based. She brought those standards back to the school where she was teaching English. Teachers were aghast, she remembers.
"I remember one teacher asking me, 'How can they write paragraphs in third grade? We're just teaching them to write complete sentences,'" Knight recalled. "I told her we'd just have to shift our priorities, and we did.
"Now, our kindergarten students know what a complete sentence is, and our students know how good writing is done."
The teachers were aghast that third-graders would have learn to write paragraphs? How did things get that bad in Illinois? If the teachers weren't expecting third-graders to write in complete paragraphs, I bet you dollars to doughnuts that the teachers didn't expect these kids to read complete paragraphs, either. How on earth did they manage to take three full years of school just to get a kid up to the point of being able to write a complete sentence? No wonder Ms. Knight is afraid that removing the test will have a negative impact.
Posted by kswygert at August 5, 2004 09:44 AM