I'm confused. When droves of students fail a particular test, why is the default headline one that criticizes the test, rather than the students' knowledge?
If this year's results are any indication, some struggling students may want to dust off their textbooks this summer.Almost one-third of [Georgia's] eighth-graders failed the math portion of the [Criterion Referenced Competency Test] and another 17 percent flunked the reading portion. About a quarter of the students failed the science portion and another 20 percent failed the Language Arts section of the exam.
"Nobody is kidding themselves," said Dana Tofig, spokesman for the state Department of Education. "The eighth grade scores were not where anyone wanted them to be."
What's the next quote the reporter dug up? Three guesses, and the first two don't count.
A similar poor showing by eighth-graders next year could put thousands of students at risk of being held back from high school. And lackluster performance in the test also could drive needy pupils away from the school system, said Merchuria Chase Williams, president of the Georgia Association of Educators."It's a high-stakes test. And to us, it's a high-stakes test at its worst," Williams said. "One single test is used to determine whether or not a child has learned when, in fact, a teacher's evaluation is not even taken into consideration."
Quite frankly, when a teacher fails to teach students well, why should we care about their evaluation? Let's look at sample items from the math portion, failed by approximately 33% of Georgia's eighth-graders, shall we?
See anything there that seems horribly unfair or ambiguous? See any reason to suggest that students who fail this portion are somehow ready for high school math? No? Let examine the sample items for language arts. See anything too bizarre or tricky for 13-year-olds?
It is odd that there seems to be a dip in results here; last year's results were more promising for eighth-graders, while this year's results are better for the lower grades. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggest the middle school curriculum is squarely to blame.
Regardless, is it too much to ask for articles about standardized tests to include substantive criticisms of those tests, given that at least some criticism seems to be required? Something other than, "This is high stakes and we don't like that"?
Posted by kswygert at June 13, 2005 03:02 PM