Submitted by Robert Two Crow (not verified) on March 29, 2007 - 16:28.
First, I want to make it clear that Native American Indian (NAI) students are capable of learning new knowledge and passing reading and math tests. As a problem, high stakes testing does not measure academic abilities of NAI students accurately. Local performance measures designed by educators working with NAI students to measure progress is a better microscope. Why? High stakes testing actually misses the boat as a dipstick when measuring NAI performance, especially for students who live on Indian reservations because differing educational views, values, and community lifestyles. In fact, it would be nice if high stakes testing were designed to measure academic progress instead of perpetuating the ongoing labeling system (i.e., At-Risk, SPED, LD, etc.). Until appropriate choices are offered as test options for schools serving non-mainstream communities, NAI students will continue to rate lower than their mainstream peers.
First, I want to make
Submitted by Robert Two Crow (not verified) on March 29, 2007 - 16:28.
First, I want to make it clear that Native American Indian (NAI) students are capable of learning new knowledge and passing reading and math tests. As a problem, high stakes testing does not measure academic abilities of NAI students accurately. Local performance measures designed by educators working with NAI students to measure progress is a better microscope. Why? High stakes testing actually misses the boat as a dipstick when measuring NAI performance, especially for students who live on Indian reservations because differing educational views, values, and community lifestyles. In fact, it would be nice if high stakes testing were designed to measure academic progress instead of perpetuating the ongoing labeling system (i.e., At-Risk, SPED, LD, etc.). Until appropriate choices are offered as test options for schools serving non-mainstream communities, NAI students will continue to rate lower than their mainstream peers.