Submitted by Bryan Wilkins (not verified) on September 6, 2007 - 13:54.
Greetings All
I see a continuing long line of "educators" who have missed the whole point of the standardized tests being used with NCLB. The point is to check and to make schools teach those topics that need to be taught. Not just what some teacher thought of at the moment. Teachers closed their doors and taught whatever they wanted. Nobody checked. Still don't for the most part. Teachers skip this topic or that and spend most of the time only on what the teacher wanted to cover. If you do not believe this went on, you have your head in the sand. There were exceptions of course, but they were exceptions. There has to be some review of students' knowledge, or lack thereof.
I became a public school teacher at the high school level after 21 years of military service. I have been doing public school teaching now for 15 years. The military tested individuals coming into to the service for a variety of reasons, one of which was to see if they could read and do simple math. A high school diploma was virtually worthless because in the "feel good" age, everybody got a diploma regardless of their ability. The special ed student who could neither read nor write got the same diploma as the valedictorian. This practice was widely rampant when I started, but with NCLB in effect, this practice is abating.
Schools are now being held accountable for failure to teach what is required. And by gosh and by golly, it is making a very positive impact on education. School districts are now properly evaluating standards, setting guidelines, and pacing programs. Administrators and teachers alike are evaluated at district level, school level, and classroom level. Students are also being held accountable with these tests. And the whole state of California knows what the scores are. As does the country. And quit gripping that it does not tell the whole story. There is no better snapshot of performance available.
Stop the whining about testing and holding schools responsible. This is exactly what needs to be done.
NCLB
Submitted by Bryan Wilkins (not verified) on September 6, 2007 - 13:54.
Greetings All
I see a continuing long line of "educators" who have missed the whole point of the standardized tests being used with NCLB. The point is to check and to make schools teach those topics that need to be taught. Not just what some teacher thought of at the moment. Teachers closed their doors and taught whatever they wanted. Nobody checked. Still don't for the most part. Teachers skip this topic or that and spend most of the time only on what the teacher wanted to cover. If you do not believe this went on, you have your head in the sand. There were exceptions of course, but they were exceptions. There has to be some review of students' knowledge, or lack thereof.
I became a public school teacher at the high school level after 21 years of military service. I have been doing public school teaching now for 15 years. The military tested individuals coming into to the service for a variety of reasons, one of which was to see if they could read and do simple math. A high school diploma was virtually worthless because in the "feel good" age, everybody got a diploma regardless of their ability. The special ed student who could neither read nor write got the same diploma as the valedictorian. This practice was widely rampant when I started, but with NCLB in effect, this practice is abating.
Schools are now being held accountable for failure to teach what is required. And by gosh and by golly, it is making a very positive impact on education. School districts are now properly evaluating standards, setting guidelines, and pacing programs. Administrators and teachers alike are evaluated at district level, school level, and classroom level. Students are also being held accountable with these tests. And the whole state of California knows what the scores are. As does the country. And quit gripping that it does not tell the whole story. There is no better snapshot of performance available.
Stop the whining about testing and holding schools responsible. This is exactly what needs to be done.
Regards
Bryan Wilkins