The New York Times 06/11/12 Michael Winerip
“Backtracking on Florida Exams Flunked by Many, Even an
Educator”
Bill Vogel, the superintendent of schools in this suburb of
Orlando, has always been vigilant about preparing his district for the state
tests.
All students take practice tests in math, reading and
writing in September and December. Heather Flay’s fourth graders at Crystal
Lake Elementary keep folders with their test results so they can chart which
scores need improving.
“We have them show their folders to their parents,” Ms. Flay
said. “They’ll say, ‘This is what my scores were in third grade, this is where
I was in September and this is what I’m shooting for.’ ”
Then, last month, the state dropped a bomb. The 2012 scores on
the writing test — given to 4th, 8th and 10th graders — plummeted in all
districts. Only 27 percent of Florida’s fourth graders were rated proficient,
compared with 81 percent the year before. In Seminole, 30 percent were
proficient, down from 83 percent.
The numbers fell so drastically because, as announced last
summer, state officials toughened the standards, paying more attention to grammar and spelling as well as to the factual
accuracy of supporting details in essays.
But they did not change the scoring system, resulting in a
public relations disaster.
What to do?
They could live with the results — that after 15 years of education reform, three-fourths of Florida
children could not write.
The high failure rate was based on measuring proficiency as
a score of at least 4.
First, the state considered lowering the cutoff to 3.5.
That would have resulted in a passage rate of about 50
percent. People would probably still be angry.
So on May 15, Florida’s education commissioner, Gerard
Robinson, held an emergency conference call with State Education Board members,
while 800 school administrators from all over Florida listened in. The board
voted to lower the cutoff to 3.
Presto! Problem solved. The proficiency rate for fourth
graders was now exactly what it had been in the 2010-11 school year, 81
percent.
Common Sense Review
Clearly this school systems effort is going in the wrong
direction if they are vigilant about preparing for these tests and yet they are
not passing them.
A couple of things caught my eye when reading this article.
First, the rules of grammar and writing haven’t
changed. So the school’s action poses
the question, what are you teaching these children if you are not reviewing the
principle of grammar and writing.
Second, societies understanding of the role of a teacher
would bring back the focus of schools. Teaching
children the skills to be productive adults is the main purpose for teachers
and if they are not accomplishing this task, then what are they spending the
time in school doing? I see test scores
not just a way of seeing what a child need more needs help understanding
certain subjects, but possibly the start of a bigger problem. If the
class as a whole didn’t do well then reviewing the teachers techniques need to
be audited. When the report shows a
school or school system’s child population not achieving the levels of
education, then a complete overhaul, yet if the education system is to teach
the basic rules of grammar and writing this shouldn’t be a problem.
Finally, pointing the finger at the scoring system shows the
children that in live if you don’t like the outcome of a situation blaming
other factors is acceptable. Yet failure
in life will not change the situation with the accusation of others at
fault.
Ultimately, the children are pawn in this game, when
educators are focus on scores and not aptitude of the education. As well as the child’s ability to apply those
skills into a viable job skill seems to be not even secondary concern.
I feel it is well beyond the time to get back to the back
foundation of an education. Having the
ability to run a computer is a moot point if the child can write out a simple
sentence or solve a math problem with a pencil and paper.
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