tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post5368416709564033390..comments2024-03-29T04:34:05.185-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Why Are We Still TestingPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-24749737079427161892018-04-18T08:13:58.402-04:002018-04-18T08:13:58.402-04:00Yes,do away with the test PERIOD . Less home work,...Yes,do away with the test PERIOD . Less home work,let the work be done in school where is should stay,OR CUT IT IN HALF !<br /> Children need to distress after school not spend there entire time AFTER SCHOOL DOING HOMEWORK !Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-32677097909771035602018-04-15T11:56:32.291-04:002018-04-15T11:56:32.291-04:00When I want my children to learn that sometimes th...When I want my children to learn that sometimes they have to carry out tasks whether they want to or not, I make them wash the dishes or mow the lawn. I don't ask taxpayers to fund a billion-dollar industry to teach them this fairly simple lesson for me. Talk about government waste!gkm001https://www.blogger.com/profile/04288582206956930505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-33074160299266251922018-04-14T10:17:26.689-04:002018-04-14T10:17:26.689-04:00In 6 years he will have a drivers license. Better ...In 6 years he will have a drivers license. Better put him behind the wheel now. At some point he’ll have to pay his own rent. Better start charging him now. In a few years he will learn where babies come from. Better start talking about safe sex now. Right? Cuz there is absolutely no validity to the idea that what will be required as an adult may not be relevant at 10. Frustrated momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07956079318902578537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-3769151078287593852018-04-14T10:11:30.795-04:002018-04-14T10:11:30.795-04:00Following years of snafus with tests not being del...Following years of snafus with tests not being delivered on time, wrong tests being delivered and results failing to arrive until the following school year, Tennessee has a long list of districts who have stated, pre-testing, that the results will not count for grades. The kids will still take them. The state will still pay for them. But going in, folks already assume some kind of snafu will occur to render them useless. Genius. Frustrated momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07956079318902578537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-65150605922332776242018-04-13T08:55:15.785-04:002018-04-13T08:55:15.785-04:00That is an awful thing for a parent to say. Child...That is an awful thing for a parent to say. Childhood is sacred. A parent who wants their child stressed and anxious?....this is exactly why the suicide rate of teens in increasing every single year.edblisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792046029260177146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-51745701064972903662018-04-13T06:12:33.745-04:002018-04-13T06:12:33.745-04:00Didn't Shirley Jackson forewarn us about this ...Didn't Shirley Jackson forewarn us about this way back in 1948.NY Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08292448959963091160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-57260314182413215402018-04-12T17:26:03.678-04:002018-04-12T17:26:03.678-04:00Dear Mr. Greene and Commentors:
Well, Hello out t...Dear Mr. Greene and Commentors:<br /><br />Well, Hello out there! I’m going to respond to all three commentors. It’s not just other countries, Chester Drawers. We used to have tests like that. I know that because I’m old enough to be a retired teacher but when I got out of college I took a job administering what was called “The Ohio Test.” It was a well regarded instrument for measuring what students knew. I would be called by the test company and given an assignment to go administer the test at a school at a certain date and time. The school would have received the tests in the mail. The principal usually escorted me to the room and prepared the students so they were always on their best behavior. The students knew that everyone-the teacher, the principal, their parents-everyone expected them to make their best effort. It was very different from today.<br /><br />If you Google “Ohio Test”, all you will get are stories about the Ohio’s version of what Mr. Greene calls the BS test. Before this, however the type of tests I administered was a test that a District would order, and pay for, to see if their students were on track with their education, and if they weren’t, try to figure out where the problem was and fix it. This was not a blame game. If the problem was an inexperienced teacher, they gave that teacher a Mentor. They didn’t close the school and give a businessman the money to open a private school, either. They hoped to discover how to give the students the help they needed as easily and as cheaply as they could. <br /><br />This also answers the person who wrote to Amy Moore, who thinks somehow it is OK to spend public money on school tests that do not accomplish anything. We used to have tests that provided the people who paid for them with useful information. If that parent wants to spend his/her own money on something that is useless, Hey, free country, etc. but in this situation, are spending MY money, and a lot of other folks’ money and we say, Hey, burden YOUR child with stress on YOUR OWN dime! <br /><br />And of course, why don’t we just go back to that testing model? For the answer to that, we can look at 47th Problem of Elucid. Some people say it began with Reagan, some say with Clinton. Somewhere along the way, some time ago, some crafty business folks decided that it was worth trying to divert some of the vast river of money that went to public education into their own pocket, because, YES! Capitalism! <br /><br />Stopping it? Hard problem. These people now are like in the old days when the horse suddenly knew the barn and a bag of oats was a short gallop away, and that horse has got the bit between his teeth. <br /><br />Well, maybe it has to get really bad before it can get better. Thanks!<br /><br />Leila<br />Leilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447044081130341196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-74148048696683975352018-04-12T17:17:26.225-04:002018-04-12T17:17:26.225-04:00Poor kid.Poor kid.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-50255691303829751792018-04-12T15:30:01.466-04:002018-04-12T15:30:01.466-04:00I posted about opting out on my FB page yesterday....I posted about opting out on my FB page yesterday. This was an actual comment from someone: <br />"I will not get into the validity of the test or if they may or may not be biased. Those are matters of opinion which cannot possibly be proven without a doubt. I guess my thought is that tests are a benchmark and show your knowledge in a particular subject. It is also, in my opinion, a reflection of the teacher. Could it be that some teachers do not want the testing out of fear of reflection on said teacher? As far as making kids stressed or anxious? Kids need to be put under fire from time to time. I hope this test makes my child a little stressed or anxious. In ten years he will be an adult, in the workforce. Most likely his employer couldn't care less if a task makes him stressed or anxious. He will be expected to complete the task regardless. When we have kids thinking they can "opt out", where does it end. I guess even if I thought the tests were silly and did not accomplish anything, I would still want my kid to complete them. School is a process and for me, when you enter into a process, you complete the process."<br />So there are parents out there who think like this.Amy Moorenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-9147879423798015632018-04-12T13:19:51.928-04:002018-04-12T13:19:51.928-04:00Other countries manage testing without many of the...Other countries manage testing without many of these issues. It's not even an issue in many of them.<br /><br />The US tests are done on the cheap, for the wrong reasons. But that the US chooses to test badly does not mean testing is all bad. <br /><br />After all the US also has terrible gun laws and police training and that doesn't mean we should get rid of gun laws and police training.<br /><br />Getting rid of testing allows the zealots to argue anything they want, with no counter evidence. They can say results are going down, and how would we dispute that? That's not helpful.<br /><br />Good tests, across more disciplines, with no VAM nonsense, and no funding held to it would have some uses -- which is why most countries do it that way.Chester Drawsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-36303182413927777492018-04-12T12:20:35.305-04:002018-04-12T12:20:35.305-04:00Because capitalism? There are billions of dollars ...Because capitalism? There are billions of dollars in standardized testing, and testing corporations have powerful lobbies. Why kill that gravy train?47th Problem of Euclidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13764497527575454299noreply@blogger.com