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August 16, 2005

If Kids Fail The Test, Make The Test Easier

Here's a shocking headline:

Report: High school exit exams pressuring limited-English students

According to the story

Huge numbers of students who don't speak or read English well may be denied a high school diploma based on graduation tests that do not fairly measure their skills, a study suggests.

Er, it seems to me that if they "don't speak or read English well" then the test is measuring their skills quite fairly, no?

Graduation tests in math, reading and other subjects have become an increasingly common way for states to gauge whether students have earned a diploma -- even though the content of the exams typically covers material learned through grades nine or 10, not grade 12.

Well maybe that's because education is a cumulative process and what comes later builds on and requires what came before ("Gosh, I am sorry about forgetting the anesthesia, Mr. Bingley; You see, they covered that in the 1st year of Med School, and I only really needed to pay attention in my 3rd year to pass the Boards.").

Some students may fail a math test, for example, because they lacked the English skills to understand the framing of a question, the report found. English learners also may not get enough time to learn the material covered on a graduation test because they spend a larger portion of their week learning English.

Sooo, I'm thinking they should learn English sooner, no? And friggin' "bilingual classes" ain't the place to do it.

Overall, states with exit exams are in dilemma -- they've been challenged to hold all children to the same standards, but in doing so, they may withhold diplomas from many kids with limited English. Almost all states with exit exams implicitly require students to know English to graduate, but high schools often find immigrant students are just getting started.

What is the dilemma? They damn well better hold all kids to the same standards. Screw "implicitly" (which, as an aside, would make one hell of a bumper sticker); they should explicitly require students to know English to graduate.

Otherwise the only thing our 'modern' education system will have created is an entire generation of welfare recipients.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at August 16, 2005 01:20 PM

Comments

...they've been challenged to hold all children to the same standards, but in doing so, they may withhold diplomas from many kids with limited English.

Oh, wow, like, maybe we should have....double standards?

What a crock. Sounds like we actually have two welfare programs in this country. One of them is called "The Education System".

Posted by: The_Real_JeffS at August 16, 2005 02:15 PM

Yes, testing is supposed to determine if someone has mastered the material or not. The correct procedure if someone fails a test is to make them try to learn it again.

XT

Posted by: Xpatriated Texan at August 21, 2005 08:44 PM

No no no! Why, think of the damage to their self esteem! I want my doctor to feel good about himself; who cares if he passed anatomy?

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at August 21, 2005 09:08 PM