Friday, March 25, 2011

Eduwonkery for Non-Wonks


If you're confused by current controversies in education policy, want to be able to talk ed policy at cocktail parties (always a hot topic) and reading this blog hasn't helped, you could do worse than to click over to the Mother Jones blogateria. There, Titania Kumeh gives a basic primer on standardized testing, and how we evolved into a "punish the schools" paradigm:

Why are some people unhappy with this system?
Schools are cutting back on teaching science, social studies, and art to become proficient in math and reading tests by NCLB's 2014 deadline, The New York Times' Sam Dillon reports. This is the reason the US lags so far behind other countries when it comes to science proficiency, researchers told The Hechinger Report. Also to make the goal, more than half of states have lowered their standards to redefine "proficient."
In a few weeks, my kids and yours will be taking these tests, and as mentioned, more and more schools will be falling off a cliff into "corrective action." This is why you don't let the Bush brothers design your school system.

Are there any questions?

No comments:

Post a Comment