http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2011/03/dear_diane_if_george_orwell.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BridgingDifferences+%28Education+Week+Blog%3A+Bridging+Differences%29
Well first, that's an incredibly long link but I think the article is super so I'm keeping it. I really enjoyed the entire quote from Obama. Even though I'm pretty sure nothing is actually getting done to change things, it's still pretty amazing to hear him talk like that; who knows, maybe he'll change things!
" Too often, what we've been doing is using these tests to punish students or to, in some cases, punish schools. And so what we've said is, let's find a test that everybody agrees makes sense; let's apply it in a less pressure-packed atmosphere; let's figure out whether we have to do it every year, or whether we can do it maybe every several years; and let's make sure that that's not the only way we're judging whether a school is doing well."
Amen Obama! Let's get on that! I'm glad he realizes that there is a flaw in the testing system, because there is. I've always thought that standardized tests are a horrible way to judge schools. Or rather, that the punishments to schools that do not succeed or pass the tests are far too severe. It's just ridiculous. How is a school logistically supposed to have every single one of its students proficient?!
And it does affect the students as well. Not only does the establishment where they spend 1/3 of their day get penalized and thus the situation there worsened, but they can be singled out. Well, if they're part of a subgroup, that is. Because you can more easily single out those in subgroups than in the majority, and you can tell which subgroup isn't doing quite as well as the majority.
It's a horrible system and I do not like it.
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