NO CHILD'S BEHIND LEFT: THE TEST
Interesting article by the irreverent Greg Palast.
"If you have any doubts about what the test is measuring, look at the next question, based on another part of the text, which reads (and I could not make this up):"
"If you have any doubts about what the test is measuring, look at the next question, based on another part of the text, which reads (and I could not make this up):"
"Most young tennis stars learn the game from coaches at
private clubs. In this sentence, a club is probably a
"F baseball bat
"G tennis racquet
"H tennis court
"J country club"
posted by VoxInfo at 1:15 PM
10 Comments:
Interesting choice for measuring reading comprehension. I would be offended if they made my child read this is school...it's a tad bit insulting.
p.s. where have you been?
I would be ashamed to produce a child incapable of answering a question this piss-easy.
I think the kids should get together and say a collective "BOLLOCKS to this!" and refuse to take any more tests unless they actually "test" something besides the childs ability to point out the BLEEDIN' OBVIOUS.
Read the article. It's actually about socially (racially)-biased testing.
- Vox
What does that have to do with knowing what a Country Club is? I've never belonged to one, but I read books, so I know about all sorts of things that have nothing to do with MY lifestyle. That's part of what being "educated" is all about.
That said: I haven't read the article, so take that comment at face value :)
You may know what a country club is, but I'm sure you can understand how some children may not. That's, I think, the essence of socially-biased testing. And if this is the type of testing brought on by NCLB, then that's allot of ill-spent $$.
- Vox
Right - but my point is that the reason I know what a country club is has nothing to do with my ethnicity or culture (I'm from Jewish peasent stock - until very recently, we weren't usually allowed into Country Clubs...) it is entirely the result of READING the newspaper, books, etc. That is, being marginally educated and not completely brain dead.
Why would a child, educated in the American Public School system, where presumably they are encouraged to read a newspaper, or watch the news, or just be aware of concepts not directly related to their particular life experience, not be able to answer that question? Even if they somehow were not aware of what a country club is, it would be easy to pick the answer by default, the other options being clearly incorrect.
By your reasoning, no one should be able to pass a history test without the ability to time travel.
That's the point of the disparity of education (and life) along social, economic, racial lines. Not every child is encouraged to do these things, like read or think. You're assuming schools have money for books for kids to read or that they have books or newspapers or even tv's at home. or even parents to encourage these activities. That's not always the case.
If a child is taught history and is tested on the history they were previously taught, then they should be able to pass. But the bias in the tests are that children are tested on things that they are assumed to know, like what a country club is. Surprisingly, not everyone will or necessarily should now what this is. Think of all the things that are commonplace items in other regions of the US. If we are tested on these items, are you sure we (east-coasters) will know what they mean?
- Vox
Vox
I see your point completely, and I even partially agree with it.
Howev... when I looked at that question, my instinct was not to say "Oh, who doesn't know what a country club is! Pah!" but to say, "This is an overly simple matter of deductive reasoning that a fetus could probably answer correctly."
Of the 4 options, only TWO options - option J and Option H - are not physical objects: baseball bat; tennis racquet.
Without knowing anything about a country club, or even that much about Tennis other than that it is a sport (played, I might add, by a LOT of inner city kids at public courts), any child taught a smattering of deductive reasoning would have to assume that options F and G were false.
That leaves 2 choices: H (Tennis Court) and J (Country Club).
Now, re-read the question: "Most young tennis stars learn the game from coaches at
private CLUBs. In this sentence, a CLUB is probably a"
Of the two options, which one contains the term "Club"??
Now, assuming - as with the SATs - the kids have some sort of preparation for taking this test from their teachers, they should be able to answer correctly - and that is assuming they have never before encountered the concept of a country club, or even a tennis court.
Some kids may guess "tennis court" but I doubt the number would be high.
I understand completely what you're saying; but testing intelligence is about more than just what is familiar. Maybe I'm expecting too much from the US educational system, but MY schooling focused on how to solve problems - even unfamiliar ones - how to use logic and deductive reasoning, and how to formulate arguments so that even in an unfamiliar situation, I would be able to hold my own. Anyone can google a piece of information. Intellegent people understand how to approach problem solving - and if that's not being taught then the fault lies with the educational system itself, not with the fact that a test is asking a question about country clubs.
That said, I don't know very much about the US school system. In England, everything is standardized at a national level, so when you take an exam it's graded against the same test, taken by every other child in the country, so there's less discrepancy in the educational standards of different schools in different regions. Perhaps the US should adopt something similar - even if it were culturally biased, at least teachers would know up front what the syllabus was. AND, maybe at the national level some work could be done on preventing too much cultural bias. At the end of the day, though, I'm more interested in my kids' ability to apply logic, formulate cohesive arguments, and understand how to approach problem solving than their ability to memorize a bunch of facts and then regurgitate them at periodic intervals.
Well, I've got work to do. Keep on Bloggin' Vox! :)
I've just read the Palast piece. I stand by my earlier comments, but I must add that I'm not sure if questions about country clubs are appropriate for 8 year olds, regardless of class status.
BUT: Palast only highlights 2 questions from the test that happen to be about Tennis. What are the other questions? If that's the ENTIRE test then I agree, it's fakakta. But I'd like to see the rest of the questions.
I totally agree with you about deductive reasoning and the focuse on problem solving. You may have just articulated my BIGGEST problem with American society today: that we are not taught from a young age to "think", and like you say "how to use logic and deductive reasoning, and how to formulate arguments so that even in an unfamiliar situation, I would be able to hold my own." I couldn't say it any better (that's probably a result of my US edumacation). THAT is the problem with our citizenry today, in my opinion.
However, as far as tests go, I think that national tests only contribute to the problem of socially-biased testing (this theory could easily be proven or disproven just by seeing the results of these tests and comparing the different scores by region and such). I think better efforts should be made to come up with fairer questions.
Post a Comment
<< Home