Re: lawmakers take tests in Michigan

[Karen Canty <kscanty@PACBELL.NET>]

Stephen,

Nancy is one of our ARNers!  Nice that you found it....

Karen
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Assessment Reform Network Mailing List
[mailto:ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU]On Behalf Of Stephen Krashen
  Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 11:54 AM
  To: ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU
  Subject: lawmakers take tests in Michigan


  From: Macomb Daily, Feb 12


  A reader from Eastpointe says state lawmakers feel the pain of fifth-grade
MEAP tests.


  I recently had a unique opportunity as an elementary teacher while
administering the Michigan Educational Assessment Program test. Some
teachers may wonder why is that such a unique opportunity. It was because I
administered it to Michigan lawmakers, those wonderful men and women in
Lansing who decided that 9-year-old children must take the MEAP.

  The offer to take the test was given to all state legislators, but only
about 10 showed up. I am proud to say that two of the 10 were from Macomb
County, State Reps. Michael Switalski, D-Roseville, and Paul Gieleghem,
D-Clinton Township. It seems that Switalski was sweating much less profusely
than Gieleghem over the fifth grade social studies test. You would think
that people who make our laws wouldn't be worried at all about passing a
fifth grade social studies test, but you certainly could sense the tension
in the air as they took the test.

  Some of the 10 who had the courage to attend decided to opt-out. This
option is also available to students, but it isn't widely publicized. It
also isn't publicized that the merit scholarships held out as carrots on a
stick are also available by obtaining high scores on American College and
Scholastic Aptitude tests. So you really don't have to take the MEAP to win
the scholarships.

  Although the lawmakers were graded based on their zip codes, because,
statistically, this is the best way to determine who passes and fails, their
tests probably would have been tossed out because of illegible handwriting.
I asked one if he had originally worked as a prescription writer.

  I applaud Switalski and Gieleghem for having the courage to take the test.
One lawmaker commented when asked if he was going to attend, "What do you
think I am, a masochist?" If taking a fifth-grade test makes a middle-aged
legislator feel like a masochist, how do you think it makes a 9-year-old
feel?



  NANCY CREECH

  Eastpointe