Re: A change of direction for FairTest?

[Susan Ohanian <SOhan70241@AOL.COM>]

"High Standards" is the mushy rhetoric that defies description in real world
terms. I hear daily of the human standards set by Steve Orel in Birmingham,
Alabama. These are standards that would astound teachers in, say, Scarsdale.

More's the pity for that.
But I'm sure Scarsdale et al have a few that would astound Steve.

My twenty+ years teaching kids showed me daily that all students don't
operate according to high expectations shipped in from Albany.

The fact that some students don't meet the high expectations is because they
can't (and the 'can't' is caused by a variety of circumstances, not excluding
being a nasty, rotten human being) is the dirty little secret the
Standardistos won't admit.

The question is what are we going to do with and for students who do not meet
our high standards? What are we going to do with and for the troubled
students?  When are we going to admit that some students are less able
academically? When are we going to admit that college prep is not the only
road to successful citizenship?

Take a look at the infamous birthday problem on the Maryland test, certainly
evidence of active, rigorous performance standards.

The fact that the intentions of the item writers were noble does not change
the fact that this is a loony expectation for many 8th graders.

To say that ALL students can meet some high expectations established by
people who don't know them is hubris at best and criminal at worst.

We need to continue fighting hard to get rid of high-stakes tests, but we
must never forget that the underlying poison is the high standards. One size
fits few.

Susan Ohanian, whose classroom standards changed each day

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