Re: FW: Published Columbus Dispatch, Friday January 5, 2000

[Judi Hirsch <judih@OUSD.K12.CA.US>]

you say "If a child is going to go to college,
s/he has to take tests like the TASP, SAT, or ACT.  We have to prepare them
for these kinds of tests, too." but you should know that an ever increasing
number of colleges and universities are NOT requiring these tests because of
all of their flaws. It really bothers me when people give up hope and think
that bad things that are happening now will always be there. Slavery ended.
Women got the right to vote. Workers got the 8 hour day. etc. We simply need
to work to make things better. Preparing children to participate in
something that is bad for them is NOT being a good role model. It's fine
with me if one of my students wants to take a test, but why would I want to
spend any time "preparing" her to take it rather than continuing to help her
see how brilliant she is by encouraging her to continue to challenge
herself???
Judi


----- Original Message -----
From: Kathy A. Eads <kaeads@WT.NET>
To: <ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2001 12:05 PM
Subject: Re: FW: Published Columbus Dispatch, Friday January 5, 2000


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sean Obrien" <sobrien@COLUMBUS.RR.COM>

> But the facts contradict the promises.  Research finds that Texas school
> scores rise because Texas educrats manipulate both the tests and the test
> takers.  The Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) is the sacred
> measure
> of school success; it is written, scored and adjusted yearly by state
> educrats.  A key exam on which schools are rated is given to tenth
graders.
> "The numbers of Texas students who stay back in ninth grade are peculiarly
> high,"  notes Education Week.  They are sacrificed for the sake of school
> test scores.
>
> The Texas Board of Education has been bombarded with complaints from
parents
> and teachers as to how TAAS preparation supercedes real education
programs,
> to the detriment of all.  A recent survey of Texas teachers shows "just 27
> percent thought better TAAS scores reflected genuine learning gains."  A
> veteran teacher asks, "if our Texas students are making such wonderful
> progress, how come we classroom teachers are not just thrilled with the
'new
> and improved' students who are entering our classrooms each year?"
>
> Boston College's Walter Haney and Rice University's Linda McNeil have
spent
> years researching the Texas program.  Haney reports that "Texas students
in
> general have a 30 percent dropout rate, more than double the national
> average."  He finds growing numbers of kids pushed into "special" classes,
> and suggests that school officials, "keen to have their schools measure up
> to
> the state wide standards, are holding back underachieving minority
> students."
>

I start this by saying I can only speak for what happens on my campus.  I
don't know what other campuses in our district do or what other districts
do.  I can tell you that my high school does not push students into
special programs to keep TAAS scores up.  The only special education
students who are exempt from taking the 10th grade exit level TAAS test are
those who are not receiving on-grade-level instruction in English and/or
math.  If a special education student is in a regular education class for
math or English, they take the TAAS test.  I have some students who are in
special ed class for English but in regular education math.  These students
take the TAAS math test.  We feel like the students will have more
opportunities by taking the TAAS test.

Before anyone goes berserk with that statement, let me explain.  Testing is
a fact of life in our society right now.  Just because I don't agree with
TAAS doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  If a child is going to go to college,
s/he has to take tests like the TASP, SAT, or ACT.  We have to prepare them
for these kinds of tests, too.

Next week I will be part of an intervention team meeting that will tell
parents, students, and teachers that 2 students referred to special ed won't
be qualified.  Both of these students are recent immigrants (3-4 years) in
this country and are doing poorly because they are receiving instruction in
English rather than Spanish.  When tested, both did very well on the Spanish
instruments.  I don't know if they are being referred because of a fear that
they won't pass TAAS.  It doesn't matter, they don't qualify for sped
services, so they won't be labeled as sped students.

I would also like to address the high number of students who repeat 9th
grade.  I am in my second year of teaching, and I saw first-hand in these
three semesters why we have refried fish.  First, many 9th graders don't
realize they have to earn a certain number of credits before they can become
10th graders.  I see this in my special ed classes and with the mostly
regular ed homeroom I had last year.  Most of the refried fish I know are
refried because of excessive absences.  At our campus, we have a rule that a
student has to make up time after the 2nd absence.  If the student has a
note from a doctor, s/he doesn't have to make up time.  If the student was
in ISC or the Guidance Center, they don't make up time because they were
doing school work.  If they were absent with a parent note, in the Tardy
Room, were in court, or have an unexcused absence (no parent or doctor
note), they must make up time.  I had four kids (out of 25 students) who no
credited the semester because they didn't make up time.  Two of them also
failed because they were out so much that I didn't have grades on them.  The
other two would have passed if they'd come in early or stayed late.  Our
classes are 1½ hours long, but the students only have to make up 1 hour
instead of 1½.  As soon as a student has a 2nd absence, I remind them that
one more means they have to make up time.

I'm not saying records can't be manipulated so that a student remain in the
9th grade for another year.  I'm just saying that I've never seen it at our
school.  If a student has 5½ credits, s/he is a 10th grader.  It usually
takes one semester for students to realize we were telling them the truth
about credits.  We are on a block schedule, so our students have an
opportunity to earn 4 credits per semester.  I saw some report cards this
past week where the student only earned 1 credit.  If that student tries
this semester, s/he can earn 4.  They can then take a P.E., health, speech,
or another class in summer school and still be a sophomore next year.

Kathy
kaeads@wt.net

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