Fwd: A+

[Juanita Doyon <Jedoyon@AOL.COM>]

Anyone care to comment on this.  I refuse to write back on the grounds that
it would raise my blood pressure to unacceptable levels.

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• To: Jedoyon@aol.com
• Subject: Re: A+
• From: Poof42@aol.com
• Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 10:44:33 EST
• Full-name: Poof42

Hi Juanita, someone asked me when the meeting was over how I had recognized
all but one of the presenters during the morning and later afternoon
sessions. Person standing next to us said I needed to get a life. Funny how
this community of education is so small when one considers approximately 1
million students are impacted each and every year.

Just a couple of comments, the standards have indeed been set by educators in
our State. Not just any educators, but those closest to the students in the
grade levels assessed. This information isn't mentioned much but it is very
important. Also, the levels aren't set for the top students, but rather what
a typical 4th, 7th or 10th grader should know.

Secondly, we were asked to use multiple indicators in our work and have done
so. I am amazed to hear from others how often this issue is raised. We use
both WASL and ITBS in our considerations, and are working to find a way to
add other information. These would be for the first look, the second look
would be the "human type," in other words, look at the school or district
itself and we may see a different story. I believe we will have multiple
indicators to show the level of learning activity in a school/district.

On Special Ed one needs to look before leaping. Remember the desire to have
all children assessed came more from the parents of the respective students
than anywhere else. Talk with the advocates of Special Ed before deciding
that testing is wrong. I have been visited by many and they were adamant
that their child was going to be treated the same as everyone else.

Anyway, nice to see you yesterday.

Thanks,

Patrick


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