PBS News Hour on Bush Testing Plan

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Wednesday night's PBS News Hour devoted a large block of time to Bush's
testing scheme. They began with a pretty good report on the Arizona AIMS
graduation exam controversy -- including strong interviews with local
students, parents, and critical academics -- and then went on to a
one-on-one interview with the new Secretary of Education. The reporter
also mentioned the growing national "resistance" to high-stakes exams,
illustrating it with a map showing states that had recently backed off
parts of their testing requirements.

I suspect a neutral observer would have concluded that several of the
high school students in the clip would be more likely to pass a "tough
exit exam" than Dr. Paige would be, at least based on the strength of
their logic and oral presentations. Paige reminded me of my high school
football coach, who believed that every complicated endeavor could be
broken down into basic tasks that could be mastered through "practice,
practice, practice" (and ignored the losing record that approach
produced since it did not account for the dynamic nature of the game)

Here's a typical Paige statement:
"We must focus on the testing program, which will include the content
standards -- which will include the standards broken down into
objectives that are known through the the teachers and by the students
and by their parents and by the community."

You can read a transcript of the Paige interview at:
   http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec00/paige.html

Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director
FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing

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