Interversity Quotes"I think it's time to ask the Standardistos: Where's the test for compassion? For honesty? For curiosity? For moral commitment? Until they can answer, let's tell them to shut up." —Susan Ohanian (One Size Fits Few: The Folly of Educational Standards) Interversity ProjectsEchoes of Orwell:The purpose of this webforum is to promote a lively discussion among students and faculty alike about George Orwell's 1984 and the parallels or echoes found in today's society. |
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] More on Public Agenda's Public Fraud
Now that Public Agenda has finally put up some of its data on the website (www.publicagenda.org), the extent of bias in their news release becomes even more apparent. Note the following actual responses, which would come as a shock to readers of the news release: Question: Here are some views about requiring students to pass standardized tests before they are promoted. Please tell me if you agree or disagree with each. Would you say you agree or disagree with this view strongly or somewhat? "It's not fair to put so much pressure on students based on the results of one test" Teachers: Parents: Stongly Agree 72% 54% Somewhat Agree 19% 24% Somewhat Disagree 6% 14% Strongly Disagree 3% 6% Don't Know 0% 2% "The schools today place far too much emphasis on standardized test scores" Teachers: Parents: Stongly Agree 58% 33% Somewhat Agree 26% 27% Somewhat Disagree 11% 27% Strongly Disagree 5% 9% Don't Know 0% 4% "Teachers will end up teaching to the test instead of making sure real learning happens" Teachers: Parents: Stongly Agree 50% 37% Somewhat Agree 30% 29% Somewhat Disagree 10% 20% Strongly Disagree 10% 10% Don't Know 1% 4% Thus, in Public Agenda's ideological view, no backlash exists when more than 80% of teachers and more than 60% of parents criticize the emphasis on testing ("strongly agree" + "somewhat agree," a standard way poll results are summarized by honest researchers -- note that I presented the actual data and explained how I reached the conclusion, unlike Public Agenda). A fair and accurate summary of the responses gathered by Public Agenda would lead to the conclusion that, while there is strong support for higher academic standards, teachers and parents are ambivalent about the emphasis on high-stakes testing, which the group so fervently backs. The precise answer one gets from the public depends very much on how the question is asked. (By the way, this is totally consistent with the feedback FairTest received when we ran focus groups a couple years ago). I would be glad to walk through the data with any members of the media you care to refer to FairTest about the Public Agenda report. Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing ph- (941) 395-6773 fax- (941) 395-6779 web- http://www.fairtest.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the ARN-L list, send command SIGNOFF ARN-L to LISTSERV@LISTS.CUA.EDU.
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