Re: FairTest letter on Maryland grad test - news release and link

[aburke5054@aol.com]

Perhaps an all-white society is not exactly the dream of every 
Baltimorean.  And Americans are not likely to see a society with 30+ 
percent unemployment as so "successful" that we should start doing 
things the way the Finns do.

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: GERALD BRACEY <gbracey1@verizon.net>
To: arn-l@interversity.o
Sent: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 5:49 pm
Subject: Re: [arn-l] FairTest letter on Maryland grad test - news 
release and link



Maybe because Finland is about the size of greater Baltimore, about as
heterogeneous as the western small towns in MD (all white), and a 
beacon
that while the Soviet Union is dead, socialism can be successful.




----- Original Message -----
From: <aburke5054@aol.com>

To: <arn-l@interversity.org>

Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 8:03 PM

Subject: Re: [arn-l] FairTest letter on Maryland grad test - news 
release
and link



>

> You forgot to mention Finland, along with Rhode Island, Wyoming, and
> Nebraska.  Yeah, why can't Maryland be more like Finland?

>

> Art

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Monty Neill <monty@fairtest.org>

> To: ndsgroup@yahoogroups.com; care@yahoogroups.com; RScriticalteach
> <RScriticalteach@lists.execpc.com>; ARN-state@yahoogroups.com; ARN-L
> <arn-l@interversity.org>; arn2-strategy 
<arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>

> Sent: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:40 am

> Subject: [arn-l] FairTest letter on Maryland grad test - news release 
and
> link

>

> FairTest

> National Center for Fair & Open Testing

>

>

> for further information:

>

> Dr. Monty Neill  (617) 864-4810

>

> or Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773

>

>

> for immediate release, Monday, October 29, 2007

> NAT'L ASSESSMENT REFORMERS CALL ON MARYLAND BOARD OF EDUCATION

> TO REJECT PROPOSALS FOR HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAM;

> "GRADUATION TESTS HURT, NOT HELP STUDENTS, SCHOOLS AND SOCIETY"

>

>       The country's leading assessment reform organization today 
called on
> the

> Maryland Board of Education to reject proposals for a "one-size fits 
all"
> high

> school exit exam. In a letter delivered to board members, the 
National
> Center

> for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) wrote "More than two decades of
> evidence

> demonstrates that high school graduation tests are the wrong 
prescription
> for

> what ails public education."

>       The FairTest letter continued, "In fact, such requirements 
damage
> the very

> groups proponents claim they will help. Across the county, misguided 
exit
> exam

> mandates have increased drop-out rates, especially among minority 
groups,
> and

> focused classroom teaching on test preparation rather than 21st 
Century
> skills."

>      FairTest acknowledged that Maryland schools face serious 
problems

> including gaps in educational access, quality and outcomes. It noted,
> however,

> "[E]xams won't cure these ills. For too many students, the cure is 
worse
> than

> the disease. Rather than provide better education and expanded
> opportunities,

> graduation tests add punishment - denial of a diploma - to those who 
most
> need

> help."

>      The letter included data on increasing dropout rates in 
California
> and

> diploma denials in Texas after those states adopted high school exit
> exams. It

> also argued that high-stakes testing "undermines rather than improves
> education.

> Untested subjects are ignored, while tested topics narrow to test 
coaching

> programs."

>       In Massachusetts, which Maryland exit exam proponents 
frequently
> cite,

> dropouts increased among minority and limited English proficient 
students
> after

> an exit exam requirement was adopted, according to statistics 
provided by

> FairTest. The problem was particularly severe in low-income urban
> districts.

> FairTest closely monitors the state because its headquarters is in
> Cambridge,

> Massachusetts.

>       As an alternative to the proposed graduation testing mandate,
> FairTest

> called on Maryland to follow the lead of states such as Rhode Island,
> Wyoming

> and Nebraska, which use multiple measures to award diplomas.  "Other
> states have

> avoided the exit exam route specifically because they recognized the 
costs
> can

> outweigh the benefits," the FairTest letter concluded.

>

> - - 30 - -

>   The full FairTest letter to Maryland Board of Education members is
> online at

> http://www.fairtest.org/Maryland.pdf

> ------------------------------

>

> Monty Neill, Ed.D.

> Co-Executive Director

> FairTest

> 342 Broadway

> Cambridge, MA 02139

> 617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224

> monty@fairtest.org

> http://www.fairtest.org

> Donate:
https://secure.entango.com/servlet/donate/MnrXjT8MQqk------------------------------------------------------- 


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>

>

>

>
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