Re: test must go on

["Allen Flanigan." <Allen.Flanigan@USPTO.GOV>]

"We decided we could put the
crisis aside and consummate the testing."

Well, the main place I typically see the verb "to consummate" used has to do
with the performance of a specific physical act on one's wedding night.
When I hear a principal using the word "consummate", I can only ask, who's
getting screwed?

-----Original Message-----
From: Wcala@SERVTECH.COM [mailto:Wcala@SERVTECH.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 7:47 AM
To: ARN-L@listsrva.CUA.EDU
Subject: Re: test must go on


I am deeply dismayed that a principal would be so callous. While we should
be doing everything in our power to make the school day as normal as
possible, to expect kids to think clearly (not a prerequisite on
standardized tests, however) is tantamount to abuse.

How were WE  functioning on Tuesday as adults?  I for one could not focus on
ANYTHING routine.

I guess that is the nature of a one-shot test that is to determine your
future.  Who cares about external variables?

BC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Ohanian" <SOhan70241@AOL.COM>
To: <ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 7:12 AM
Subject: test must go on


> STEP-Plus testing during tragedy draws mixed views
>
> By Kim Walker
> Indianapolis Star
> September 18, 2001
>
> While most adults watched with shock and disbelief as the nation's tragic
> events unfolded last Tuesday, thousands of high school sophomores were
> concentrating on a high-stakes academic test.
>
> Most districts in the Metro North area started Indiana Statewide Testing
for
> Educational Progress-Plus exams last Tuesday morning, the same day as
> terrorist attacks in the East.
>
> "Every time a siren goes off in the playground, our elementary students
are
> wondering if a plane is headed for them. Our high school students are
> wondering if they can be drafted," said John Henderson, Frankton-Lapel
School
> Board member.
>
> "This isn't the time to take the test. In my opinion it ought to be
trashed."
>
> Henderson said during Thursday's board meeting that he thought the test
> should be "burned" this year.
>
> But Carmel High School Principal William Duke was more optimistic, typical
of
> most administrators interviewed.
>
> "It went pretty well," Duke said of the test.
>
> "We didn't have any complaints from parents. We decided we could put the
> crisis aside and consummate the testing. We felt our kids -- I know our
kids
> -- could perform well."
>
> Duke said the high school began the multiday testing at 7:50 a.m. Tuesday
and
> finished testing for the day by 10 a.m.
>
> In Carmel, like many other school districts, news of the attacks was kept
> from students until after ISTEP-Plus testing was completed for the day
> Tuesday.
>
> Alexandria High School Principal Steve Telfer reported that his sophomores
> were isolated in the basement, sheltered from the rest of the school,
during
> testing Tuesday.
>
> Hamilton Heights High School guidance director Jerry Emery confirmed that
> they, too, had just about wrapped up the test Tuesday before information
> about the attack was released.
>
> Whether the test was administered in the morning or afternoon, as
determined
> by individual districts, could factor into the overall success rate of the
> test, administrators say.
>
> While most schools were able to evade disruption from the test taking
> Tuesday, it was another matter Wednesday and Thursday.
>
> As news of the tragedy leaked throughout the afternoon and at home on the
day
> of the attacks, students had to continue concentrating on ISTEP-Plus
testing.
>
> Still, most administrators portrayed confidence in students' ability to
> compartmentalize emotions and press on with the testing. Some
administrators
> had plans to help students focus on the test.
>
> In Pendleton, South Elementary Principal Bill Hutton told students he
would
> set aside time to discuss the nation's events during lunch time and
afternoon
> hours if they would focus on the ISTEP-Plus test in the morning.
>
> It was a plan that Hutton said worked well.
>
> Still, how effective administrators were in maintaining an air of
normalcy,
> and how well students were at pushing thoughts of the horrendous attacks
> aside, are yet to be determined.
>
> This may be a year, Hutton said, in which all tests are skewed, and a
large
> asterisk is placed at the bottom of all tests with the note: "This test
was
> taken during a national tragedy."
> http://www.indystar.com/print/metronorth/tue/articles/istep18.html
>
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