Re: [Phys-l] NCLB petition

[Bernard Cleyet <bernardcleyet@redshift.com>]

Down the tree (or is it up?) of comments.   As already stressed testing 
is old hat and generally agreed as necessary -- what's different now are 
the consequences.  Instead of helping the low achievers (the schools and 
teachers) they are punished.  This, of course, is Republican ideology 
*.  The result is unreasonable stress,  and so much attention to the 
test(s) that other than  the three Rs are neglected, e.g. critical 
thought, culture, etc.   Perhaps the mistake of the petition is to 
example the trees, so the forest is obscured. 

Specifically:

| 
| Teaching such is not precluded--it is the JOB of the teachers 
| to work on such along with the basics.  The very fact that 
| such cannot be evaluated IS part of why it is not strictly 
| part of the uniform assessment, but again, this IS part of 
| the teacher's responsibility to their students.


Sorry NCLB leaves no time for this.

And:

"Yes, but even more importantly it is the responsibility of the school
administration to pass the message to the teachers that such teaching,
beyond the test, is valued and will be rewarded.  If such is not the
case than the teachers would simply be doing what they are being hired
to do; i.e. teach to the test."



You kidding?   You think they'll risk their careers by doing this?


*  Matthew 25:29,  the Republicans usually interpret economically 
instead of as understanding.

bc, writes from vicarious experience.


Rauber, Joel wrote:

> A few comments to the comments
>
> ________________________ 
> Joel Rauber 
> Department of Physics - SDSU 
>
> Joel.Rauber@sdstate.edu 
> 605-688-4293 
>
>
>
> | >
> | > 10. Emphasizes minimum content standards rather than maximum 
> | > development of human potential.
> | 
> | Without minimum content, without basic skills, I would think 
> | it is EXTREMELY difficult to achieve maximum potential.
>
> Bashers of high stakes testing seem to forget that we have the testing
> because the educational system was seen to be failing at even imparting
> basic skills.  And they are certainly a prerequisite.
>
>  
cut