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Testing Only Hurts Low-Income Students of Color Looking to Graduate
Every year in June, high school students don their sharpest outfits and pack school auditoriums to celebrate a key rite of passage: Graduation. The accomplishment typically generates so much excitement and pride in students, parents and teachers. That’s the way it should be.
Unfortunately, many young people across the country aren’t able to take part in the commencement ceremonies going on around them. And it won’t be because they weren’t bright enough to complete their courses. These students won’t be receiving their diplomas because of a controversial and biased approach to education: High stakes testing. Designed to hold schools accountable, high stakes testing only serves to hold students back and dilute the quality of education they receive. It’s an unfair practice that disproportionately affects low-income students of color. And it should be changed.
For years, in some form or another, school systems across the country have routinely used standardized tests. But, with the 2002 passage of No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s sweeping education reform bill, the tests went from being an assessment of student progress to, in many cases, being the deciding factor in whether or not they’ll graduate. For students in under-funded (i.e. poor) school districts, passing these tests is next to impossible. They are stuck in overcrowded classrooms with inadequate text books and possibly have teachers that are uncertified in the subjects they are teaching. Add to that any personal issues they may be dealing with -- poor test taking skills, trouble at home, etc. -- and the odds are stacked against them.
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http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fc134b4949376386de7d0e589e014984
For years, in some form or another, school systems across the country have routinely used standardized tests. But, with the 2002 passage of No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s sweeping education reform bill, the tests went from being an assessment of student progress to, in many cases, being the deciding factor in whether or not they’ll graduate. For students in under-funded (i.e. poor) school districts, passing these tests is next to impossible. They are stuck in overcrowded classrooms with inadequate text books and possibly have teachers that are uncertified in the subjects they are teaching. Add to that any personal issues they may be dealing with -- poor test taking skills, trouble at home, etc. -- and the odds are stacked against them.
More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fc134b4949376386de7d0e589e014984
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“It’s an unfair practice that disproportionately affects low-income students of color. And it should be changed.”
How does a standardized test discriminate? It is standardized for crying out loud, meaning it is used across all class and ethnic groups within the public school system.
“For years, in some form or another, school systems across the country have routinely used standardized tests. But, with the 2002 passage of No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s sweeping education reform bill, the tests went from being an assessment of student progress to, in many cases, being the deciding factor in whether or not they’ll graduate.”
That is because standardized tests previously meant very little. A test is supposed to asses a student’s progress, but you are saying they should receive a passing grade even if they fail. That is just silly. It is that type of practice that dilutes the achievement that is graduating.
“Add to that any personal issues they may be dealing with -- poor test taking skills, trouble at home, etc. -- and the odds are stacked against them.”
Well, if you have an issue such as “poor test taking skills”, you had best do the work necessary to correct it. Again, you are basically saying that a student who can no pass a minor remedial test should be allowed the merit that a high school diploma will bring. I say bullocks to that! It is high time we reapplied value to a high school diploma, and stop treating those four years as an adult babysitting operation.
No one is entitled to a degree. If a student can not demonstrate their grasp of the material, they should not be passed.
“For students in under-funded (i.e. poor) school districts, passing these tests is next to impossible.”
While I do not doubt that coming from a poor school will not help ones future academic prospects, I do doubt that the test is “next to impossible” for poorer school districts. And again, I would like to reiterate that if a student can not show that they understand basic material, then they should not receive a diploma.
How does a standardized test discriminate? It is standardized for crying out loud, meaning it is used across all class and ethnic groups within the public school system.
“For years, in some form or another, school systems across the country have routinely used standardized tests. But, with the 2002 passage of No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s sweeping education reform bill, the tests went from being an assessment of student progress to, in many cases, being the deciding factor in whether or not they’ll graduate.”
That is because standardized tests previously meant very little. A test is supposed to asses a student’s progress, but you are saying they should receive a passing grade even if they fail. That is just silly. It is that type of practice that dilutes the achievement that is graduating.
“Add to that any personal issues they may be dealing with -- poor test taking skills, trouble at home, etc. -- and the odds are stacked against them.”
Well, if you have an issue such as “poor test taking skills”, you had best do the work necessary to correct it. Again, you are basically saying that a student who can no pass a minor remedial test should be allowed the merit that a high school diploma will bring. I say bullocks to that! It is high time we reapplied value to a high school diploma, and stop treating those four years as an adult babysitting operation.
No one is entitled to a degree. If a student can not demonstrate their grasp of the material, they should not be passed.
“For students in under-funded (i.e. poor) school districts, passing these tests is next to impossible.”
While I do not doubt that coming from a poor school will not help ones future academic prospects, I do doubt that the test is “next to impossible” for poorer school districts. And again, I would like to reiterate that if a student can not show that they understand basic material, then they should not receive a diploma.
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