Research repeatedly shows that tests heavily advantage some and disadvantage others. So why do we still rely on them?
Do standardized achievement tests unfairly advantage white and Asian students and disadvantage the rest? According to a group of educational organizations and civil rights groups the answer is yes. The recently filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education pointing out that black and Latino students in New York score below whites and Asians on standardized tests so consistently that although they are almost 70% of the overall student body, they are only 11% of students enrolled at elite public schools. As a result, the complaint argues that New York City is in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act because schools rely on a test that advantages one racial group over another.
This is not the only instance where race has become an important factor for how standardized tests are used in public education. Just last month public schools in both Virginia and Washington D.C. announced targets for how many students in each racial group must pass for schools to remain in good standing. For example, in Virginia only 45% of black students in each school must pass standardized math tests while 68% of whites, and 82% of Asians must do the same. Officials say that these plans are not discriminatory because students who are the farthest behind must progress the most, but critics reason that if one expects less from some students, those lower educational expectations will become a self-fulfilling prophecy for school districts and those students will fall even farther behind.
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10 comments:
Two more doses of stupid for us, please.
Um, they are all in the same classroom. there is only ONE teacher teaching. Then, there is a test on the subject matter. Whitey gets a 95, Jose gets a 70, and Shaniqua gets a 50. Now it's the teacher's and the test's fault???
This article was written by a Democrat. Blame the test, blame others for your own failures.
Idiots.
I don't believe the fault is with the testing in place. The problem is blacks and hispanics are not always two parent (mom & dad) households, so there is no strong discipline. These are two groups that are also heavy in the entitlement programs of the government, there is not a lot of self-esteem in these groups. These two groups have more gang related situations. There is not much incentive for these children to perform to their best. The potential is there, no one is encouraging them at home. The educational system can not do all the work. They are with whatever family, or foster family, for the first five years and the desire to learn at that age is not encourage by the family/guardians of these little ones. A very sad situation for the future.
7:05 is exactly right. The RESULTS are CULTURAL. No one wants to say it, because they will be viciously attacked, but the truth is this -- white families know their kids have a very VERY small chance of becoming football or basketball stars and also know that a good education will pay off for their children long after the parents are gone. White parents (generally) monitor the performance of their kids and don't blame the TEACHER because their kid won't go to school, won't do homework, and won't stop disrupting class. Want to change the results? Change your behavior. I can show you how to repair your car all day long, but if you don't care about that, you won't learn a damn thing. Would that be MY fault? Or yours? QUIT blaming TEACHERS for student's failure to give a crap. It seems no one is accountable (not the students, not the parent -singular--not the culture, not the community) except the teachers and THAT, people, is pure rationalization.
lmclain and 7:05 nailed it...this is the perfect example if why we NEED these tests. This is our collective heritage and culture...this is what we are and should continue to be.
An article in the New York Times last week talked about how far behind poor kids are in language acquisition and vocabulary, which are the keys to doing well on standardized tests. The article suggested that we may be throwing money at the wrong end of the education problem and recommended the bulk of education funding go to early childhood education.
Interesting point, 8:34. It makes intuitive sense that being able to master language skills (reading, writing, spelling and comprehension) would enable a person to score higher on tests that measure those things.
I think again it comes down to cultural differences and as much or more so along income lines.
I agree with the cultural divide, but the problem with changing the tests to accomodate those that don't do as well is that they will expect that their whole life. That is why we are in the situation we are in right now with entitlements. Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime. We need to turn this country around so that people want and need to do well in order to succeed in life.
These tests need to go. Follow the money. They cost the taxpayers billions a year. For years these testing companies have hired lobbyists to lobby state lawmakers and convince them that these tests were necessary. Then with No Child Left Behind they became mandatory in order to get fed funds.
Schools need to get back to learning and not just test prep and school decisons need to be returned to local governments.
The bottom line is everyone is different and not created equal. We need to accept the fact that not only do some not have the IQ but also the aptitude to succeed as well as some.
Have none of you ever read "The Bell Curve".That will explain to you how IQ and race are linked genetically.
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