Grading the graders
My kids call the omnipotent FCAT, taken in March by most public school students, the F-that -- this despite the fact that they do well and their schools are always in the top three countywide. They think the test is a farce. I wouldn't go so far but do believe that too much emphasis is being placed on one single assessment tool.
So I read with interest The Miami Herald story about legislators who are suing to find out who the test graders are. Good question! I'm especially curious about those reading the essays. Writing is fairly subjective and we should have top-notch educators doing the reading. I have a sneaky suspicion, though, that like everything else we're probably cutting corners and getting discount graders. I bet, too, somebody is making a lot of money off the grading.
So I read with interest The Miami Herald story about legislators who are suing to find out who the test graders are. Good question! I'm especially curious about those reading the essays. Writing is fairly subjective and we should have top-notch educators doing the reading. I have a sneaky suspicion, though, that like everything else we're probably cutting corners and getting discount graders. I bet, too, somebody is making a lot of money off the grading.
posted by Ana Veciana-Suarez at 8:27 AM
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3 Comments:
Having a part time grader with no benefits to decide our students future. This is appropriate, as the children have no vote, no voice.
How about using the teachers, who study to educate children know how to test, and grade full time.
Of course we pay our teachers on a part time basis, (just kidding)they are paid so well? haha
What we need is more politians helping in the education system, oh! wait that's how we got into this mess.
It seems that we have always taken the EASY way out of difficult situations. We are expecting to answer the questions about proficiency in reading and math (or the lack thereof) by subjecting the kids to this standardized test.
Regardless of who the graders are - the ONE test is not an accurate barometer of who is learning what -- the real answers are more complex than one test can cover.
The real problems lie in parental involvement and expectations. Support from the community is required in order for our children to accept their job as students. Many of our "F" schools are located in neighborhoods where there is no such support.
Instead of giving more money to the "A" schools - the investment needs to be made in these communities to lift their expectations and goals.
The "A" students have the support they need to achieve their goals - we should invest our resources in the ones that do not.
If you want the government involved in running our schools, then a test or other form of independent assessment may be the only way to give parents a view into how their schools fare.
I know many are opposed to school choice/vouchers because they don't want their public money potentially going to religious schools. However, if you give parents choices (not based on their zip code and income which can determine their zip code) this will introduce competition into the school system and maybe we won't need these standardized tests to figure out which schools are good.
Parents know best and adding some competition to the school system will go a long way into improving our education system. This can be accomplished even if vouchers are limited to public/non-religious schools.
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