Chronicle praises Standardized Testing

This is for Behad, but I also feel strongly about this topic.

It amazes me that the writer praises a testing system that emphasizes only basic skills, while stating basic skills are inadequite for the workplace. The editorial stresses the importance of computer skills, language skills, literature, and hard science -- none of which is a part of the standardized testing program.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/editorial/638479

Aug. 20, 2000, 6:28PM
Goal oriented -- High student standards, expectations will spur learning

Students in Houston public schools have long endured standardized testing. It is a good way for parents, teachers, administrators and the community at large to know how much pupils are learning and how effectively schools are teaching.

Those tests are more important than ever nowadays. No longer is it possible for young people who have mastered only minimal skills to be assured of decent-paying jobs. Many companies expect even their line-job workers to be versed in the use of computers and to be able to think critically. Almost every job requires more than the ability simply to read, write and do arithmetic, and those that require only these basic skills or less pay very little indeed.

That is why results of tests given to Houston high school students last spring that show, for instance, less than half of them passing lower level algebra and less than 20 percent of them mastering all the math concepts tested can no longer be sloughed off as irrelevant. Workers these days need higher level math skills.

All students deserve as part of their education to be exposed to higher math concepts -- as well as foreign languages, great literature and the hard sciences -- to give them the opportunity, at the least, to find out if they are good at them. It is wrong, furthermore, to write off certain groups of students, usually poor and minority ones, as incapable of mastering difficult subjects.

The commitment shown by the Houston Independent School District board, Superintendent Rod Paige and many of the teachers and administrators of the district to strive to improve standardized test scores each year for all students is laudable. Paige's insistence that educators not use students' lack of English proficiency, parental involvement or affluence as an excuse for children's poor academic showing is right on.

But banishing negative thinking will not by itself make kids more knowledgeable. HISD needs more teachers with expertise in rigorous subjects. The district's new bilingual education policy, which encourages more English-learning in the early grades, could help improve achievement. Tutoring for students who need extra attention, required summer school for students who do poorly on standardized tests, retention of students who do not pass the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills and additional funding for needy schools will help, too.

And HISD's expectation that schools earn ratings of exemplary or recognized or face staff changes adds an important accountability component to improvement efforts. It is widely accepted that children whose parents expect much of them and who are provided necessary support generally meet those high expectations. The same is likely to be true in HISD.

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[This message has been edited by dc sports (edited August 21, 2000).]