lucius
01-27-2009, 08:23 AM
"We didn’t think any one test should determine whether someone gets a diploma," said Duncan Wyse, vice-chairman of the Oregon Board of Education. :rolleyes:
Oregon gives teens options on exit exams (Students No Longer Need to Learn English or Math)
By Julia Silverman, Associated Press, 6/21/08
PORTLAND, Ore. - When Oregon education officials set out to devise a graduation testing requirement for high school students, they looked to other states for inspiration - on what not to do.
In neighboring California, dropout rates soared the first year the state required high schoolers to pass a test to get their diploma. And in Washington state, lawmakers simply canceled plans to require exiting students to pass a single, comprehensive math test, after fears surfaced that thousands wouldn’t measure up.
"We didn’t think any one test should determine whether someone gets a diploma," said Duncan Wyse, vice-chairman of the Oregon Board of Education.
So board members chose a different route. This past week, they approved a plan that lets students pick from three options: a national test, state assessments or a local version, such as a student portfolio, to show colleges and employers they have mastered reading, writing, applied math and speaking skills. Passage on any one of the three, along with fulfilling course requirements, would guarantee a diploma.
The plan makes Oregon one of several states moving past the "one-size-fits-all" high-stakes testing that became commonplace in many U.S. high schools in the 1990s. In Pennsylvania, the Board of Education is considering a three-pronged approach similar to Oregon’s plan, while in Maryland, students who can’t pass the state tests could be allowed to do a senior project instead.
But some say such choices allow some students - and states - to take the easy way out.
Daria Hall, assistant director for K-12 policy at Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for poor and minority children, said the exit exams test skills students learned in ninth and tenth grades.
Comment:
From: Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt
former Sr. Policy Advisor, U.S. Dept. of Education
author, "the deliberate dumbing down of america"
1-27-2009
Shocking...but part of the Outcome Based Education (OBE) individualized education plan we have been looking at since 1965 (Passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act -- Lyndon Johnson's Great Society).
If Elisa thinks academic education is better in Texas, she had better take another look. It is far worse than in Oregon. Maybe the schools are stricter, pledge allegiance to the flag, and don't allow piercings; however, Texas is at the bottom of the list as far as academic excellence is concerned, and has been using the Direct Instruction (Pavlov, Skinner scientific research-based dog training method) for over ten years! It was one of, if not the most important, pilot for the whole country.
Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt
former Sr. Policy Advisor, U.S. Dept. of Education
author, "the deliberate dumbing down of america"
http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com
http://www.americandeception.com
orginally from here: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_9660012
secondary source: http://www.capoliticalnews.com/s/spip.php?article746g
Oregon gives teens options on exit exams (Students No Longer Need to Learn English or Math)
By Julia Silverman, Associated Press, 6/21/08
PORTLAND, Ore. - When Oregon education officials set out to devise a graduation testing requirement for high school students, they looked to other states for inspiration - on what not to do.
In neighboring California, dropout rates soared the first year the state required high schoolers to pass a test to get their diploma. And in Washington state, lawmakers simply canceled plans to require exiting students to pass a single, comprehensive math test, after fears surfaced that thousands wouldn’t measure up.
"We didn’t think any one test should determine whether someone gets a diploma," said Duncan Wyse, vice-chairman of the Oregon Board of Education.
So board members chose a different route. This past week, they approved a plan that lets students pick from three options: a national test, state assessments or a local version, such as a student portfolio, to show colleges and employers they have mastered reading, writing, applied math and speaking skills. Passage on any one of the three, along with fulfilling course requirements, would guarantee a diploma.
The plan makes Oregon one of several states moving past the "one-size-fits-all" high-stakes testing that became commonplace in many U.S. high schools in the 1990s. In Pennsylvania, the Board of Education is considering a three-pronged approach similar to Oregon’s plan, while in Maryland, students who can’t pass the state tests could be allowed to do a senior project instead.
But some say such choices allow some students - and states - to take the easy way out.
Daria Hall, assistant director for K-12 policy at Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for poor and minority children, said the exit exams test skills students learned in ninth and tenth grades.
Comment:
From: Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt
former Sr. Policy Advisor, U.S. Dept. of Education
author, "the deliberate dumbing down of america"
1-27-2009
Shocking...but part of the Outcome Based Education (OBE) individualized education plan we have been looking at since 1965 (Passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act -- Lyndon Johnson's Great Society).
If Elisa thinks academic education is better in Texas, she had better take another look. It is far worse than in Oregon. Maybe the schools are stricter, pledge allegiance to the flag, and don't allow piercings; however, Texas is at the bottom of the list as far as academic excellence is concerned, and has been using the Direct Instruction (Pavlov, Skinner scientific research-based dog training method) for over ten years! It was one of, if not the most important, pilot for the whole country.
Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt
former Sr. Policy Advisor, U.S. Dept. of Education
author, "the deliberate dumbing down of america"
http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com
http://www.americandeception.com
orginally from here: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_9660012
secondary source: http://www.capoliticalnews.com/s/spip.php?article746g