this needs to spread. When an adult took standardized tests

[demtenjeep]

When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids
By Valerie Strauss
Update, 4:40 p.m. Tuesday:

Revealed: The school board member who took standardized test


Original post:

This was written by Marion Brady, veteran teacher, administrator, curriculum designer and author.


By Marion Brady

A longtime friend on the school board of one of the largest school systems in America did something that few public servants are willing to do. He took versions of his state’s high-stakes standardized math and reading tests for 10th graders, and said he’d make his scores public.

By any reasonable measure, my friend is a success. His now-grown kids are well-educated. He has a big house in a good part of town. Paid-for condo in the Caribbean. Influential friends. Lots of frequent flyer miles. Enough time of his own to give serious attention to his school board responsibilities. The margins of his electoral wins and his good relationships with administrators and teachers testify to his openness to dialogue and willingness to listen.

He called me the morning he took the test to say he was sure he hadn’t done well, but had to wait for the results. A couple of days ago, realizing that local school board members don’t seem to be playing much of a role in the current “reform” brouhaha, I asked him


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/when-an-adult-took-standardized-tests-forced-on-kids/2011/12/05/gIQApTDuUO_blog.html

[izquierdista]

1. Not that difficult

How you did:
Great job! You got every question right.

The complaint that "this material isn't relevant to what an adult needs to know" is a bit specious. Three hundred years ago, educated people learned classical Latin and Greek, not so that they could converse with other well-educated people and tell inside jokes, but because it was an intellectual exercise. It doesn't matter the specifics of the exercise, they could have also learned Yoruba or how to solve polynomials in non-commutative rings. What intellectual exercises do is to separate the dumb {insert picture of Dubya here} from those who can learn and solve problems. This is necessary in a meritocracy so that the stupid are not making decisions that the rest of the society has to follow.

What it also shows is that the US is not a meritocracy, but rather a greed-ocracy, where the greediest are making the decisions for everyone else. Not a 100% greed-ocracy though, because there are those that are motivated by fear of criticism {Kathleen Sebelius} who overrule the recommendation of accomplished scientists because they might be yelled at.