The girl who ran away to avoid a standardized test

[proud2BlibKansan]

For several days there was an Amber alert out for a missing 13-year-old girl from Orange, Conn. Scores of police officers, emergency officials and volunteers scoured woods near her home to find her, and, mercifully, they did, unharmed. Here’s the headline from NBC Connecticut about the rescue: “Isabella Was Stressed About Tests.”

Isabella Oleschuck, a 7th grader at Amity Middle School, ran away from home last Sunday because, she told her parents, she was stressed out about taking the Connecticut Mastery Tests, NBC quoted her father, Roman Oleschuck as saying. She was found on Wednesday in a farm stand a few miles from her home.

Running away to avoid taking a standardized test may be an overreaction, but then again, it’s not nearly as extreme as what the school reform movement is foisting on kids today: making them take tests that have no real meaning, and then using the scores to grade them, their schools, and their teachers.

That, of course, has become the law of the land in many school districts, despite the protestations of experts on assessment who say standardized tests should not be used for high-stakes purposes. The Obama administration, through its Race to the Top competition, dangled federal dollars in front of state legislatures to persuade them to adopt such policies.

more . . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the-girl-who-ran-away-to-avoid-a-standardized-test/2011/03/25/AF0d7QWB_blog.html

[givemebackmycountry]

1. Kicked -

Thanks for posting this Lib.

What kind of fool puts the word "mastery" into a standardized test?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Poor kid...

The things we'll do to our children......

for money.

[CoffeeCat]

6. That's so true, Peggy....

It's terrible that school funding is given/denied based on these tests.

It's so unfair to the students to put that burden on them. Furthermore, there are so many
factors that play into the scores.

The week before these tests, the principal talks to every classroom--and reinforces how terribly
important these tests are and how the kids must do their best. Papers are sent home to parents--telling
us to make sure our kids get enough sleep, and eat the right things for breakfast, so they do well. We're
reminded that we must ensure that our kids do as well as possible and to let the kids know how important
these tests are.

These tests have turned our kids into trained monkeys.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. And trained monkeys is exactly what they want.

You might want to read the book "The McDonaldization of Society" by George Ritzer. He talks extensively about just this sort of thing.

[CoffeeCat]

11. Thanks for the book rec...

I will check it out. Sounds interesting.

:)

[LibertyLover]

14. My 3rd grade daughter just took her first standardized tests

of this type and you are so right about the crap that came home before them. We were advised to put our kids to bed earlier than normal so that they got a good night's sleep and told to feed them a good, high-protein breakfast in the morning. Last year the 1st and 2nd graders (which my kid was at the time) had to cheer as the grades taking the standardized tests walked into school to start them. It is turning them into trained monkeys.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. I don't understand why you're complaining about the bedtime and breakfast

The cheering - yes. But how does a decent bedtime and breakfast make kids trained monkeys?

[LibertyLover]

24. Is is these tests that are making kids into trained monkeys

not them telling me when I should put her to bed and what to feed her.

[ZombieHorde]

9. Poor parents. I agree with your post, I am glad you said it, but I feel for her parents. nt

[roody]

3. Who is making money off this?

[csziggy]

10. Neil Bush for one

No Bush Left Behind
The President's brother Neil is making hay from school reform

OCTOBER 16, 2006
Across the country, some teachers complain that President George W. Bush's makeover of public education promotes "teaching to the test." The President's younger brother Neil takes a different tack: He's selling to the test. The No Child Left Behind Act compels schools to prove students' mastery of certain facts by means of standardized exams. Pressure to perform has energized the $1.9 billion-a-year instructional software industry.


Now, after five years of development and backing by investors like Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and onetime junk-bond king Michael R. Milken, Neil Bush aims to roll his high-tech teacher's helpers into classrooms nationwide. He calls them "curriculum on wheels," or COWs. The $3,800 purple plug-and-play computer/projectors display lively videos and cartoons: the XYZ Affair of the late 1790s as operetta, the 1828 Tariff of Abominations as horror flick. The device plays songs that are supposed to aid the memorization of the 22 rivers of Texas or other facts that might crop up in state tests of "essential knowledge."

Bush's Ignite! Inc. has sold 1,700 COWs since 2005, mainly in Texas, where Bush lives and his brother was once governor. In August, Houston's school board authorized expenditures of up to $200,000 for COWs. The company expects 2006 revenue of $5 million. Says Bush about the impact of his name: "I'm not saying it hasn't opened any doors. It may have helped with some sales." (In September, the U.S. Education Dept.'s inspector general accused the agency of improperly favoring at least five publishers, including The McGraw-Hill Companies, which owns BusinessWeek. A company spokesman says: "Our reading programs have been successful in advancing student achievement for decades; that's why educators hold them in such high regard.")

More: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005059.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignite!

The links on the Wikipedia article are old, but they tell the story of how this crap got instituted early along in both Jeb Bush's reign over Florida and W's reign over the country.

[CoffeeCat]

4. I'd like to run away from those tests...

We are dealing with issues regarding these tests.

This is what our young family has experienced so far, and my kids are only 9 and 10.

My youngest daughter did very poorly on the standardized tests, but she is a great student and has the equivalent of a 'B'
average with her report cards. She bombed the math portion. Because of this, her teacher recommended her for special
education in math. I totally resisted. I knew she was a poor test taker and also a late bloomer. I insisted that we
give this some time, stop putting so much emphasis on these tests, and just let her blossom. The teacher didn't like that,
so she set up a meeting with the principal, two education experts and myself. I stood my ground and refused special ed
for her, despite the tremendous pressure to do so, at this meeting. BTW--after hearing my side of things--the two education
experts sided with me, but the teacher continued to insist special ed. It's been a year since this debacle. This year,
my daughter's math score on these standardized tests rose 30 points. 30 points! She continues to do "B" work in math and
A-B work in science/social studies.

Special education was NOT the answer. I was right. Those tests were part of the "evidence" used to justify making a poor
decision. Thankfully for my child--a poor decision that never happened.

My oldest daughter (5th grade) LOVES science and pulls A+'s on all tests and constantly reads about science on her own. She
took the standardized tests and scored in the 90th percentile in science and a 92 on reading comprehension. She starts
junior high this fall and wants to take Honors Science classes. The classes go deeper into the science subject matter
and allow the kids to do research and labs. She's chomping at the bit to take these classes, but you need scores of 98
in science and reading comprehension to do this. She doesn't understand why she can't take those classes. She wonders
if she's not as smart as other kids. I told her about the 98 percent prerequisite and she said it best, "Mom. I love
science. I want to learn more and do more. I can't get enough! How can they deny me learning more, because of a stupid
test?"

Our family doesn't exactly like these tests...as you can imagine!

[exboyfil]

13. A 98 cutline?

I can't even imagine. I had the same problem with getting my daughter into PreAlgebra in 7th grade. Her math test scores were in the mid-90s and she scored a 76 on the assessment test (80 was the cut line). The deciding factor was her CogAT taken in 2nd grade. I fought around some and got a retake of the CogAT. I was not going to screw around with these people so I really prepped her for this exam. She ended up with a much higher score (probably somewhat distorted because of my prep wok but I don't care). She got in.

She got a B last semester in PreAlgebra and is sitting on another B this semester. I really don't care if she gets an A, but she needs the Algebra in 8th grade to keep up with her Science which she is very strong in. She is already taking 8th grade Science at the school and 10th grade Biology at home with me.

Don't be afraid to do odd things. My daughter has a combination of public school courses, homeschooling by me (in English and Social Studies), and a course from the North Dakota Center for Distance Education (Biology).

It is situations like your story which fuels the Homeschooling movement and the turning of public sentiment away from public school.

[FSogol]

25. Have you talked to the school? They have a rule like that here, but have an "or by recommendation

by the teacher exception." My son was able to take the advanced classes he wanted thanks to the teacher.

[msongs]

5. Our schools start the state testing tomorrow....follow the money is exactly correct nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. We're in our third week

And I am sick to death of the fucking tests.

[Initech]

7. Another horrible by-product of the corporatocracy virus that's destroying us.

[mysuzuki2]

15. I wonder what would happen if parents

just kept their kids home on test day. Giving these stardardized tests may be mandatory for the schools but as far as I know it is not mandatory for the kids to take them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. In my state you'd have to keep your kids home for a month

In other states (I believe Florida is one), the kids have to pass the test to go on to the next grade level.

[seabeyond]

23. it hurts the schools. they are easy for my boys and they dont stress. i tell them

they are responsible for pulling out their top score to help the overall score of the school.

schools are picked on enough. boys can do their part

[liskddksil]

26. It did happen in Scarsdale, NY about 10 years ago

when a significant number of students stayed home for the 8th grade assessments there. This was before No Child Left Behind, and also before there was any discussion of of tying test scores to teachers pay and job security. However, these tests were being used in some cases to determine promotion to high school. The media tried to make them to be rich elitist parents, while parents cited the amount of time being used for test-prep and testing as eating into there school-day and curriculum. This did get a good deal of attention, and I would love for this to happen on a much larger scale, especially as the stakes keep increasing. .

[seabeyond]

16. my kids just want the breakfast i cook on the mornings of tests. they kept telling me, TAK test

tomorrow. i finally asked son, you worried about it/ you never make a big deal.

well, it is a tak test

what subject is it tomorrow?

i dunno....

lol lol

ya, real concerned. i laugh. all about a breakfast

i like that. i am sad for the kids that put this pressure on themselves. dont like it at all. the teachers dont either. on the one hand they are putting on pressure, cause they gotta. on the other hand, they are doing everything they can to not pressure kids. weird, weird

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. Hahaha... We posted about the TAKS at the same time.

My son gets himself whipped up about it every year. Teachers telling the students that, if they don't pass, they won't be promoted/graduate/etc. The test itself is ridiculous.

I, of course, made scrambled eggs for my son this morning. :rofl:

[seabeyond]

21. my oldest said this morning he kinda likes it cause not like going to school.

my youngest was the one that stressed about it. was so sad, i literally cried for him, his first test. he made himself physically sick 3rd,4th? grade adn i got a call from the school about him coming home, but he endured. then he didnt turn test in until last minute at 5 pm. was in the damn class all day taking the test. got a hundred, lol, perfect. that was his last major stress day of that test

eggs tomorrow. today was pancakes. lol

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. My son is doing the second leg of the TAKS today.

It's a miserable horrible test, that creates miserable children...and pretty much proves nothing. :(

[xchrom]

22. recommend

[NotThisTime]

27. Her school should show Race To Nowhere, running away is one of the more minor problems for these

kids.... serious shit and nobody gives a damn what is happening to them.