Andrew Carlson, another ed "pundit" makes the case for privatization of schools with a twist, looking at schools from the perspective of market forces: a chicken/egg which came first story.
As the article points out, both national teacher unions the NEA and the AFT are jumping on board.
With the UFT set to vote this week on the report of the high stakes test task force, pay particular attention to what it says about standards. Expect it to dovetail with the AFT.
Rigid views on standards and high stakes testing go hand-in-hand.
One of our colleagues in ICE sent this view on standards:
High stakes tests have a negative rather than a positive impact on raising standards: By eliminating any curriculum that doesn’t appear on tests, “dumbing down” the actual exams, emphasizing tricks to get the right answer instead of mastering skills and knowledge, stifling creativity, fostering a cynical attitude toward learning, high stakes tests have the effect of providing an inferior education in both the short and the long run.
Read the full Carlson article at the High Stakes on ICE blog, which will be increasingly active as the debate on NCLB heats up.
http://highstakesonice.blogspot.com/
That's a terrifc quotation about high stakes testing: concise, comprehensive, powerful, and persuasive, but those who need to be convinced are brain dead and have no sense or decency.
ReplyDelete