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On
The Soapbox
from
the editor

Taking Tests
Encourages
CHEATING??
I am willing to listen to a good
reason that would explain why President Bush's plan to test schools and
school children is a bad idea.
So far I have heard nothing but stupid
replies.
Bush's proposal is to test schools
and it's students to measure whether or not the students are learning.
If a school is shown to have no progress in three years it would lose federal
grant money which would be turned over to the parents in order to fund
private schooling for their children.
The president stated Wednesday in Ohio
"..As far as I'm concerned, if a district receives federal money and
that school won't teach and won't change; Then at some point and time that
money should not go to continue to fuel failure..."
Critics of this plan say that the testing
would lead to an increase in cheating and will teach students how to pass
a test in stead of what they need to learn for an education.
My first question is how do you
cheat on a test when you don't know what the questions will be? Not to
mention the fact that it isn't a pass or fail test. It's a measurement
test. A general test used to measure what you have learned. The ones I
have taken in my lifetime have always been been easier than a regular test
because there was no pressure of the chance of failure. Unless of
course the school has not done it's job of teaching their students there should
be nothing to worry about. If my daughters school was proven to
be unable to teach, then I want to take my child to a place where she could
be taught.
This brings me to the second
part. Critics argue that testing children only teaches them how to
pass a test. What kind of stupid idiot came up with that? Testing
a child does not teach anything at all. It measures. It's a
ruler. Teaching a student is what teaches a student. If students
have been taught then the test that measures their learning will show that
they have been taught. It's the lost art of logic, people.
Allow me to impart to you
the definition of the words "teach", "learn", and "test".
teach: to cause to know something
:to act as a teacher
learn: to gain knowledge,
understanding, or skill by study or experience
test: to put to test :try,
examine
GETTING OFF THE SOAPBOX
ROBIN HOOD |