Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Back when I was growing up, in the 70's and 80's, I don't recall having one single standardized test. Back then, there were a lot more kids graduating school who could only read at an ES level, or not read at all.

Doubtful.

I guess you've never read the description of how great American schooling was in the 1970s and early 1980s, contained in the 1983 report A Nation At Risk.

(to the top PP -- I took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the 1970s and 80s.)

PP, thanks for reminding us about this report. I just read a portion of this (a very short portion). Very alarming. This report was written about 30 yrs ago.

https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Back when I was growing up, in the 70's and 80's, I don't recall having one single standardized test. Back then, there were a lot more kids graduating school who could only read at an ES level, or not read at all.

Doubtful.

I guess you've never read the description of how great American schooling was in the 1970s and early 1980s, contained in the 1983 report A Nation At Risk.

(to the top PP -- I took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the 1970s and 80s.)

PP, thanks for reminding us about this report. I just read a portion of this (a very short portion). Very alarming. This report was written about 30 yrs ago.

https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html

Some stats from the report:

- About 13 percent of all 17-year-olds in the United States can be considered functionally illiterate. Functional illiteracy among minority youth may run as high as 40 percent.
- Average achievement of high school students on most standardized tests is now lower than 26 years ago when Sputnik was launched.
- Over half the population of gifted students do not match their tested ability with comparable achievement in school.
- Between 1975 and 1980, remedial mathematics courses in public 4-year colleges increased by 72 percent and now constitute one-quarter of all mathematics courses taught in those institutions.

This is why we need to increase standards for the entire country. CC standards have their issues, but damn, something needed to change because 30 yrs after this report, not much had changed, sadly:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/24/a-nation-at-risk-30-years-report-schools_n_3147535.html

""It's been the most influential report on education in my lifetime. It was so blunt," said Michael Rebell, a professor of law and education at Columbia University's Teachers College. "It gave us the whole standards movement.""

The last big "savior" was NCLB. We saw how well that worked , didn't we? Common Core will be even worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Back when I was growing up, in the 70's and 80's, I don't recall having one single standardized test. Back then, there were a lot more kids graduating school who could only read at an ES level, or not read at all.

Doubtful.

I guess you've never read the description of how great American schooling was in the 1970s and early 1980s, contained in the 1983 report A Nation At Risk.

(to the top PP -- I took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the 1970s and 80s.)

PP, thanks for reminding us about this report. I just read a portion of this (a very short portion). Very alarming. This report was written about 30 yrs ago.

https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html

Some stats from the report:

- About 13 percent of all 17-year-olds in the United States can be considered functionally illiterate. Functional illiteracy among minority youth may run as high as 40 percent.
- Average achievement of high school students on most standardized tests is now lower than 26 years ago when Sputnik was launched.
- Over half the population of gifted students do not match their tested ability with comparable achievement in school.
- Between 1975 and 1980, remedial mathematics courses in public 4-year colleges increased by 72 percent and now constitute one-quarter of all mathematics courses taught in those institutions.

This is why we need to increase standards for the entire country. CC standards have their issues, but damn, something needed to change because 30 yrs after this report, not much had changed, sadly:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/24/a-nation-at-risk-30-years-report-schools_n_3147535.html

""It's been the most influential report on education in my lifetime. It was so blunt," said Michael Rebell, a professor of law and education at Columbia University's Teachers College. "It gave us the whole standards movement.""

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Back when I was growing up, in the 70's and 80's, I don't recall having one single standardized test. Back then, there were a lot more kids graduating school who could only read at an ES level, or not read at all.

Doubtful.

I guess you've never read the description of how great American schooling was in the 1970s and early 1980s, contained in the 1983 report A Nation At Risk.

(to the top PP -- I took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the 1970s and 80s.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Back when I was growing up, in the 70's and 80's, I don't recall having one single standardized test. Back then, there were a lot more kids graduating school who could only read at an ES level, or not read at all.

Doubtful.

I guess you've never read the description of how great American schooling was in the 1970s and early 1980s, contained in the 1983 report A Nation At Risk.

(to the top PP -- I took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the 1970s and 80s.)

Anonymous wrote:

Back when I was growing up, in the 70's and 80's, I don't recall having one single standardized test. Back then, there were a lot more kids graduating school who could only read at an ES level, or not read at all.

Doubtful.

Back when I was growing up, in the 70's and 80's, I don't recall having one single standardized test. Back then, there were a lot more kids graduating school who could only read at an ES level, or not read at all.

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't matter. There are so many standards that require testing. Too much time spent in testing..

Anonymous wrote:Can't you just OPT OUT of any and all standardized testing? I once lived in a state where the parent could choose whether or not their children took these types of standardized tests.

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't matter. There are so many standards that require testing. Too much time spent in testing..

Anonymous wrote:Common sense tells us that if teachers' jobs depend on the number of kids passing the tests, that the teachers will aim their instruction at those who are borderline. The smart kids will be left on their own--and those way below will be left alone as well.