I one hundred percent agree with you. I wish we could get the media and parents to understand this too. To do that, we need to have the facts and the language to make the issues accessible to people who don't have the background or education to understand the issues or for media people who don't necessarily do their homework. They are so taken with the quick, glib sound bytes.
I was quoted in the congressional hearings on NCLB and Reading First (a quote from my last book). While that was excited, what really bothered me was that book was full of substance, hard work and analysis put into plain English. And what got cited? A glib, little bumper sticker sound byte I made about the rampant conflicts of interest. It actually made me sad that that's what they valued and used from my book. On Friday, May 25, 2007, at 08:06 AM, Renee wrote: > Thank you, Elaine. This is what I was getting at in my purposely obtuse > way, hoping that people would think about it. I know that benchmarks > are arbitrary, and I think grade levels are suspect as well. I think > people need to remember and think about this when they are fretting > over a child not meeting a benchmark, when they are in committees > deciding at what point children will be considered "at grade level" or > "proficient" and when they are making out their report cards. > > The truth is important. > Renee > > > On May 25, 2007, at 8:55 AM, elaine garan wrote: > >> I will tell you the truth. The benchmarks, what subject matter is >> important to test (in other words, the test questions) are decided by >> a >> bunch of people sitting around a desk somewhere-- some of whom never >> even taught-- As for grade level, I believe that's done statistically. >> That is, large numbers of kids are tested. The results are normed. >> Those normed results are put on a scale. Loosely put, what most kids >> can do at a certain grade becomes the norm. However, as I said at the >> beginning, WHAT kids need to know is purely arbitrary. It is the >> opinion of the people who happen to be making up the test questions. >> >> What's more, as soon as test scores improve and too many kids start >> doing too well--- the tests are renormed to ensure that there is a >> sufficient number of kids who fail. If every kid in the country >> because >> of brilliant teaching on our part made incredible strides on those >> tests, they'd just renorm and make sure enough of them and of course >> we >> as teachers are failures. That's a fact. The fact that some kids must >> be left behind is built right into the system. >> >> On Friday, May 25, 2007, at 07:22 AM, Renee wrote: >> >>> >>> On May 25, 2007, at 4:23 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> In a message dated 5/23/2007 10:27:39 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, >>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >>>> >>>> Who decides what "on grade level" actually means? >>>> What is the measurement that determines whether or not a child is >>>> "on >>>> grade level"? >>>> >>>> >>>> There are benchmarks for each grade level. These are used as >>>> measures. >>>> >>>> Laura >>> >>> >>> I return to my original question. Who decides on these benchmarks? >>> How >>> are they created? >>> >>> Renee >>> >>> >>> "Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. >>> It >>> is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a >>> worthy purpose." >>> ~Helen Keller >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Mosaic mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >>> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >>> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. >>> >>> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mosaic mailing list >> [email protected] >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >> >> > "We are here to infiltrate space with ideas." > ~ Ramtha > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ > mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
