Elaine you're up north way right? I will look forward to maybe getting to meet and work with you in some way. Can't wait to read yournew book.
sally On 5/25/07 10:00 AM, "elaine garan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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. > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. 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