[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Unintended Consequences

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Unintended Consequences
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1232743806.shtml


   "[1]Call it a case of unintended consequences," opens a recent
   Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial. The new State-wide 11th grade math
   test that is now required for graduation has Big Education worried.

     Last spring, before the exam affected graduation, only one-third of
     Minnesota high school juniors were proficient. Those results led
     many education officials to worry that half or more could flunk the
     test this year, when students need to pass to earn a diploma. A
     state graduation rate that low would be disastrous.

   Disastrous for whom?
   The students, of course, and frankly, I have to mostly blame those
   students and their parents if they haven't been mastering the material
   all along. After all, a third of the students are passing the test,
   having largely gone to the same classes I presume.
   We're again facing the social promotion argument. Better to graduate
   struggling students than force them to earn their degrees say our
   experts, worried how a lower graduation rate might reflect on them.
   Pass the problem along to their parents, colleges, employers, welfare
   agencies, or the justice system. Out of sight, out of mind.
   Our State public colleges report that over a third of their new
   Minnesota high school graduates need remedial work in mathematics (and
   English). That puts them immediately behind across all their classes,
   often leading to needing private tutors, summer classes, or an extra
   semester or two to catch up. That's an expensive remedy for a problem
   more readily addressed in high school. After all, a high school should
   be better at teaching high school material than a college.
   More rigorous testing in high school seems an obvious and workable
   solution. It identifies weaknesses a year ahead of time, plenty of
   time to recover - for those who want to recover. Those who don't
   shouldn't graduate, assuming the test is fair. How could it not be? It
   was prepared by education experts was it not?
   But of course, the Legislature never really did intend any
   consequences for not passing these tests. When passed, the tough
   enforcement was set many years out, letting them claim they had done
   something, without any immediate pain. The grace period is over,
   though, and they're meeting to lower the standards "temporarily" for
   reasons they were somehow oblivious to them earlier. The Star Tribune
   thinks we're "fortunate" that they are "wisely" pursuing various
   revisions, some of which seem permanent.
   I prefer a different solution: accountability. Any Minnesota public
   high school that issues a diploma should be held liable if that
   student if found to need remedial work at a Minnesota public college.
   That District should have to pay for the extra classes, including
   books, fees, room and board.

References

   1. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/38034549.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:UthPacyPE7iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiU