Twitter post this morning from @Education Week: At 'Exemplary' Dallas School, 3rd-graders learned only math and reading http://t.co/9yYINgnt
Very short synopsis: 3rd graders only learned math and reading - scored above proficiency on state tests. School found to be exemplary. Reported grades for all other subjects (science, social studies, music, art, etc.) were fabricated on report cards. Principal on administrative leave during investigation.
As I read this article (or what I could read of it, since I don't subscribe to the site, my version was shortened), here were the questions going through my head:
1. Testing is making us so crazy, we're willing to cheat to get the results. If we do that as adults and professionals, why do we lamblast our students when they're backed into a corner and feel they need to do the same? What is wrong with our grading systems that people feel the need to cheat?
2. Does it really take an all day, all year focus on just math and reading to pass these tests - to make us "exemplary"? How are we expected to get students to proficiency when we get 41 minutes per subject a day for 180 days? Is it the testing or the learning methods? What REALLY is the root cause here?
3. Why is the left hand not talking to the right? Why can't we figure this out? Why can't we really know if we're proficient in something?
4. WHO gets final say on learning and proficiency? The student? The parents? The teachers? The government? The employer?
Things that make you go 'hmmm', 'huh' and 'what the hell is going on here'?
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