Monday, October 03, 2005
Dancing the Limbo
A shocking test result in California - 20% of High School Seniors flunked the High School Graduation Exam. The test is geared to evaluate if a 12th grader has an 8th-grade Math education and to a 10th grade level in English (I guess those last two or three years of school really don't count for anything). While 80% of whites and 90% of Asians pass the test, only about 60% of Hispanic and African American students pass the exam. Teachers maintain the lower test scores are due to unmotivated students, poor attendance, and low parental involvement. Parents counter it is do to overcrowding in inner-city schools and lack of resources.
Regardless of the reasons, it seems the logical course to many is not that the schools need a serious and immediate reform agenda, but rather the test that measures a basic competency level be should be changed. Here are some of the suggestions that have been recommended by the Human Resources Research Organization of Virginia, which compiled the results for the state of California:
- California could allow seniors to submit portfolios that demonstrate mastery of English and math
- California could establish alternate diplomas/certificates for students who pass just part of the exit exam
- Schools could create special summer schools programs that could be taken in lieu of passing the exam
None of these is a solution.
- Given the prevalence and availability of plagiarized materials online, how can any school truly know if a portfolio of work, created outside the school, is truly the work of the student? They are never asked to verify their portfolio by actually performing a task like they would, on, say a test.
- Would a partial completion of high school be good enough for any position that requires a high school diploma? Or would the student with half a degree only be able to get half of a starting level job?
- Given the strained resources and overcrowding already mentioned before, how many students will simply be passed in these special courses and not have achieved any level of mastery of the material? Won't they have to take the same type of tests in the class to prove their mastery of the material
All of the solutions sound like ways to circumvent the benchmark set by the test, rather than finding ways to increase the quality of education to that benchmark. Lowering the benchmarks only serves to perpetuate a cycle of lowering standards and expectations.
But I guess that's what students have to look forward to in the long run. FedEx was hit for a class action discrimination lawsuit this week. While claims of salary disparities among colleagues and directed poor performance evaluations have merit and need to be be investigated, I'm disturbed by the claim that the management-level promotional tests are inherently racist. The lawyer for the plaintiffs states that twice as many minorities fail the test, and "yet [FedEx] has not changed the test".
I'll wait to see if specific evidence can be brought as to how the test is biased, but until that time, all I see is the bar being lowered again, and I really don;t know how great society is at dancing the limbo.
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