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CLICK HERE FOR OUR 12-POINT FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE ELIMINATION OF NORM-REFERENCED TESTS The use of norm-referenced tests must be eliminated as a means of student assessment. The use of these tests feeds the false notion that all children of the same age should be equally proficient in all core-content areas. Students who score below grade level expectations are labeled as deficient. They then identify themselves as failures, and begin to exhibit all of the classic behaviors that we associate with failure, leading ultimately to dropping out and disconnecting from any real hope of fulfillment and prosperity in life. One of the long-standing debates in public education has been about the pros and cons of retention vs. social promotion. There are advocates on both sides. There are studies supporting both sides. But meta-studies suggest that in general, neither retention nor social promotion have been effective in helping students to achieve success. The fact that we have a system that offers only two undesirable alternatives for struggling students is further evidence of what we mean when we say that the system is terminally ill and rapidly bleeding out. If, on the
other hand, enrollment in every course of instruction required mastery
of pre-requisite learning, then our grading system would have to be re-designed
to report proficiencies attained. CLICK HERE FOR OUR 12-POINT FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE Contact us at: educateforachange@comcast.net © 2007 Educate For A Change. All rights reserved |