No high school student left behind
The federal government is looking to expand its hold on local education. President Bush wants to require reading and math testing of high school students, according to a report in the Washington Post today. (Registration required.)
Bush promises to seek $1.5 billion in funding for this expansion of No Child Left Behind, the federal law that has required all students in grades 3-8 be tested in reading and math.
Critics say the original law has been underfunded. Creating the tests, for example, is a costly venture. North Carolina already had a testing mechanism in place with its ABCs of Public Education program. But many other states had to create their own.
Should the federal government expand No Child Left Behind so soon after its implementation in 2002? Officials are still tweaking the original version, making concessions, for example, on how limited-English speaking students are tested.
What do you think?
Comments (8)
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I believe that I just heard that NC is considering making the EOG tests more difficult because, even though 70% of students pass, 43% of those applying (I believe at GTCC) are required to take ether a remedial English or Math class?
Posted on January 15, 2005 8:36 AM
This blog, like the news and record online, is pretty worthless for obtaining any useful information. For example, I was looking for info on what the school board did at its 12 Jan meeting (I was out of town that week and did not have access to print or other media). The N&R has no information on the meeting. The Guilford County school board website has no info. This blog has no info. Did they do nothing or is this another example of local media shoddy reporting?
Posted on January 16, 2005 9:53 AM
The Chalkboard is intended to supplement our print coverage, not duplicate it. We published a story about the school board meeting and, in fact, it is still up on the website. You can find it by clicking on the "education" link on the left side of the screen.
Hope that helps!
Posted on January 17, 2005 11:54 AM
r shelton:
There was an article about the last school board meeting in the News & Record. Also the HP Enterprises ran a story on same. There was much discussion regarding the Aycock changes on other local websites.
Posted on January 17, 2005 11:31 PM
jwg,
We just ran an article by the Associated Press on Jan. 14 that goes over the same points you make.
The figures are a little bit starker, however.
An excerpt: "At Central Piedmont Community College, for example, 73 percent of students who graduated from Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in 2003 needed at least one remedial course - a 3 percentage-point increase from the previous year. Statewide, the number was 49 percent - a drop from recent years, but a 3 percentage-point increase from the class of 1997."
I think our link to the story has expired, but you can read it at the News & Observer site here.
Posted on January 18, 2005 11:06 AM
Does anyone know where we can find the standards that the state has for EOGs? For example; what does it mean when you score a '3' on the test? Is that answering 50% correct; or 60% etc. It's great to think we pass the EOG's but I'm not sure what that standard is. Kids could be receiving 4's and that only mean what we think of as a "C"-- As a parent it would be great to understand the grading. If it's true that the students are passing HS and can't read/write etc enough to get into a community college, then there is definitely a problem.
Posted on January 19, 2005 8:25 AM
Debora,
Those are good questions - and part of the problem.
The state has been incredibly secretive about the whole testing process. In many other states, the tests are released to the public after they are given. But that doesn't happen here, so there's no way to independently check these tests.
The General Assembly pretty much forced the Department of Public Instruction to answer your question a couple of years ago. In order to pass the math EOGs, you need to get 33 to 38 percent of the questions correct. In reading, the bar is set at about 45 to 52 percent of the questions right.
But it's true that on some tests, you can pass simply by getting one out of three questions right.
Posted on January 20, 2005 3:21 PM
Thank you Bruce,
I thought that the tests percentages were somewhere in that range. The real sad thing about this is that we celebrate children getting 38% of the questions correct! That is not anything to get excited about. Worse than that, at many of GCS more than 60% of our children at many schools can't even pass than small amount of questions. SAD SAD SAD
Posted on January 21, 2005 8:34 AM