...parents have lodged complaints about Common Core that recommends that hormonally raging teenagers read books that promote pornography, pedophilia, rape and incest.
It should have ended the paragraph right there. Instead, it draws a conclusion from that statement:
Is it any wonder that we are seeing a huge increase in the number of sexual assaults on students by other students and teachers?
I am not advocating that hormonally raging teenagers read books that promote those things. Absolutely not! What I'd like to know is what are the numbers for the number of sexual assaults on students by other students by and teachers both before and after Common Core was implemented. Let me judge whether "huge increase" is a good description of the difference between these two numbers. The very next paragraph says this:
Common Core standardized testing along with other similar testing wastes days and weeks of time that could be better spent teaching students the truth and what’s really important. They spend days out of their learning just to prepare for the standardized test and then several days taking the tests. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize what a huge waste of time and resources the tests are and that they yield false assessments of students.
Just for a moment, let's pretend that instead of "Common Core standardized testing" was replaced with the phrase "Bar Exam" or "Medical Boards." Here's what the quote above would read like:
Medical Boards standardized testing along with other similar testing wastes days and weeks of time that could be better spent teaching students the truth and what’s really important. They spend days out of their learning just to prepare for the standardized test and then several days taking the tests. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize what a huge waste of time and resources the tests are and that they yield false assessments of students.
I want doctors and lawyers to have the same test. I don't want the tested material to be based upon political or the appearance of social injustice. Certainly, when "Burris ... wrote about Jessica Whale, a fourth grade teacher at Jennie E. Hewitt School in Rockville who stated:
“And all year they’ve [her students] been so proud of their academic growth, I’ve been congratulating them so much as of lately . . . they’ve blown me away. Now, they were in tears…and I heard… ‘I thought I was smart, I guess not’ ‘I’m stupid I can’t even take a test.’.
And I want to be clear right now so that you don't think I'm an asshole - I feel for the kids. I do. I took the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) in school and yep, I sucked at taking tests. Of course, for me, it didn't matter if it was a standardized test or not. But when I did poorly on a test, who was responsible for me learning the content?
- Me - I know I should have studied a lot more for some classes.
- The teacher - I had a history teacher in high school who showed 65 films, filmstrips, and slides in 55 days of class. I can't tell you a single thing about that class except suckers were sold @ 2 for $.25 (or 1 for $.15) at the start of every class and that was the only food allowed in his classroom. The suckers were also a fundraiser for the club he sponsored.
I'd argue both. If the article is correct and teachers spend "days of their learning just to prepare for the standardized test" and the kid does poorly, what issue needs to be corrected? No, I'm not blaming the student, the teacher, or any one entity for the poor performance. Specifically, there's a disconnect between the "tested content" and the "student" so, duh, find out where that disconnect exists and bridge it. The quote above says "You don't have to be a rocket scientist" to conclude that standardized testing is a "huge waste of time and resources." Fine. I also argue that "you don't have to be a rocket scientist' to realize that if the content isn't being taught, then they're not going to do well.
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