Circus for Grown-Ups

Are y’all about done with testing?

I am.

We just had two weeks of AP tests right on the heels of the High-Stakes State Tests for AYP and everything.

We pulled out all the stops. Everything was up-ended. Learning was on holiday. But it smelled good. During the state tests we served bacon and eggs and waffles to everybody, every morning. There were prizes and pizza parties for coming in on time. Administrators dressed up in funny costumes and said silly things during announcements. Slogans and signage assaulted the senses. We had a pep rally for the state tests and another one for the AP tests. These were sad, sad events.

What this school has done to the pep rally is simply criminal. I’ve been to a number of pep rallies in my day. They all sort of suck. But this last one was just too much. It was to pump everybody up for the AP tests. (Background: My school gets a big award every year and a write-up in the paper because it forces hundreds of kids to take AP tests who have no chance of passing AP tests. NO CHANCE. HUNDREDS. I do not exaggerate. The key is that the award is based just on the number of kids who we force to take the tests, not the number who pass. So we can’t lose. We threaten kids for weeks that their poor immigrant parents will have to pay $87 if they don’t show up for the test. It’s fucking pathetic.)

more . . . http://teachbad.com/2011/05/14/circus-for-grown-ups/

The 87$ is not a progressive rate, that would take in account inequity in distribution.

Move that mandated amount to a progressive system, and that issue goes away.

As far as everyone taking a test, that does give a feed back, if they want to see the data from everyone.

Also if the fees go to a profit organization, that then pushes of the test to be taken for that reason, that would be an error, but if it is for some purpose like learning the test score positions of some areas, that would make sense.

If a kid bottoms out on these AP tests, I'm guessing that it won't be a real positive experience.

But, there was pizza...

now includes more than just FCAT. Its the number of kids taking the AP tests, the number passing AP classes, graduation rate, and much more. Two central FL schools that have consistently graded F or D for several years are now A schools, though the FCAT portion is still crappy.