The Trib had an editorial well worth reading yesterday even if it was dispiriting. It cataloged the many many tests and systems of measurement that have been foisted on our schools during my active life trying to have a hand in running the Duluth Schools:
Years ago, the state adopted an outcome-based education model and then shifted to the controversial Profiles of Learning assessment. After that, an eighth-grade basic skills test was put in place, only to be replaced by the current MCAs.
Earlier this year, legislators voted to scrap the Graduation Required Assessment for Diploma exam, which students had to pass in order to graduate. It will be replaced with a series of tests beginning in eighth grade that will be more aligned with postsecondary requirements.
The idea of those ACT-type tests is to measure whether students are ready for college and career training. That should reduce the amount of remedial work teens are doing now.
On top of those state changes, during the past decade, requirements mandated in the federal No Child Left Behind legislation added a layer of reporting. And now many states are adjusting their tests to align with the Common Core Standards,
All these mandated systems have been like going to a restaurant every couple of years and finding that the old menu has been thrown out and replaced by a completely new one. First visit Chinese, next visit Italian, next time burgers, next time sushi etc.
The poor teachers are the cooks given all new recipes while the latest authority on school cuisine natters on about the Common Core being the best thing to eat since sliced bread. Meanwhile, in Duluth, they have been moved willy-nilly to new schools, had more kids than they can teach effectively crammed into their classrooms, been given a whole new crew of administrators and found the nice new Johnson Controls HVAC systems not always as easy to use as advertised by the Red Planners.
Ah, but our teachers have the Duluth Federation of Teachers to protect them as it did when it rolled over to get 600 temporary construction jobs for the Red plan while losing 188 permanent DFT teachers in the subsequent Red Plan chaos.
If that doesn’t cost me a few DFT votes I’d be surprised. Don’t worry. Before the day is out I’m sure to alienate even more voters. Go Me!
