TAK’s Man Cometh

Now that Super Tuesday part deux is over, Texas schools are now bracing for the first round of standardized testing. The first objective to be measured is the progress of students in the fundamentals of English/Language Arts.

In layman’s terms, it is how well little Johnny and Jane can read and write. Part of the No Child Left Behind Act, it is an atrocity that has brought local schools under increasing federal scrutiny. And obviously the oversight of Washington is in the best interest of the citizenry: just look to Social Security as an example.

And what level of proficiency must the student exhibit to pass the TAK’s? Looking at the expectations of the test provides evidence as to how low the dumbing down of education has reached. For proof, look no farther than the arbiter of the standards, the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

State Performance on Accountability Indicators: 2004 to 2007
Standard Procedures

In what other test can a student achieve less than 50% and still “pass”? And citizens are lulled into complacency with the constant slogan of “No Child Left Behind” which is true only because no child is being propelled forward.

In the last 50 years, more and more money has been funneled into education resulting in a continual rate of diminishing return. Ironically, the one factor that should have increased but has decreased is the amount of parental oversight in the academic success of their students. Proof of the importance of parental involvement in student progress can be seen by looking at other industrialized nations whose educational system produce better results than the U.S.

For example, one of the big controversies in U.S. schools is the relationship between the size of classes and the effect on the learning of students. Japan and America have quite similar overall pupil-teacher ratios, but, because of choices of how to organize their schools and use teachers, Japanese class sizes are much larger than those in the U.S. (Stevenson and Stigler, 1992). However, the Japanese student performance is on average much better than their U.S counterparts. If class size is the key, then why do Japanese students excel in what would seem to be more adverse conditions? There are several reasons.

In Japan, unlike the U.S., there is virtually no disciplinary action needed in a classroom due to the high respect given by students to their teacher There is no instruction time wasted keeping students on task. Students are encouraged to take leadership roles within the class and work within a cooperative environment

Additionally, there is no variance in curriculum to ensure that all students progress at an acceptable level, The onus is on the parents of students who fall behind academically to enroll them in Saturday and Sunday tutorials to help them keep up with their classmates. The societal expectation is that the students will succeed, and it is the parent and student’s responsibility to insure mastery of their studies, not the school’s to make accommodations for each pupil.

It thus appears that the factors most prevalent in successful academic progress is the consistent involvement of students and their parents in the educational process and the adherence to high-level objectives in instruction. A standardized test like TAK’s only reflects the minimum performance expected. And the minimum is the best that can be expected with current class demographics designed to bring not excellence in education but fairness.

The dumbing down of the U.S. educational system can be traced to the rise of the liberal idea that equality translates into fairness for all. Since IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Act) was passed in 1990, the move toward “least restrictive learning environment” has led to students of almost all abilities being educated inclusively — in the same classroom as their age group peers.

While the intent of treating all students the same might have been noble, the end product has been that “equal education” is now mediocre education. Such divergent classrooms have resulted in brighter students not being challenged, lower level students still struggling with concepts sometimes far beyond their abilities, and the middle-of-the-road students left vying for what limited time the teacher may have after addressing the inherent discipline problems created by such a hodgepodge of needs. All the while working furiously to make sure that all areas of modification are made and documented for special needs students and that every pupils are ready for the almighty TAKS test.

The TAK’s test is nothing but a bureaucratic band aid to hide the festering rot of educational inadequacies born of the federal government interference in matters best left to individual communities. Parental involvement and local directing of the curriculum and control of schools will result in educational entities driven to succeed for the benefit of the individual students who are more than just a percentage on a report.