From the same source (eSchool News) another story that illustrates the disturbing trend I spoke about in the previous posts and after my visit to NECC – the empahsis on test scores as a driver of what happens in education.
This time, the article refers to a $5M investment announced by the Idaho Board of Education to further develop their PLATO learning tool. In their own words, the purpose of this tool is to “help struggling students pass the state’s mandatory high school graduation test.”
Admitedly, further on the article reports…
Through the agreement, PLATO Learning will provide K-12 language arts, mathematics, and reading curriculum aligned to the Idaho Achievement Standards and Idaho Student Achievement Test (ISAT). The system will be known as the Idaho PLATO Learning Network. The technology-based program will allow each school district in the state to import individual student scores from the ISAT exam. The program will then identify a personalized learning path that prescribes appropriate curriculum to remediate or advance skills.”
All the “state” test gives is a benchmark to aim for. Having these give educators an ideal to aim for for students and gives students a focus. If we think of them as “test” for testings sake then we have a problem. View them more as hundles to be jumped and the race continues.
I understand that this may be the intention of the state standards, Lawrence, however, my experience and observations of what is happening is that instead of providing a focus, they provide a pre-occupation, where all the attention is on “getting the grade” (Thus my alert to the wording in the release about ‘helping students pass the mandatory graduation test’)