Volume 2 Issue 68
May 7, 2003
The Problem with Testing
The economy continues to sputter, John Edwards gets into more finance trouble, and another Bush twin party report
NOTE: Due to Greg's moving, there will be no regular Swamp on Thurday or Friday, May 8-9. There may be some web updates though, so check back, and check back Monday afternoon for a new full Swamp! 12:50pm, 5/8/03
There was a tiny story this morning in the San Francisco Chronicle that should send shudders through many school administrators, even though it's plainly obvious that it was likely going on. The story reports that many California students have determined that standardized tests don't effect their grades, so they've stopped caring about them, and in some cases, have even just begun to randomly answer questions.
Now we've heard periodically about teachers trying to undermine these tests by giving out the answers, or purposely making their kids do poorly, but this is the first evidence (albeit not scientific) that kids are doing the same thing. And as the article asks, why not? A kid in a California school in 11th grade must take the SAT, the annual state exam, this special "No Child Left Behind" exam, and then also take the state's exit exam for their diploma next year! First of all, I've always been a bit iffy on the exit exam idea. I mean, if a kid could pass it after 2 years in HS, should they be able to graduate then?
But back to the issue at hand. Under the ridiculous education law passed in 2001, all students and schools are evaluated solely on the basis of their standardized test scores from the federal government's point of view. And they have to be given at many points throughout one's career, ending in 11th grade, which means that they can't be the same as the exit exams that many states give (unless they give it in the 11th Grade, which some do). This "high-stakes" testing is not really high-stakes for the students though, because it doesn't matter for them like the SAT or exit exams do. For many, it's just another burden. Let's face it, if you were a straight-A student in 11th grade, knew that the test had no bearing on you whatsoever, colleges wouldn't see it, just your parents, who know you are a good student would you A)take an entire week and meticulously take the test, trying for your best possible score; B)just get through it; C)blow it off so you can leave early and go to the beach. I think B&C would probably get about 75% of the kids in California, or in any state for that matter.
This is bad for schools, because if kids do blow the exams off, then they stand to lose funding, or even have the states take over the school, declaring it "failing", and moving the teachers out. In previous discussions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, I've noted that excellent schools are going to be labeled "failing" simply because of statistical error in the calculation of test scores. Now it can happen because students are subverting the tests too?
I think an increased federal role is good for local education, accompanied with additional federal money (which NCLB is not), but burdening an additional test on students is ridiculous. States should be able to use existing tests, and students should not be burdened with tests that don't matter. Students today are busy enough as it is, and burdened with many requirements. Adding pointless tests for no purpose other than to make George Bush look good is not the way to go. Many state governments are already not too pleased with NCLB, and once rich, academically excellent districts start "failing" because their kids are blowing off the tests, a lot of parents are going to be upset, and we may be headed for yet another educational crisis in the nation.
Oh, and as a follow up to the voucher discussion from last week...an article today discusses how the only study to show that vouchers increased educational performance was a fraud...
Onto the rest of the insanity!
Saddam's Back... Of course it doesn't matter that we didn't capture Saddam, he's gone, he's powerless, he's...sending radio messages to his people telling them to resist. I'm sure it won't matter -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/05/07/sprj.irq.main/inde x.html
Wasn't this supposed to work the other way around? The US will export oil to Iraq, and Iraq will import from other neighbors as well. Um... -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/07/international/worldspecial /07IRAQ.html
Outbreak: China says that if SARS spreads to rural areas, it may not be able to contain it -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3006323.stm
The death rate is apparently higher than first thought, and could be as high as 50%...as a note, the Spanish Flu of 1918 that killed over 20 million had a mortality rate of around 1% -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/07/science/sciencespecial/07I NFE.html
On an unrelated epidemiological note...Cholera has broken out in Iraq -
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq-Cholera-Outbreak.html
The New Stagflation: I've been describing it for months, and finally an economist out there agrees with me -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22863-2003May6.html
The Fed is worried too, so much so that they issued a statement implying they were more worried about deflation than inflation -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22287-2003May6.html
Idiot Americans: The go out. They buy a Hummer. They drive a Hummer in a city. They gas up said Hummer. Then complain that the Hummer doesn't get good fuel mileage. What the hell?
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/07/business/07AUTO.html
Bill Bennett's Hypocrisy: The Bennett defenders are out, and making logical points, which would be persuasive had Bennett already said he didn't agree with them -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2082635/
And there's no way he won money playing the slots -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2082638/
The Blade gets the Ax: The last original member of George W. Bush's economic team has left -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2082637/
Campaign Finance "Reform": Even though the law may get thrown out, the Dems are planning a way to get around it anyway -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22631-2003May6.html
Look Who's Running for President: Gary Hart has decided not to seek the Democratic Nomination -
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1373308,00.ht ml
http://www.politicsnh.com/archives/pindell/2003/may/5_7.shtm l
Taxpayer funded campaign rally? Democrats are jumping on Bush's aircraft carrier stunt. Here's the esteemed Senator Byrd -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/06/byrd.bush/index.ht ml
And Dem muckracker Henry Waxman -
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-landing7may07,1,5809824.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dpolitics
Look Who's Running for President 2: But Wesley Clark still hasn't made up his mind -
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,85283,00.html
Look Who's Running for President 3: But Bob Graham is in. Here's the Post's story -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22634-2003May6.html
And here's another version of the Post's story, written in Graham Diary form -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23061-2003May6.html
Look Who's Running for President 4: John Kerry will announce his health plan next week. He'll also give a speech on "citizenship and service" soon too. I think on these two policies will Kerry's candidacy be made or broken. If he can actually propose bold new initiatives, instead of Al Gore watered-down crap, he may have a chance of winning -
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/127/nation/Kerry_schedules _speech_to_outline_his_health_plan+.shtml
Look Who's Running for President 5: An investigation by a Capitol Hill newspaper has discovered more irregularities in John Edwards' campaign fundraising. Boy, I hope Keanu is available soon, 'cause this ain't looking too good for Johnny... (if you don't get that, you don't read this enough :) -
http://www.thehill.com/news/050703/edwards.aspx
Look Who's Running for President...the Numbers: A new poll has Dean and Kerry tied in New Hampshire...and Wesley Clark, who isn't even running yet, and Gary Hart, who's not running at all, outpolling John Edwards, the fundraising "leader". Of course, the margin of error is like 6%, which practically makes the thing worthless -
http://www.fpc.edu/pages/institutes/poll/poll_03_0506.pdf
Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day:
Who am I? Why am I here? (Bonus points to anyone who can remember where that's from...)
I'm gonna be your number 2: Dick Cheney says he'll be the VP candidate again in 2004 -
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Cheney-2004.html
Old Man of the Mountain: The mourning continues in New Hampshire -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/07/national/07HAMP.html
Out Saving Education: Of course, as a principal (or a teacher) it must be frustrating that it's easier to get a parent to call over a confiscated cell phone than a bad report card -
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/5799314.htm
Calling Charlton Heston: A Federal court has affirmed its ruling that the 2nd Amendment does not give Americans the right to bear arms. Lost in the debate over guns is the fact that the 2nd Amendment has never been affirmed by the courts, like most others have. In fact, gun groups have tried not to bring cases to the Supreme Court for fear of losing. Of course, this is the same appeals court that banned the pledge...but still, it will be interesting to see if the Supremes take the case -
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/05/06/state1755EDT7903.DTL
Tony's House: How Tony Blair re-did No. 10 Downing Street -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6711-672081,00.html
Do Politics and Religion Mix? In the US, George W. Bush's faith is widely known. But the British are having trouble dealing with it, and the fact that Tony Blair is much the same way -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6711-671189,00.html
Car Chases: Moscow police had to shoot at an Army fuel tanker to stop a solider who had drunkenly taken it out for a spin -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3007503.stm
And the Lt. Governor of South Carolina was arrested for blowing two red lights and speeding at 60 miles an hour on a 35 mph street while trying to get to the State Senate on time to start the session...um, couldn't you like call them on your cell phone or something?
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/politics/5803150.h tm
He may claim immunity to get out of it!
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/politics/5803149.h tm
Bush Twin Dirt Update: The latest dirt on the Bush twins is a party they apparently attended at Ashton Kutcher's house -
http://www.etonline.com/celebrity/a15722.htm
