Don't mess with Texas standards (ripped from an lj friend):
A friend wrote in their journal:
"I spend a lot of time at my job (working at home today, so I can tell you this -- then I really have to get back to work) going through various states' language arts standards. Since we're attempting to create a curriculum that could be used nationally, we have to try to hit as many state standards as possible. This is a little tricky because every single state in the union has different standards. Some states have well-written standards that seem age-appropriate and reasonable and philosophically consistent with the field. Some states do not, and you have to wonder if anyone who touched the document had ever met a second grader in their lives. Which is sort of sad, because they're all essentally saying the same thing.But I just had to note this one. While it is commonplace to state that kids should be able to answer various levels of comprehension questions (even though I have a problem with the idea that if you can answer a comprehension question, you understand what you have read), Texas is the only state whose standards say this:Grade 3:I commented:
Practice different kinds of questions and tasks, including test-like comprehension questions.
Grade 4:
Answer different types and levels of questions such as open-ended, literal, and interpretative as well as test-like questions such as multiple choice, true-false, and short answer.Yes, in the fine state of Texas, taking a test is a LEARNING STANDARD. That blows my mind. Talk about teaching to the test.As Marge Simpson would say, 'I am so sick of that tautology!'"
"Hello! Why do you think if we adopt there's no way our child(ren) will go to school and instead will be homeschooled? It's fucking sick here. Molly Ivins has written about it repeatedly through the years and many, many teachers have tried to fight the test standard as the be all and end all here in this state.Ugh. It's pretty f**king horrible, I can tell you that.Friend commented back:
"It's as bad in California, I'm afraid. Sign of the times. The pendulum will swing back soon (it always does), hopefully by the time we have kids in school...sigh.Me again:
"Actually it hasn't swung in years here ... basically ever since Bush was governor and started cementing the whole thing in place. That's what his "No Child Left Behind" initiative here did. All these Texans screaming, "Look at what he did to us before you even think of voting him in charge of the US!" and people either ignored or (really) most of the MSM didn't even write about it. And he has done to the country as a whole what he did to Texas on a smaller scale while in charge. Taking a place in the black and putting it in the red all the while cutting things left-right-and-center and helping ruin education here.If you ever get a chance to read Molly Ivins co-written book about life under Bush here in Texas that she put out right before he got elected (ha-ha) in 2000 I highly recommend it."