Falling STAAR, Failing Kids

Something is not right with the STAAR tests (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness).  

I’ve been studying the results for 2020-2021 Lockhart High School, for "Masters Grade Level" results.  The other two categories of "Approaching Grade Level" or "Meets Grade Level" are irrelevant. Mastery is the only thing that counts.  

Mastery of social studies (44%) and science (31%) rose to whopping percentages, yet reading (5%) and math (6%) remained behind. Shouldn’t science and math scores be relatively correlated? At least somewhat in the general range? It’s been awhile, but I remember chemistry requiring a lot of math skills. What a difference from 1972 to 2022 -- based on this year's test results, high school science doesn't require even nominal math skills.  

We know that schools teach to the test. We know that. Our kids know that. The State knows that. Everybody's in on the scam.  So why not teach math to the test?  Apparently, it's more important to know social studies, such as the “history and cultural contributions of Mexican Americans” (Mastery, 44%).* Since the Texas Legislature has yet to create a legal spot in Title 19 for Drag Queen Story Hour or Gender Equality Studies, one must wonder where leftist teachers are sneaking it in -- for my money, "social studies" would be the perfect choice -- and they are sneaking it in. 

I wanted to see what the test for 12th grade English looked like. A sample excerpt from The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, came up. It's boring, despite its Pulitzer Prize status. As one comment at Goodreads says, "blah, blah, blah, the end." : 

“At school, Ashoke and Gogol are greeted by the secretary, Mrs. McNab, who asks Ashoke to fill out a registration form. He provides a copy of Gogol’s birth certificate and immunization record, which Mrs. McNab puts in a folder along with the registration. Mrs. Lapidus is a tall, slender woman with short white-blonde hair. She wears frosted blue eyeshadow and a lemon yellow suit. “ 

Of course. Couldn’t have them handing the teacher a notarized copy of a Conscientious Exemption Affidavit Form, now could we? The teacher’s BLUE eye shadow and YELLOW suit smack of politically-correct support for a country that rhymes with Ukraine. Glaringly defiant against federal law is the presentation of a birth certificate, which no United States school can request after a Supreme Court decision in 1982. Those are trivial observations in light of further discoveries. 

This writing style seemed way too simple for 12th graders. So I ran a few sentences through a Readability Calculator. Just as I thought. Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 6.4. Sixth grade, y'all!!  Yet, only 5% of high schoolers had "Mastery." Translation: 95% of high-schoolers cannot handle 6th grade reading material. 

Next, I considered the theme of the passage; here is a condensed version: A 5-year old boy learns that the school will back him up to defy his parents’ teachings. In this chosen passage, it’s a “school name” that is different from his name used at home, traditionally assigned to an Indian child upon entering school.  Is this passage a subtle metaphor for today's Pronoun War?  Of course it is, and not so subtle.  

Sure, it's a test. But it's also a "teaching moment" and a very strong one, as students are focusing intently on the material in order to please the system that conveys to them that the STAAR test is the be-all, end-all of their academic career. 

Now for the cherry on this shizzle pie: 

 “At the end of his first day, he is sent home with a letter to his parents from Mrs. Lapidus…explaining that due to their son’s preference he will be known as Gogol at school. What about the parents’ preference? Ashima and Ashoke wonder, shaking their heads. But since neither of them feels comfortable pressing the issue, they have no choice but to give in.”

Do you see what just happened here? 

THEY HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO GIVE IN. 

The child is being taught that the strong arm of the school will help him to bully his parents. The parent is being taught not to bother fighting. In psychobabble, this is called “learned helplessness.” From Wiki: “Learned helplessness is a state that occurs after a person has experienced a stressful situation repeatedly. They come to believe that they are unable to control or change the situation, so they do not try — even when opportunities for change become available.” 

What seditious, mocking, defeatist words to plant in a young person's mind, someone who will be a parent within a few years and facing their own battles with the system. The evidence is clear:  the STAAR test writers and designers do not have the success of Texas students in mind. Their very existence needs to be questioned. 

“they have no choice but to give in" -- For the record, there is always a choice. You never have to give in to evil.  And speaking of choice, SCHOOL CHOICE would be a good thing to think about. 


__________________________
 *(Texas Administrative Code, Title 19, Ch. 113 (C) High School, Rule 113.50, Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies).

No Such Thing As Failing Schools  - (just illiterate kids)

TEA replaces "failing" with "not rated" -- but we still know it's "failing" 

What a mess





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