[Speed Gibson,
Tuesday March 29, 2005 at 6:19am]
Learning Gap
There once was a city built near the top of a cliff. From time to time, a child or two out playing would wander too close to the edge and fall over. The town fathers gathered and came up with this solution: build a hospital at the base of the cliff. Monday's Editorial "Learning Gap: Improving college readiness" is similar thinking.
As you may recall, Minnesota's colleges have been reporting that 30 percent of freshman from Minnesota high schools need remedial instruction in mathematics or English. The solution? Test them earlier:
Nowhere in this Editorial do they express an iota of curiosity as to the source of this "disturbing achievement gap." If you don't know why the students are falling behind in the first place, mere testing solves nothing.
I think this Editorial is almost funny. Haven't we been repeatedly lectured about how testing is unreliable? Yet these tests will tell the students "exactly" where they stand. And haven't we been repeatedly told that standardized tests result in "teaching to the test," not real learning? But apparently that's OK in this case. In fact, it's exactly the solution they're hoping for - somehow get these marginal students past those annoying college entrance exams without making any significant changes or admitting any responsibility. The problem, you see, lies entirely with the students as characterized here.
Rather than waste money on this self-serving, head in the sand idea, I propose this:
As you may recall, Minnesota's colleges have been reporting that 30 percent of freshman from Minnesota high schools need remedial instruction in mathematics or English. The solution? Test them earlier:
Under [this program], 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders ... will take the placement test that ... area community colleges give to entering freshmen. That sensible option will tell high school kids exactly what they already know (and need to learn) to be ready for college.
Nowhere in this Editorial do they express an iota of curiosity as to the source of this "disturbing achievement gap." If you don't know why the students are falling behind in the first place, mere testing solves nothing.
I think this Editorial is almost funny. Haven't we been repeatedly lectured about how testing is unreliable? Yet these tests will tell the students "exactly" where they stand. And haven't we been repeatedly told that standardized tests result in "teaching to the test," not real learning? But apparently that's OK in this case. In fact, it's exactly the solution they're hoping for - somehow get these marginal students past those annoying college entrance exams without making any significant changes or admitting any responsibility. The problem, you see, lies entirely with the students as characterized here.
Rather than waste money on this self-serving, head in the sand idea, I propose this:
If a freshman at a Minnesota college - public or private - holding a Minnesota high school diploma is found to need remedial course work, the college bills the entire cost of those classes to the school - public or private - that issued that fraudulent diploma.