Comments on College Board Unveils Test for 8th Graders

• What Next?
• Posted by Wossamotta U. on October 23, 2008 at 10:10am EDT

• You know, if I were a College Board exec. watching the increasing number of prominent, selective schools jumping on the SAT-optional bandwagon, I'd be looking for a new market, too. Why do you think American cigarettes are so big in Asia?

  As for this statement: Giving students “at an early stage a taste of an SAT-like examination,” he said, could “raise collegiate aspiration levels.” I would also point out that poor performance on what would appear to become a school-mandated (school-paid) exam would in many cases discourage even high school completion, let alone college aspiration. Getting middle-schoolers to think about college is huge. Predicting whether they will be successful in enrolling in four years' time and graduating in 8-10 is ridiculous. This test will boil down to just that for any number of at-risk populations. Thank you for profiting off of that, College Board. Why don't you do what any responsible American company would and transfer some resources to Asian markets.

• An idea whose time has come!
• Posted by Wes Ramsay , Secretary at The Harp School, Inc on October 23, 2008 at 12:05pm EDT

• This assessment, if properly composed to diagnose strengths and weaknesses, administered properly, and used as a tool for guidance in planning the high school course of study, will be an excellent tool.

  In our program, working with all manner of children, public-school/private-school/home-school, we emphasize external assessment as a cornerstone of our music teaching program, and employ the world's oldest and largest assessment board to provide that service. Students and parents who don't wish to participate in assessment are told (kindly but firmly) to go elsewhere.

  Our teachers have often become defacto guidance counselors, as increasingly the families have nowhere else to turn for informed opinion. The public schools provide their suggested lists, and stacks of four-color literature from state schools. The privates, likewise, usually from private schools. The home-school families do a very good job at raising and educating their kids, but are often less adept at the crucial process of 'launching' them to the outside world. All of this is undertaken somewhere in the junior year, when many irrevocable decisions have already been made concerning the student's academic career. The stress level gets pretty high as families see that they long ago unknowingly foreclosed some desirable options for their children.

  We will be urging all of our eighth-graders to participate in this assessment through their schools, since the process of matching the student to the appropriate university really should begin at about that time. The longer the delay, the more stressful the process becomes, with less desirable outcomes awaiting the student.

  I feel certain that many public-school teachers and administrators will balk at this assessment, as it may shine the light of day on their work to date. We live in serious times, however, and cannot afford to continue open-ended spending commitments to public school systems that continue to fail. No amount of political 'juice' by the NEA will forestall that inevitable day of reckoning. All parties will be better served by availing themselves of external assessment.

  It is in the best interests of students and families. Why would teachers and administrators withhold such a tool from their students?

• What issue does the test really address?
• Posted by Dave Kasch on October 23, 2008 at 12:50pm EDT

• Wes,

  I think the greater concern is the problematic history of other College Board testing tools and the questions of profit motive behind this new test. I hardly doubt that any educator would wish to withhold a valuable tool from students, especially one that advances their learning and educational opportunities.

  To be sure there is an on-going debate, sometimes very acrimoniously, between the College Board and its critics.

  I can also see potential problems in questions of what this tests. There is already large concern that K-12 education is increasingly geared to prepare students to perform on specific tests, not necessarily learn a breadth and depth of material in subject areas. So I am unconvinced that this will “shine the light of day” on the work of public school teachers and administrators. It’s too simple to say that the deficiencies in students’ knowledge and abilities are because of teachers and administrators. Education is far more complex of a system than that. In many ways those teachers and administrators have very little latitude in doing the work they do because their agendas are set by legislatures and non-education officials.

  Tests like ReadiStep are sexy because the offer the potential of assessing students’ progress and learning so far. But they are a-contextual and don’t address how and why students are not “on-track.” For individual circumstances it may make a difference, but for systemic issues, these tests only reinforce the effect of resource and environmental disparities.

• Ka-ching!
• Posted by Keith King , Parent on October 23, 2008 at 1:00pm EDT

• Why not? All the schools are really teaching our children these days is how to take standardized tests. Does anyone else not here the cash registers in the background? Oh the students won't pay, the schools will. And where do the schools get their money? From the parents' taxes, so we have to fork out for another test one way or another. Between the county, the state and these national tests, our children are having the curiousity, the creativity and the general love of learning tested right out of them. Teachers used to be able to assess students' strengths and weaknesses and point them in the right direction. But the teachers are so strapped to a testing schedule these days it's the timeline that matters, not the intellectual growth of the students. There should be a cap on testing; if one is added, another must be taken away. Better yet, add one, subtract at least two. AT that rate, someday we might be back to a reasonable educational atmosphere.

• Spare us, please!
• Posted by Joe Stehno , Director of Guidance on October 23, 2008 at 5:15pm EDT

• Yes, students are already tested more than necessary and there's absolutely no need for another SAT-like test, other than to feed the coffers of the College Board, a not-for-profit organization, right? High school students can take several PSATs and many take the SAT at least twice. Four times is more than enough. Besides the College Board, the other beneficiaries of this test will be wealthy parents who will then force their kids into test-prep courses even earlier then they now do. I hope this test bombs!

• Irrevocable?
• Posted by Keith King , Parent on October 23, 2008 at 5:15pm EDT

• Wes, don't you question a system in which irrevocable decisions have been made about children's academic careers before high school? This is the same mentality that gets families stressed out about getting in the "right" day care for 2-year-olds, because that leads to the "right" preschool, and the "right" primary school, and so on. Why don't we just come up with the ultimate Brave New World test, in vitro, and teach them all to say, "I'm so glad I'm a Beta..."

• College Board 8th Grade Test
• Posted by Wes Ramsay , Secretary at The Harp School, Inc. on October 24, 2008 at 12:00pm EDT

• I never suspected my comments would elicit such an angry reaction, but in these times, perhaps I should not be surprised.

  My involvement in education comes from an admittedly different angle. I concur wholeheartedly that schools that 'teach to the test' do grave damage not only to the integrity of any examination system, but to the very idea of education itself. Were I a school administrator, I might first react with dismay at this announcement--'Great, one MORE paper stream to manage!'

  But, as a parent, I would welcome it.

  I am a parent of two--one schooled through the local county system(Southern state, definitely not flush with money), and one homeschooled. Both succeeded beautifully, the elder admitted on fellowship to a prestigious grad school, the younger just admitted to a fine university. It was not an easy process, but the insistence by both parents that both kids measure up to high fixed standards served everyone well. At a points, we had to search for means to inform us about where each child stood in the rest of the world, since they will live their lives in a worldwide culture and economy.
  Our friends do the same for their kids, because they know what is at stake.

  My enthusiastic reaction comes from that experience--some of what we had to go dig up is being offered your student in the local classroom, for ten bucks!

  Again, if the exam is well composed and deployed, a well-taught(and well-parented) eighth grader should be able to provide an accurate picture to help parents and teachers make some informed decisions about what to do to make best use of the next four years. At this point those decisions can be made calmly. In the eleventh grade, a lot of water has already passed under the academic bridge. I know, because I have worked with some extraordinarily talented kids, some of whom miss out on huge opportunities because of bad decisions made much earlier. It is painful to watch.

  It's really ok to look little Megan or Josh in the eye at age thirteen(or younger) and tell them that the kids who work hardest, and make the best grades, get to go to better schools and do better in life down the road, and that it is up to them to get their work done! That is not cruel, or unreasonable. Cruelty is allowing them to unknowingly sabotage their own futures. They can still have happy childhoods, healthily focused on learning and preparing to contribute meaningfully to the world that awaits them. It's fun to be a 'smart kid', with self-esteem based upon concrete achievement. I see that as well, and it is a joy to watch these kids thrive.

  This little exam could be a tool to assist in that process, if used rightly. It should not be an end in itself, just like any other assessment tool. The goal is to educate and launch each kid appropriately to a productive adulthood. Parents that keep their eye on that particular ball should welcome tools that assist in the process.

  Finally, about the cost to parents: Skip McDonald's one afternoon, spend the ten bucks on the kid's future. If there is a financial need at school, kick in ten more for someone else. How quickly do we burn through a twenty dollar bill unknowingly? If the College Board makes a few bucks from it, what's the harm? Are they supposed provide all this work for free, and cover development costs and overhead out of thin air?

  If this assessment performs as advertised, it's cheap at $50 a head.

• The ReadiStep mentality
• Posted by L. Czaplinski , school Counselor on October 24, 2008 at 12:10pm EDT

• Personally, I don't buy it, don't want it, and don't have the burning need to place parents, students and schools in the position of choosing or excluding yet another test to "project" a student's future academic success. Don't we have enough assessments already? Aren't ELA scores and Math assessments designed to report student(and school)strenghts and weaknesses? I suspect this test is designed to financially benifit the creator far more than the edification child.

• Posted by Keith King , parent on October 24, 2008 at 3:10pm EDT

• We don't eat at McDonald's or other junkfood places. What kind of nutrition lessons would that teach? Maybe we need a nutrition assessment to figure that out. We try to eat as responsibly as we manage our child's education and our finances. It's not the dollar cost, it's the idea of the neverending test and test-prep industry's growth. I guess the question is, does the fish ever realized it's trapped in a bowl?