z42\doc\web\2000\06\newread.txt


<<They have all kinds of criteria for academic achievement and one category
is number of books read.>>


This is an excellent example of how ideas turn bad when they are
incorporated into the "accountability" madness. The New Standards Project
proposed that students at every grade level should read every year the
equivalent of twenty-five books of a quality comparable to those on their
suggested lists, which were different for fifth grade, eighth grade and
high school. There were further specifications regarding depth and breadth
of reading. When this particular standard was proposed, I thought (and
still think) that it was rigorous but attainable for average students given
good academic support. Note that this was a voluntary standard for
assessing program quality, not necessarily tied to grades and certainly not
to promotion/retention decisions.


As standards writers have plagiarized each other's work (often with no
acknowledgment, much less appropriate citation), what was an attainable
goal for many students has been transmogrified into a minimum requirement
for all. Little but lip service has been given to developing the highly
skilled teachers who are the first prerequisite for such an ambitious goal.
In many cases, even the minimum material support in the form of books and
libraries has been unavailabe. In such circumstances, the "high standard"
is no more than a bitter jest.




At 07:13 PM 5/18/2000 -0500, Brian LeCloux wrote:
>Folks:
>This is hilarious.   The Wisconsin DPI has come out with a draft of
>recommendations for
>the 2003-2004 school year for 4th and 8th grade promotion as well as
>graduation.
>This is the first year that our low stakes, and therefore (I argue) really
>high stakes graduation test comes on line.   The kids don't have to take
>the test if the parent opts them out but their score has to appear on
>their transcript.
>
>Anyway, there are along kinds of suggested hoops kids will have to jump
>through to graduate and the DPI is advising school boards about how to set
>up these hoops.   They've put out an 80 page document and one page has
>something really goofy on it.    They have all kinds of criteria for
>academic achievement and one category is number of books read.
>
>So lets extend that to the university level.    How's this set of criteria?
>If you read, say, 500 books you can have your B.S. or B.A.
>And lets put some sanctions in there.   If you don't have your 100th book
>read by the end of your freshman year you're on probation.    I need some
>help on the rest of the sanctions package, being that I've such a bleeding
>heart liberal.
>1000 and you can have an M.S or M.A.
>2000 is Ph.D. level.
>If you want to do post doctorate work just keeping reading beyond
>2,000.   Any book will do.
>
>Any suggestions?
>:-)
>Brian LeCloux


George Sheridan
Teacher
Northside School
Black Oak Mine Unified School District
P.O. Box 217
Cool, California 95633