Re: Judge on results, not appearances
Standardized testing isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it's how the Japanese do things. Students must pass a standardized test to move on, and that was the idea behind America going in that direction. Unfortunately, America didn't do the rest of it, ie foster a pro-education, competitive mindset to go along with it. US schools are dominated by sports competition, not education competition. And, the teacher's unions did not like the idea of being held accountable for actually teaching which is why the teachers are given the test at the start of the school year. Instead, the students should be told that they will be expected to pass the test if they want to stay in school and not be relegated to manual labor all their lives (with a course in manual labor so they know what it entails) and the teachers should be given the textbook for their class, and told this is what the test covers. The Japanese make it work, the US should be able to. Parents ahould receive biweekly reports from the teaxher saying what the student is weak on so the pare ts can deal with it immediately. Sports programs should be eliminated completely, replaced with physical training only. If the parents want their kids in a competitive sports program, they can fund it outside of school.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
