I went off on a little tangent there, yesterday, didn't I? That came from way out in left field.
I would like to add, though, one other thing Becca is tripping over....she keeps asking, "Do you think I can get a 60 percent, Mommy? I HAVE to have a 60 percent for I'll flunk the third grade!"
What they DON'T tell the kids is that a 60 percent is a D AVERAGE! Rather than saying, "Most of you will get a 60 percent even if you SLEEP through part of the test, so it's okay, don't be scared" they instead TERRIFY them with it because to an 8-year-old, 60 percent sounds HUGE. Most of them think that means they have to perform A-average, or they will fail the ENTIRE third grade. Which is crap, too, by the way. If they had BEEN TEACHING ALL YEAR RATHER THAN REVEIWING FOR A STANDARDIZED TEST, THE CHILDREN WOULD PROBABLY KNOW BY KNOW WHAT 60 PERCENT MEANS!
How can a child work hard, study, and do good...EVEN THE HONOR ROLL....all year long, then flip out on test day, fail the test, and FLUNK, throwing ALL YEAR'S WORK OUT THE WINDOW???? And how dare they tell these kids that in an effort to make them try harder on the test! If that's not cruel, what is?
I'm glad that Becca has a pretty good teacher and I can forgive her for the Benchmark stuff, because if she had wound up with a crappy one on TOP of Benchmarks, I would most likely have been dragged from the school by men in either blue or white by now.
SO READY FOR SUMMER BREAK!!!!
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They cant flunk because of benchmark.
ReplyDeleteI remember taking them,myself.Mat 6,Stanford all that jazz.I got like a 43 most of the time in the math department and I was in GT,never flunked a year...
My son,doesnt test well.He hasnt flunked either.Its crap,poor Becca,they must really be hammering that in over there.I know they are doing reviews here,but that is about all I know.Maybe I am showing my ignorance here,but,I dont think the kids should sweat it.
they may not be able to flunk because of benchmark, but because the schools are terrified of losing money if the kids don't test well, they teach taking the test, rather than teaching actual subject matter that they'll need not just to be competent in college, but to be able to compete in a global job market.
ReplyDeletei'd say upwards of 75% of the baptist home kids that go on to college have to take a boatload of remedial courses because they're so lacking in basics. that's not necessarily anything to do withthem being Home kids, it's just the only kids i really know anything about, but i'm sure it's somewhat indicative (<--75 cent word right there!) of the general high school population.