All Hot and Bothered

We're gettin' all political up in Ms. P's class this week. We're starting persuasive essays. The only problem is EVERYONE keeps catching the flu. 

But that is a(whole)nother tale. I've spent my last few days brainstorming what hot topics will get them talking. What do they care about enough to generate an essay that's chock full of their personality? What will make them spirited enough to cause spontaneous researching?

Here are the 12 topics they can choose from with mentor essays for them to peruse:

1) Are standardized tests valuable?

2) Should adults be able to ban books from school libraries?

3) Should those charged with animal cruelty face harsher penalties than they do presently? (a current local debate)

4) Should the United States continue to fully fund NASA?

5) Is spanking an appropriate punishment for children?

6) Should fast food restaurants have to post nutritional information for their meals on the menu?

7) Is graffiti art? Should graffiti artists be harshly penalized?

8) Some cities have proposed bans on sagging pants. Is this fair?

9) Does having a Facebook account negatively or positively affect your academic life?

10) How should Major League Baseball deal with steroid use, particularly with respect to the Hall of Fame?

11) Do adults praise and encourage your generation too much? Does this affect your ability to accept criticism?

12) Does texting affect your academic life? How?

Just in case, I posted this on the board....

"The views stated in these essays do not necessarily reflect the the views of Ms. P or our school district."

A girl has to cover all her bases.

Now it's your turn to answer the questions:

1) Which one of these 12 issues is most interesting to you?

2) Which one of these do you care the least about?

Thank God for Mississippi, part 2

"Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid."

Albert Einstein

Answers to these questions:
49)C
54)H
70)G
Did you get all 3 right? You are ADVANCED in 7th grade Language Arts in the state of MS.
Did you get 2 right? You are PROFICIENT in 7th grade Language Arts in the state of MS.
Did you get 1 right? You have a MINIMAL understanding of 7th grade Language Arts.
Did you get 0 right? You have a BASIC understanding of 7th grade Language Arts.


So, here are the problems.


1) Our tests are flawed.
And it's not just Mississippi. See some ridiculously bad test items here. Think about it. The statistics that are being used against us (For example - 47% of 7th graders are not "proficient" in reading and writing.) are based on whether or not our still-cognitively-developing students can parse questions like these. 

Questions that grown, college-educated adults have difficulty understanding. Is it possible that our schools are being measured with a broken ruler? Is the test just plain unfair? 


2) Every state takes a different test.

Don't believe me? Believe wiki. :)

How can we possibly compare scores from dozens of different tests as if they are the same one?

All the educational rankings that you read now are distorted. No scientist or researcher would trust data from an experiment with this many confounding factors. As educational researchers, we need to "control" our data by eliminating these extraneous factors. Only then can we see the TRUE state of America's education system. Flawed statistics will yield flawed solutions.

If we're going to be a data-driven education system, at least let it be valid data.

Now, what is the solution?
1) Solution 1: Common core standards. 
Now in non-teacher jargon - all states teaching the same things in the same grade year. Right now, every state has a different list of standards. that means if someone moves from Mississippi to New York, he isn't necessarily on the same page in school.

If we adopt a common core, we can all participate in the second solution.

2) Solution 2: A national test taken by all 50 states- 
If we are all taking the same test, then we can really see where each stands. Also, if every state is paying for this test, then hopefully its questions will be held to a higher level of accountability. We can then expect them to be written more clearly. Thus, the scores will be more accurate. 


Perhaps I'm being idealistic, but maybe then a reading test will actually judge a student's ability to read, not her ability to take a standardized test.

How can you help?


1) Educate yourself.
            A) Explore online:
                 -Fair Test
                 -The Huffington Post
                 -The Daily Riff
                 -The Innovative Educator's "We Would Prefer not to Take your Tests"
            B) Read a book:
                 -Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade
                 -Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us
                 -Standardized Minds: The High Price of America's Testing Culture and What We Can Do to Change It
                 -The Death and Life of the Great American School System


2) Educate your circle.
         Once you learn a little bit, open your mouth and don't stop talking. In the current culture of education reform, the voice of the teacher is under-respected. The voice of YOU, the concerned citizen, is king. So, please, speak. 

If you're hankering for the Mississippi Department of Education's contact information after struggling with these questions, I'd be more than happy to provide it. Tell them Ms. P sent you. And if you're waiting for the punchline of this normally-amusing blog, look in the mirror, Mississippi. This post is more of a dark comedy.

ADVANCED but only because I have access to the answers,
Ms. P

Thank God for Mississippi.

People like to poke fun at Mississippi's teachers and students for our less-than-desirable reputation in education. (Need evidence of our shoddy statistics? Look here and here. For starters.) It's such a regular occurrence that "Thank God for Mississippi" even has its own entry in the Urban Dictionary.

Apparently it's a regular response when state rankings are reported. Especially if you hail from the 2nd worst state. No worries, you'll always be ahead of the Magnolia State!

But before you take the easy way out and hang your head in shame OR point and laugh, let me ask you one thing. As an educated adult, could you pass Mississippi's 7th grade Language Arts standardized test? Don't worry. It's multiple choice.

Easy, right?

Consider this a pop quiz. Normally, Mississippi students have to answer 40 reading questions and 40 writing questions over 2 days. But since you're probably a little rusty, I'll only ask you to answer 3.

From the 2008 MCT2 practice test:

From the 2009 MCT2 practice test:

From the 2010 MCT2 practice test:

Please leave a comment with your answers. I'm going to tally up the responses and see how we do.

No cheating. Don't forget. I have eyes in the back of my head.

I'm watching you,

Ms. P