Pull a Uie

Kos points this out byt saying dealing with the No Child Left Behind test, would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

I hope he is talking about the fact that of the 3.9 billion dollars allucated for NCLB, none of which actually went to making sure no child got left behind. I hope he isn't doing like the reporter in the article is doing and trying to make it seem like the test is racist.

A sample question:

The year 1999 was a big one for the Williams sisters. In February, Serena won her first pro singles championship. In March, the sisters met for the first time in a tournament final. Venus won. And at doubles tennis, the Williams girls could not seem to lose that year."


The story says that in 1999, the sisters could not seem to lose at doubles tennis. This probably means when they played
A two matches in one day
B against each other
C with two balls at once
D as partners


Most young tennis stars learn the game from coaches at private clubs. In this sentence, a club is probably a

F baseball bat
G tennis racquet
H tennis court
J country club

Greg argues that the question would be easier for rich third graders that have had exposure to tennis and country clubs previously. He also states it would be harder for kids that live in the inner-city, which is also true. The problem, which Greg either missed or glossed over, is that this isn't a knowledge test. It is a reading comprehension test. It is written to see if the child can infer from the sentence that club means a country club, not a beating instrument.

Greg makes it seem like the test makes intended the test to be easier for rich people but harder for the poor children in the hood.

To me, it doesn't seem like that is the case. It seems like it is every other test I ever took in school, badly written. If poor Jimmy can't infer that club means a place to meet people and not a tennis court, well then, I think he maybe he should be given another chance to take the 3rd grade again.

Now before you think I am all for standardize tests, you would be wrong. I am against it. I think the emphasize on stanardized testing is one of the problems in the american school system. Unfortantely it is one of the few ways to ensure that every child is getting an equal chance and until a better option comes along it is what we have to deal with.

At the end of the piece Greg say Someone has to care for the privileged. No society can have winners without lots and lots of losers. And so we have No Child Left Behind -- to produce the new worker drones that will clean the toilets at the Yale Alumni Club, punch the cash registers color-coded for illiterates, and pamper the winner-class on the higher floors of the new economic order

Which is funny, I thought everyone knew the american school system was designed to keep workers docile and stupid.