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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: flatsville who wrote (40338)	9/28/2000 11:46:05 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Well, let's try to represent conservative criticism more accurately, shall we? Also from the Heritage report: This reveals an alarming trend in our state and nation," Patterson concluded. "While test scores on the lower range of academic achievement rise, scores at the top remain frozen at pre-1970 achievement." Conservatives initiated the TAAS in the 1980s as a way to provide accountability for public schools. But today, conservatives are the ones waving the red flags. They warn that the TAAS has crippled public education by fostering the pursuit of academic equity at the expense of academic excellence. "The entire focus on TAAS is on getting as many students as possible to achieve at a very basic level," said a report written by Jeff Judson, president of the conservative education foundation called the Texas Public Policy Foundation. "Since so much hinges on TAAS -- promotions, hiring and firing decisions, financial incentives -- schools are practically foolish if they don't reallocate time and resources from higher-achieving children whom they know will pass the test to lower-achieving children who might not." ......Several conservatives have proposed raising the "acceptable" level from 40 to 70 percent as one step toward improvement. Feeling the pressure of criticism, the state recently announced plans to increase the acceptable level to 45 percent next year and to 50 percent by the year 2000. Given the state's reluctance to drastically improve standards, Parker believes the only hope for true reform is school choice. "The political control model is always going to pick a low level of achievement because it can't deal with the pain of forcing change," he said. Parker and others have proposed another "norm-referenced" exam in addition to the TAAS that would help Texas compare its students' performance to other states. Unlike the TAAS, which is based on basic criteria that every student should know, a norm-referenced test is designed to be more challenging, so that no student could get every answer right. "That way, you get a pattern, you get a bell-curve that tells you how Texas students compare to other students," he said. "With norm-referenced tests, you get away from training based solely on low criteria."

To: flatsville who wrote (40338)	9/28/2000 12:30:53 PM
From: Mr. Whist	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Excellent analysis.

To: flatsville who wrote (40338)	9/28/2000 12:57:01 PM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Flatsville--Is not the content of what you wrote, and the references you cited, a more poignant example as to what is, is? (LOL) Beyond the turn of the century misuse of what is, is; facts still remain as facts. Yes, Bush and education is a most deplorable comparative. And his running mate's civic lessons to school children, via his example of not voting in 14 of the past 16 elections, also is hardly educational or a role model-type example of leadership. Republicans severely believe in power, and that with power comes money. And I think one of the hidden reasons why a certain faction of Republicans vehemently and vindictively hate both Clinton and Gore is because this particular dynamic Democratic duo, as they think of it, stole their power and the money, which got spread around in less of a selective balance. I further think they hate Hillary Clinton because she represents a new kind of political force which, to them, is threatening to the base of power they hungrily desire.

To: flatsville who wrote (40338)	9/28/2000 12:57:20 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

"The some schools spend months simply preparing for TAAS to the exclusion of real academics. Many schools do not have adequate libraries, but have plenty of expensive TAAS materials." I have a couple of questions. You imply that the kids are being given instruction about specific items on the test. Of course this is highly unethical...maybe even illegal. A well developed test is a sampling of the general knowledge base. If the kids are being prepared to do well when tested on there knowledge, skills, and abilities related to Academic Skills, great. If they are being instructed on the actual test items, then the sample is not a sample at all. This, I agree, is the worst thing a state school system could sponsor. Do you have information that the general approach is to raise the kids knowledge, skills and abilities related to Academic Skills....or, that they are being instructed on the actual test items? If not, sorry, but it just amounts to another uninformed partison slam on Bush. BTW can you define "Real Academics" as apposed to the ones represented on the TAAS?