Copyright 2000 Boston Herald Inc.
The Boston Herald
April 10, 2000 Monday ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. 020
LENGTH: 392 words
HEADLINE:
Editorial; A roadblock to ed reform
BODY:
Those who
would put more roadblocks - including federal roadblocks - in the way of
state-sponsored exams necessary to earn a high school diploma have come up with
wonderful a new euphemism for those exams. "High-stakes testing" it's being
called, no doubt to conjure up the image of "high-stakes gambling."
The
forces of such educational revisionism are nothing if not good with words. Would
that the students they are trying to "save" from the perils of "high-stakes
testing" were as facile with the English language.
Massachusetts is one
of at least 19 states that either currently or will soon require the passing of
a state-drafted test - here it's the MCAS - as a requirement for graduation.
Many European nations have been doing this for decades. But here - however basic
the concept - it's still making waves.
Most recently Sen. Paul Wellstone
(D-Minn.) signaled his intention to bring such "high stakes testing" to a
screeching halt with federal legislation.
Never mind what would surely
be an unconscionable intrusion on state powers, Wellstone is simply wrong on the
merits.
"I will introduce an amendment [to the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act Reauthorization] that will require that states
and districts use multiple measures of student performance in addition to
standardized tests if they are going to use tests as part of a high-stakes
decision," Wellstone said in a recent speech.
That could presumably mean
an arts portfolio or maybe a demonstration of how to replace a car's engine
management chip or heaven knows what else. So what if the artistic genius or the
computer whiz can't write a simple declarative sentence or add a column of
numbers. No, that would be too "high stakes" for Sen. Wellstone.
And
states, the senator insists, must provide "appropriate accommodations" for those
with "limited English proficiency," thus proving what? That those students will
spend the rest of their lives walled off from the best jobs and education
opportunities this society offers?
An aide to Sen. Wellstone said, "We
suspect Sen. [Edward M.] Kennedy will be caught on the wrong side of this." The
"wrong side" being on the right side of supporting our own state's MCAS tests.
In this case Kennedy will never stand taller than he will in opposing
the muddy-headed thinking of his colleague from Minnesota.
LOAD-DATE: April 10, 2000 
