more state-testing madness

Ms. G blogs again about a former student of mine - who, I am sad to hear, hasn't learned that his education is important, even though he is (thankfully) out of jail... 

But her entry revealed something else though that is certainly worth pondering:
After miserably failing a state-tested class (he simply doesn't do his work), the student passed the state test and demanded to receive credit for the class anyway -- since he had obviously "mastered" the material. The case went to the State Department of Education:

The current State Superintendent ruled that, as a part of his new campaign on dropout prevention, any student who passes a state assessment can automatically earn the credit for the course.  This essentially renders every classwork and homework assignment null and void.  Why would we even give grades at all if they are to be overruled by a standardized exam, and a sub par exam at that?

This spells bad news for many state-tested classes, as I can see more than a few behavior issues stemming from bright students.  If a teacher cannot hold a student's grade over their head, what's to stop them from refusing to do their work, or trying to cause chaos in class? On top of that, most of Mississippi's state tests are woefully below national standards. Students deemed "proficient" on the MCT might fall well-below passing on a similar NAEP.  With this type of rule, we are essentially encouraging students to shoot for mediocre. Why go the extra mile to learn something above and beyond the test -- it won't matter for passing this class anyway!

Finally, it depresses me to think about the effects of this "rule" on English classes. By nature, English state tests are a different animal from the others. If you are a student who is a good reader,  if you have grown up reading -- you shouldn't have a problem with the test. But there is so much more to English classes than preparing for a test -- things like thinking critically, engaging in discussion and debate, and being exposed to ideas, opinions and events outside your own sphere of existence. It is not just about whether you know the difference between "who" and "whom" or drawing simplistic conclusions from short passages.

Ideally, I think the goal of secondary education is two-fold: first, we need to give them the basic skills they will need as a citizen of our society (this is where those state tests come in) but secondly, and perhaps more importantly, we want to open their eyes to the world, and create life-long learners. There is already enough emphasis on the state tests -- telling the students that their score on "the basics" is more important than a year's worth of classroom engagement negates that second goal almost entirely......