Thursday, February 17, 2011
Testing In Our Schools
I was reading an article in the NY Times that talked about the number of African American and Latino children that are being accepted to these great High Schools is at an all time low. The article focused on the eight grade standardized test, claiming that these kids are not prepared to pass it and also that the parents aren't involved enough. Tell me what you think? http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/top-public-high-schools-admit-fewer-blacks-and-hispanics/?scp=1&sq=discipline%20in%20urban%20schools&st=cse
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The statistics of Black and Hispanic admission into more prestigious schools seems to closely relate to the statistics of Black and Hispanic admissions into prestigious universities.
ReplyDeleteThe admission into these high schools seems to be low due to the “test” that Black and Hispanic children are not doing too well in passing. The issue may not be due to purposely rejecting Black and Hispanic children into these elite schools, which is what I thought when I first read the article, but rather the issue may be due to the way that the students are tested into these schools.
For example, many students at San Francisco State University did exceptionally well in their lower division English courses, passing with A’s and B’s, yet when many took the JEPET (The Junior English Proficiency Essay Test), they failed it. The reasons as to why these students who passed their English courses with flying colors did not pass the JEPET test can vary and they do, but the people who are looking at the JEPET as a way to determine if a student can write proficiently at college level ought to reconsider their current method and find a better one. In the same way, the high schools that are using this test as a way to determine whether children should be admitted into these high schools ought to find a better method as well.
It is also very important to consider the quality of the education that all of the children are receiving at their respective schools. For instance, White children, depending on their demographics, tend to live in better economical areas, which tend to provide a better quality of education, hence the reason why so many parents use false addresses so that their children can go to better schools.
The better quality of education that a child receives, the better the chances are that they will do well on any test. In the same way, the poorer the quality of education a child receives, the worse they will do on a test, that may be primarily designed and best suited for the child that receives, let’s face it “a White kid’s education,” which explains why over 30 percent of White children are admitted into these high schools every year.