Another survey that just confirms what we already know

I see that results from this past spring's National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, show that math scores fell precipitously for the 4th and 8th graders tested, and reading scores also suffered. 

Can there be a single person who can claim surprise? 

Did anyone really believe that spending nearly a year and half with online learning, not to mention the constant strain of the pandemic and all the death and worry and misunderstandings and outright lies would not cause those "all-important" standardized test scores would NOT drop?

This is not news, but mere confirmation of what anyone could predict. It is similar to: "The weather report said a hard freeze would arrive, and then it did... and plants died." 

Any news involved in this report and the sudden coverage of it would have to be to find some schools or communities where scores ROSE, despite the pandemic. Better yet: how about all those private school kids who didn't stay online after May of 2020? How did those kids do?

Of course, private schools tend to NOT participate in any of those standardized tests so it would be impossible to find an apples and apples comparison. I do wonder if there are any mental health stats comparing private and public school students... or maybe that would just end up being more about class and money than about how schools helped or hindered.

We have a grandson whose Language Arts teacher sent home a "failing" notice to his parents, based on... wait for it... two quizzes, of five points each. I get it. He got 3/5 and then 2/5 and that is definitely not passing, should that be the pattern for the entire term. 

But it's a good seven weeks into the fall semester (he started after Labor Day), and the teacher has gathered a grand total of TEN points to base this grade upon? Come on! That sounds like educational malpractice, quite honestly. 

I know teaching is a tough job, but also hope those brave souls who take on the challenge have some hazy understanding that teaching is a life-style choice. It's never going to be a 8-4 gig, not to do it right. I don't know that particular English teacher's situation, of course, but I certainly know my grandson's situation. You would think even the least-engaged teacher might find the time for a few more assessments before frightening pre-teens and their parents.

Here's an irony that I have come to appreciate the more I teach college students: if a kid can survive the minefields of middle school and high school, and get to the college level, grade problems can quickly disappear. My experience is that students tend to earn A's and B's or they just fail/drop at the college level. 

I had a frantic college student email me multiple times last week about how "afraid" she was that she would fail. She has a 77 percent score at midterm, which is not setting the world on fire, but far from failing. I wrote her back saying I have never failed a single student who turned in all their assignments and made any effort to write clearly. That is true from high school through college seniors. 

I don't know if this lowered her anxiety levels, but I also know this: were I grading based on control of her language and clarity of her arguments, she WOULD be failing. But college teachers all know that failing students will not endear you to the department or the university, and that we are already down nearly 2 million college students from 2021, and that it's all about money. After all, it's America.

One college I teach for has a policy that only 10 percent of a student's grade in a writing class can come from mechanics, grammar, etc. I don't make the policies, but I understand the quest for some sort of grace for kids who were not prepared very well and whose family didn't provide the level of support needed to succeed as thinkers and writers. Still, I can't help but point out from time to time that they will have to live with their lack of skill as writers and readers and thinkers as they enter the workforce. But enough of my whining.

At some point, teachers need to provide lots of data points if they want to identify trends. A five-point quiz per month is not going to do it. There's not much to grade, however, which helps some less-engaged educators rush out of the building five minutes after the children. 

I know. I sensed it as I was writing the above graf. I am criticizing an entire profession (and certainly one particular teacher) based on an isolated case. 

Standardized tests describe averages and masses of results. And the math of earning half the possible points is quite clear. What is not clear is why just a few data points should make the difference in anyone's life.

Here's the thing about kids: they are ALL an isolated case.