80 is the new 69.

We just finished up our semester's round of testing this week. It'd be a funny psychological/sociological study to observe the teachers--myself included--posturing and playing the expectations game. Few of us even give lip service to the reality that it shouldn't be a competition because there are so many factors involved, but the pressure of high test scores remains a fact, and so as teachers, we want to have as high if not higher test scores than our colleagues. Nothing wrong with competition as long as it doesn't turn devious.

But that brings me to my point for this post. Testing. Starting with the class of '10 the students have to complete a graduation project as well as pass* 5 core EOC's: English 9, Algebra 1, Biology, Civics/Economics and U.S. History.

I teach Civics and Economics. My honors class this time posted a 91.3% passing rate. That means that 21 out of 23 scored at Level 3 or 4 proficiency. Now, your guess is as good as mine as to how they psychometrize those tests to figure out what constitutes such a proficiency level. But the fact remains that I have 2 students in an honors level course one with a B- and the other with a C during the regular year. Now the state equates their level 2 proficiency with an 80 and a 78 for their exam grade--which is to count 25%. That's good news for these two students. Our grading scale is the standard 7 point variety. So as long as they are above a 70 they pass the course--and of course both of these students remain at a B- and a C.

BUT... under the new guidelines neither of these students would pass Civics. They would be required to undergo remediation and be retested until they get a Level 3. If they don't then they don't graduate... well at least that's the company line--there will, of course, be ways around this particular "standard."

So, why shouldn't I (we) change our class grading scales to reflect those of DPI. If a student can score an 80 on the EOC and yet it is still classified as a Level 2--which is failing--aren't we doing the students a disservice by allowing them to pass with anything less than an 80 during the regular course?

When did common sense leave the educational arena?

dt