http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/map?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1
PRESS THE ABOVE LINK. IT WILL TAKE YOU TO A WEBSITE FAR FAR AWAY.
Glide your cursor over the states on the map.
An AMAZING thing happens!
Suddenly, if you do not understand why certain schools score poorly, you will see with your very own eyes that demographics make a difference in how schools score on standardized tests.
Take a peek at the demographics in a certain county. Find the names of the schools in that county. Go to the Department of Education website for that state. Research test data in connection with those schools. Compare.
And VOILA!
Certainly, it's more complex than that.
The solutions? Even more complex.
But, we can begin by reallocating the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on high stakes testing ( an erroneous tool) to do what works in other nations around the world to boost student achievement: reduce the affects of poverty in the lives of young children.
As a fiscally conservative individual, I would rather have my tax dollars going towards something which is research based and positively contributes to the welfare of a child, such as providing children with nutritious meals, adult support, and access to a variety of reading materials, rather than to something which does not, namely high stakes testing, which has a DIRECT correlation to higher dropout rates, especially amongst ethnic minority students.
There will be a fight.
Right now, in Washington, D.C., there are lobbyists working for companies who are raking in the dough because the American public has bought into the high stakes testing fervor which has invaded our schools and our psyches over the past ten years. In addition to those lobbyists, there are those from textbook (base program) companies which are capitalizing on mind-numbing subject narrowing test prep curriculum.
I've got my gloves up.
