State exams fail the test

April 10, 8:12 PMNY Homeschooling ExaminerKristina Daniele

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the NY Homeschooling Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Part of the reason that I want to homeschool is that I have very little faith in a system that continuously messes up when it really matters.

Take the February Kansas State Exams. A 17 year old HS student had to point out a mistake on an exam that, apparently 30 teachers missed. And not just any 30 teacher, but the 30 teacher at the Sate Education Department charged with creating the exam.

The word "emission" -- as in "the emission of greenhouse gases" -- was spelled "omission."

"I thought, 'Surely they're not talking about leaving out carbon dioxide altogether.' It just didn't make sense," said Stanford, 17. "It had to be a mistake."

It was.

Stanford, a linebacker and International Baccalaureate student, alerted English teacher Jennifer Fry, who alerted the district test coordinator, who alerted state education officials, who were, as you might imagine, embarrassed.

"You hate that sort of thing to happen, but it happens," said Karla Denny, spokeswoman for the State Department of Education, which created the test. "We're human."
 

Yes, they are human. However, that is not a viable excuse nor does it make a mistake like this alright. When students are being judged on how they perform  on these exams, we owe it to them to ensure that these mistakes are not made. What makes this even worse is that the exam was created and supposedly proofread by 30 teachers and the printers:

Denny said the test was developed by a committee of more than 30 teachers from across the state. The five questions -- writing prompts from which students must craft persuasive essays -- were written almost two years ago and tested in 50 high schools last spring.

No one before Stanford had reported the error, Denny said.

"It amazes me. This went through all the channels, and the pilot project, and nobody caught it," said Denny, a former English teacher.
 

If those who are setting the standards for our children are incapable of creating well-written and error free exams, why would I entrust my daughter's education to them?

Read Error on state test slips past everyone -- except East High student