This is kind of depressing
As promised, Florida released an extended version of the 10th grade FCAT yesterday -- the graduation exam that students have six chances to pass between 10th and 12th grade. A minimum passing score on math and reading equate to about a 780 on the SAT. Yet on a test which isn't at all rigorous by that measure or by comparing it to NAEP scores, only 32% of 10th graders pass the reading test on the first go! Well, now we can see exactly what they aren't passing.
And we should be outraged.
For sake of space, I'm only going to examine one reading comprehension passage in this post, perhaps look at math in the next.
Remember, these 10th graders should be taking the SAT in a year.
8. What does the lifebuoy represent?
F. fear of poisonous creatures
G. anger with irritating creatures
H. pleasure in beautiful creatures
I. sympathy for helpless creatures
9. What element of the poem’s setting creates the problem for the spiders?
A. flooding downpours
B. overflowing pools
C. sandy shores
D. slippery ladders
10. When the speaker in the poem says, “you would haul ashore the huddled, hairy survivors,” to what is he comparing the tarantulas?
F. seals
G. sea monsters
H. shipwreck victims
I. surfers
11. What does the speaker in the poem believe the tarantulas deserve?
A. death
B. fairness
C. gratitude
D. humiliation
12. What would the speaker in the poem most likely do if he found a tarantula in his boot?
F. leave it alone
G. attempt to tame it
H. kill it immediately
I. carry it back to the bush
13. The speaker in the poem addresses himself to “you” in order to
A. accuse the reader
B. engage the reader
C. confuse the reader
D. entertain the reader
14. The speaker in the poem says that spiders might
F. climb ladders.
G. speak English.
H. use signs for words.
I. have tangled dreams.
15. What would be another way of saying “not loving the death of ugly and even dangerous...creatures”?
A. accepting all forms of life
B. rejecting the idea of justice
C. understanding the nature of death
D. eliminating all threatening animals
I almost feel like I should just let this speak for itself. These questions aren't complicated analytical items that require a great deal of nuanced cognitive thought. These questions are the most basic, basic form of reading comprehension -- literally, can the student read? Take #15; that question could be answered without ever reading the poem. Once you read "not loving the death" you're already eliminating B and D, and then "ugly and even dangerous" hones you in on A. In what way is this challenging? In what way are these questions assessing ones advanced ability to critically read, draw inferences, make connections, interpret, apply, etc.? (and the whole reading test is along these lines). I didn't know the reading standard we were holding our high school graduates to was literally just being able to read.
68% of students failed the test the first time they took it, and 15,000 students still failed it after the sixth try!
There is no way around this truth: No student should get to the spring of 10th grade unable to answer these questions. Yet a stupefying number do, NCLB or no NCLB. It's time to consider that something is still going horribly wrong.
And we should be outraged.
For sake of space, I'm only going to examine one reading comprehension passage in this post, perhaps look at math in the next.
Tarantulas on the Lifebuoy
Thomas Lux
For some semitropical reason
when the rains fall
relentlessly they fall
into swimming pools,
these otherwise bright and scary arachnids.
They can swim a little, but not for long
and they can’t climb the ladder out.
They usually drown—but if you want their favor,
if you believe there is justice,
a reward for not loving the death of ugly and even dangerous (the eel, hog snake,
rats) creatures, if
you believe these things, then
you would leave a lifebuoy
or two in your swimming pool at night.
And in the morning
you would haul ashore
the huddled, hairy survivors
and escort them
back to the bush, and know,
be assured that at least these saved,
as individuals, would not turn up
again someday
in your hat, drawer,
or the tangled underworld
of your socks, and that even—
when your belief in justice
merges with your belief in dreams—
they may tell the others
in a sign language
four times as subtle
and complicated as man’s
that you are good,
that you love them,
that you would save them again.
Remember, these 10th graders should be taking the SAT in a year.
8. What does the lifebuoy represent?
F. fear of poisonous creatures
G. anger with irritating creatures
H. pleasure in beautiful creatures
I. sympathy for helpless creatures
9. What element of the poem’s setting creates the problem for the spiders?
A. flooding downpours
B. overflowing pools
C. sandy shores
D. slippery ladders
10. When the speaker in the poem says, “you would haul ashore the huddled, hairy survivors,” to what is he comparing the tarantulas?
F. seals
G. sea monsters
H. shipwreck victims
I. surfers
11. What does the speaker in the poem believe the tarantulas deserve?
A. death
B. fairness
C. gratitude
D. humiliation
12. What would the speaker in the poem most likely do if he found a tarantula in his boot?
F. leave it alone
G. attempt to tame it
H. kill it immediately
I. carry it back to the bush
13. The speaker in the poem addresses himself to “you” in order to
A. accuse the reader
B. engage the reader
C. confuse the reader
D. entertain the reader
14. The speaker in the poem says that spiders might
F. climb ladders.
G. speak English.
H. use signs for words.
I. have tangled dreams.
15. What would be another way of saying “not loving the death of ugly and even dangerous...creatures”?
A. accepting all forms of life
B. rejecting the idea of justice
C. understanding the nature of death
D. eliminating all threatening animals
I almost feel like I should just let this speak for itself. These questions aren't complicated analytical items that require a great deal of nuanced cognitive thought. These questions are the most basic, basic form of reading comprehension -- literally, can the student read? Take #15; that question could be answered without ever reading the poem. Once you read "not loving the death" you're already eliminating B and D, and then "ugly and even dangerous" hones you in on A. In what way is this challenging? In what way are these questions assessing ones advanced ability to critically read, draw inferences, make connections, interpret, apply, etc.? (and the whole reading test is along these lines). I didn't know the reading standard we were holding our high school graduates to was literally just being able to read.
68% of students failed the test the first time they took it, and 15,000 students still failed it after the sixth try!
There is no way around this truth: No student should get to the spring of 10th grade unable to answer these questions. Yet a stupefying number do, NCLB or no NCLB. It's time to consider that something is still going horribly wrong.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, September 22, 2005 at 8:23 AM.
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