Test prep (or: substitute teaching, day 2)
I'd heard of test prep, but I'd never experienced test prep before. Yesterday, I subbed for 7th grade English at a middle school and the kids were to work out of one Virginia Standards of Learning prep book followed by, once that was complete, working out of a second SOL prep book. Some of the kids were telling me this is something they do quite often ("we spent six weeks on metaphors and similes," said one of the honors students) and the digust, disinterest and frustration was evident.
If you're curious, the topic in question was the difference between a statement of fact (defined as any statement that can be proven or disproven) vs. a statement of opinion. The students were doing entire assignments just so they could answer the SOL questions on that subject, but it was quickly apparent that they many of them lacked functional knowledge about it. Here's what I mean: even the honors students asked me, "what does subjective and objective mean?" All the students were learning were the definitions of factual statement and opinion statement; there seemed to be little transfer to the broader question of why the distinction matters and how it should affect the way one reads a piece.
This is a case study in the educational system's deep, fundamental flaws, because given what's in place, this style of test prep is understandable. The standard in question is this:
7.6 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of informational texts.
c) Distinguish fact from opinion in newspapers, magazines, and other print media.
And some examples of 8th grade SOL questions on the subject are:
5. Which statement is a fact expressed in the flyer?
A “Taking good pictures isn’t as simple as it seems . . .”
B “It’s everything you’d expect a camp to be and then some.”
C “Camp begins on June 22 and runs through July 24.”
D “. . . Camp Chippenstock is more affordable than many other camps.”
and
14. Which statement is an opinion expressed in the story?
F “A minor accident a couple of days before had left the car crippled . . .”
G “. . . get some chewing gum and seal up the leaks . . .”
H “He takes pride in the jobs he performs.”
J “. . . we don’t encourage her to chew gum. In fact, we discourage her.”
You don't need a deep understanding of the difference between facts and opinions to answer those questions. In truth, you barely need any understanding whatsoever. So long as you can identify the difference -- one is provable, one isn't -- you're good to go. The schools have no incentive to go beyond that simplistic benchmark, and, judging by the nationwide lack of high-level thinking skills, I think it's fair to say most of them don't.
Now, this is where I think the virulent anti-NCLB arguments (like the paranoid hysterics offered at blogs such as SchoolsMatter) go off the tracks: I don't have a problem with requiring, and holding our schools accountable for ensuring, that all students are able to distinguish between fact and opinion. That's a crucial skill for a productive citizen and it provides the opportunities afforded by far greater depth of discernment. However, there's a core disconnect between that ideal and the particular manifestations of NCLB and other policies currently at work in our schools. There are layers upon layers of complexity that go into truly grasping the distinction between fact and opinion -- an understanding of motivation, persuasion, rhetoric, argumentation, media, sourcing and skepticism, just to name a few, and that's all on top of the underlying literary and writing devices.
And, to those who would respond that students need to understand the basic definitional difference between fact and opinion: Of course! You can't achieve a single one of the comprehensions I just talked about without knowing that distinction. But it should take about 45 minutes to make sure 90% of 7th graders get it, and it's going to be constantly referred to as they are learning about the complexities and critical applicability of the topics. Instead, it's currently demotivating, agonizing drill and test prep, and then, once the definition is soundly grasped, it's on to the next topic, because there's still standard 7.6(d) to cover.
This is a problem that has seeped into the marrow of our system, and it's long past time we stopped treating it like a rash.
If you're curious, the topic in question was the difference between a statement of fact (defined as any statement that can be proven or disproven) vs. a statement of opinion. The students were doing entire assignments just so they could answer the SOL questions on that subject, but it was quickly apparent that they many of them lacked functional knowledge about it. Here's what I mean: even the honors students asked me, "what does subjective and objective mean?" All the students were learning were the definitions of factual statement and opinion statement; there seemed to be little transfer to the broader question of why the distinction matters and how it should affect the way one reads a piece.
This is a case study in the educational system's deep, fundamental flaws, because given what's in place, this style of test prep is understandable. The standard in question is this:
7.6 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of informational texts.
c) Distinguish fact from opinion in newspapers, magazines, and other print media.
And some examples of 8th grade SOL questions on the subject are:
5. Which statement is a fact expressed in the flyer?
A “Taking good pictures isn’t as simple as it seems . . .”
B “It’s everything you’d expect a camp to be and then some.”
C “Camp begins on June 22 and runs through July 24.”
D “. . . Camp Chippenstock is more affordable than many other camps.”
and
14. Which statement is an opinion expressed in the story?
F “A minor accident a couple of days before had left the car crippled . . .”
G “. . . get some chewing gum and seal up the leaks . . .”
H “He takes pride in the jobs he performs.”
J “. . . we don’t encourage her to chew gum. In fact, we discourage her.”
You don't need a deep understanding of the difference between facts and opinions to answer those questions. In truth, you barely need any understanding whatsoever. So long as you can identify the difference -- one is provable, one isn't -- you're good to go. The schools have no incentive to go beyond that simplistic benchmark, and, judging by the nationwide lack of high-level thinking skills, I think it's fair to say most of them don't.
Now, this is where I think the virulent anti-NCLB arguments (like the paranoid hysterics offered at blogs such as SchoolsMatter) go off the tracks: I don't have a problem with requiring, and holding our schools accountable for ensuring, that all students are able to distinguish between fact and opinion. That's a crucial skill for a productive citizen and it provides the opportunities afforded by far greater depth of discernment. However, there's a core disconnect between that ideal and the particular manifestations of NCLB and other policies currently at work in our schools. There are layers upon layers of complexity that go into truly grasping the distinction between fact and opinion -- an understanding of motivation, persuasion, rhetoric, argumentation, media, sourcing and skepticism, just to name a few, and that's all on top of the underlying literary and writing devices.
And, to those who would respond that students need to understand the basic definitional difference between fact and opinion: Of course! You can't achieve a single one of the comprehensions I just talked about without knowing that distinction. But it should take about 45 minutes to make sure 90% of 7th graders get it, and it's going to be constantly referred to as they are learning about the complexities and critical applicability of the topics. Instead, it's currently demotivating, agonizing drill and test prep, and then, once the definition is soundly grasped, it's on to the next topic, because there's still standard 7.6(d) to cover.
This is a problem that has seeped into the marrow of our system, and it's long past time we stopped treating it like a rash.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, March 04, 2006 at 1:24 PM.
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