CB> Well, here we go again---
CB> The public demands quality graduates--
CB> Schools test---
CB> Do we get quality graduates? No--testing does not produce quality, 
CB> testing 
CB> only finds defects.
    Every other producer tests its product before selling it, be the product 
cars or computers.  Those manufacturers think testing produces quality, and 
are willing to spend many millions on testing for that reason.
    And don't say education is "different".  Schools test now as exit exams 
in every course: if the kid doesn't pass his tests in required courses, he 
gets a failing grade and cannot graduate.  
    The only difference between the current practice (exit exams on a 
step-by-step basis within each course) and the proposed exit exam for 
graduation is that the proposal is for an exit exam covering more than one 
course.
CB> Will a more exacting test produce high quality students? No.
    True, it won't produce higher-quality _students_.
    But it will produce higher-quality _graduates_ by keeping bad product off 
the market and sending it back for remediation.
CB> Texas runs a test dictated curriculum--if it was such a great idea, 
CB> why 
CB> aren't people examining them.  Why do I hear teachers from Texas 
CB> complain 
CB> about TAS?  Why do I hear charges and counter-charges about cheating, 
CB> fudging, etc on the TAS tests?  
    Cheating has gone on since their were math quizzes.  Is that a reason to 
abolish math quizzes?  I don't think there's any kind of school test, quiz, 
or homework that some kids haven't cheated on for decades.
CB> Yuck--I hope they drop the idea of an exit test--won't work.
    Exit tests could build public and employer confidence in public education 
by convincing the public and employers that a kid who got a HS degree 
actually _retained_ some of what he once learned.
--- Simplex BBS (v1.07.00Beta [DOS])
---------------