Time to Put the Candidates to the Test

Hillary's plan is the best!

It is a grand idea, grade the candidates; then give them a reality check (biased). What plagues this society is its inability to unite under one common cause, even the article explains it as Bush's NCLB when in reality, it is our plan, our goals, our project, our objectives, our sons and daughters. Just show me a candidate, a house, and a senate that pledge cooperation and production. What teacher grades a student prior to their work or assessment? A Highly Qualified Michigan Teacher.

I was disappointed as an educator to read Jeanne Allen's reply to Obama's desire to have the federal government "measure skills such as conducting research, defending ideas and solving problems." So I???m hoping that her comment was cut short by the writer of the article because the Reality Check did not convey the absolute need to do it.

Yes, the skills Obama mentioned are hard to test, but aren't all worthy endeavors "hard?" Education reform is not easy, it is hard. For too long, many educators in this country have taught and tested the easy way. As a result, we have an epidemic of high school dropouts and graduating students who aren't prepared for college or the workforce. Tests are supposed to be designed to measure what's worthy of knowing, understanding, and being able to do. Is it the test that matters or the goals? Which should serve the purposes of the other?

Statewide testing of problem solving and thinking skills would not be easy, but it can and must be done. Maybe test developers could get some tips from those who developed an international assessment of cross-disciplinary problem solving (PISA 2003). Certainly if valid assessments could be designed for different countries, ones could be developed for different states. By the way, 15 year-olds in 41 countries participated in PISA problem-solving and U.S. performance was dismal. According to PISA???s 3 level proficiency scale, 24% of U.S. students scored below proficiency level 1; 34% at proficiency level 1; 30% at proficiency level 2; and 12% at proficiency level 3, the top level. Four countries (Finland, Hong Kong-China, Japan, Korea) had 30% or more of their students perform at the top level. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2004).

Problem-solving is becoming an essential literacy for the 21st century because it involves the capacity of students to apply knowledge and skills from content areas with the ability to analyze, interpret, reason, and communicate solutions. This is the type of problem-solving tested by PISA. If the U.S. values such skills, it should not shrink from the challenge simply because it will be "hard to test statewide." If we want our kids to be successful in school, work, and life, we must do it.