When will we take American education seriously?

By Trevor Bothwell 
web posted May 19, 2003

In case you haven't heard, some Florida public school students
are mighty angry. No, they're not upset with inedible hamburgers
in the school cafeteria or a canceled senior prom. They're
objecting to the fact that the state is holding them accountable for
what they've learned in 13 years of schooling.

This year Florida students are required to pass the Florida
Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), one of a battery of
exams that are administered to all public school students from
grades 3-10 in a variety of subjects, in order to receive their high
school diploma.
 
The problem, however, is that some 13,000 high school seniors
failed to pass the FCAT this year and are now in jeopardy of not
being allowed to graduate this spring. Using their universal right
to dispute anything that isn't automatically handed to them or
immediately gratifying, about 200 students from Miami Senior
High School organized a rally on Thursday, May 8th, to protest
this requirement, holding signs with witty FCAT acronym
definitions like "Forget College After This."

While we should probably congratulate these seniors for caring
enough about their education to worry about a future in college,
one is left to postulate that the future may not be too bright
anyhow for many of those who failed the test; students only need
the relative equivalent of a 40 per cent to pass the FCAT and
they are allowed to take it up to six (!) times.

Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly debated this requirement
recently with Dr. Brad Brown, Miami Dade NAACP chapter
president. Mr. O'Reilly argued that 90 per cent of Florida's
seniors have passed the FCAT, and that this is simply an attempt
by the state to impose more measurable standards upon its
students to ensure that they will be able to compete in society
after high school. Dr. Brown disagreed, stating that it is unfair to
refuse any student a high school diploma based on the outcome
of one exam.

Of course, both men were correct in their respective arguments.
But they also both missed the bigger, and much more important,
picture.

Overnight ideas, such as high school exit exams, are nothing
new. Education reformers have tried desperately to prove to the
public that standards in America's schools are not disastrously
low. Several years ago, Virginia required its students to pass a
state exam in order to retain its accreditation. When 93 per cent
of all students failed to pass, the requirement was waived.

Similarly, the new FCAT prerequisite in Florida was imposed
not for its validity in indicating the potential success of its
graduates, but to give the impression that the majority of
Florida's high schoolers are receiving an adequate education,
when in fact the direct opposite is likely true.

An exit exam that requires students to demonstrate knowledge of
only 40 per cent of material is bunk to begin with. This so-called
standard is consistent with the continual dumbing down of
curriculum that our nation's schools have been subject to for the
past three decades; if students refuse to rise to the level required
to achieve, we'll lower the bar to make it look as if they have.

Florida educrats can argue that students who don't pass the
FCAT shouldn't receive a diploma, and they would probably be
correct. But what is more bothersome is the number of students
who will be allowed to do nothing academically in school all year
and still pass the exam handily simply because of its cushy
"passing" rate.

Interestingly enough, the 13,000 students who today are in
danger of not graduating would be about one thousand greater if
the state hadn't already lowered the score needed to pass. This
fact in itself underscores the ineffectiveness of using exit exams.
What more would it tell us about the quality of education in
Florida if 100 per cent of its students passed the FCAT, if the
score required to pass was a mere 10 per cent?

We are in dire need of a serious discussion in this country about
the importance of public education, what our children actually
need to be taught, and the extent to which quality instruction
currently exists. Schools need to increase everyday standards for
classroom attendance, behavior, homework completion, and
academic participation and cooperation. And consequences for
not meeting these standards also need to be increased and
enforced.

Failing to hold students accountable for inappropriate behavior
and unproductive academic performance is a recipe for lowering
standards to the point where individuals no longer believe that
the rules apply to them. Those who would disagree can
reference the Miami high school seniors who spent more time
complaining about educational requirements they are
expected to follow instead of attending classes and figuring out
how to pass the FCAT in the first place.

Once we focus more on instilling academic values in our students
instead of worrying about bruising their egos, damaging their self-
esteem or stifling their voice, our schools will finally begin to
recover the ground lost to the specter of low expectations. Doing
so will do more to indicate increased standards than any exit
exam ever could.

Trevor Bothwell is editor of The Right Report <http:
//www.therightreport.com/>. He can be contacted at
bothwell@therightreport.com.
 
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