n, says, “I like the concept, but this test is not realistic.” He thinks it is unfair to test students on a course they haven’t taken yet. (Davis) Josh is worried that teachers will change the way they teach, and the students will get bored with a set curriculum. (Davis) Other students say that the test is too long, but the questions were workable with reasoning skills. (Davis) I say that the test is a great idea. I took the Minnesota graduation test toward the end of my eighth grade year. I passed the test with ease except in my weak area, which was English. When I passed I received a report that said that I passed; I had to use the document later to show that I passed the test.Many other places went through this same kind of dilemma. So I found a poll at Public Agenda: Reality Check 2001 that questions people who have gone through this problem and told what they thought. The survey was categorized into many sections called findings, so I took out the findings that related to testing. Finding Two: All groups voice strong support for local efforts to raise standards and for using high stakes standardized tests as part of the effort. However, all groups strongly oppose basing promotion or graduation solely on the results of testing—a policy that teachers say is still quite rare.Q: Overall, would you say that the schools are careful and reasonable in putting in place higher academic standards, or are they being too careless and unreasonable?Percent saying “Careful and reasonable”: Employers 86%, Parents 81%, Teachers 80%, and Professors 71%.Q: Before students are awarded a high school diploma, would you want your school district to require students to: pass a basic skills test in reading, writing and math; pass a more challenging test showing they have learned at higher levels; or do you think that requiring kids to pass a test is a bad idea?Percentage of parents saying: 57% basic skills test, 27% more ...
