School rules eased for Md.

I'll bet you they know how to use a cell phone. Send the lazy bums to the front line. They will get real smart, real fast.

Students with severe learning disabilities should not be expected to take these exams. This particular population will probably never be totally independent in adulthood. If a school has such students, most likely their test scores will lower the overall grade for the entire school.

nanct grasmick should be forced to resign. i think that old age is effecting her thinking. the thing is no child leave behind, not barely not making the cutoff. however better yet maybe she should stop spending over 100 million dollars on tests from measurement inc. you know the same company that did mspap that most experts agree were not good.grasmick is definitely getting a kickback besides violating one of the tenents of educational testing, immediate feed back. do you know that teachers in fla. grade these exams and students do not get their results until late july. horrible. also i do hope you realize the headlins about maryland being no. 1 in education come from advanced placement scores. the state of maryland has nothing to do with the courses or how they are taught. that could be the main reason these children are progressing. also another reason is that they genreally have parents that take an active role in educastion. something the low achieving scholls do not. omalley like alwaysd lies. he could not get rid of this political hack nancy grasmick, like he said. well neither could that theif glendening, while bobby erlisch took campaign funds from lou. thats right nancy would not be anythng but an elementary school teacher in baltimore county,but she married don schaeffer's good friend lou grasmick. once that happend nancy's career took off. see it isn't what you know but who you blow. congrads to nancy, all the plastic surgery could not take away you are a fraud and still over 65.

As usual, when the schools can't meet an established benchmark the next course of action is to LOWER the standard. Past performance has shown that when this is implemented the student's LOWER their perfromance. Way to go adults. So much for the "demanding of higher standards" we hear over and over and over and over again. All talk, no action. We taxpayers continue to get our tax dollars wasted.

So we do get to leave some dolts behind.

What I find the most ammusing is the one vocal and upset blogger probably could not pass the english exam either... I know a lot of people who work in the public school system for various Counties throughout the State, and they all agree the NCLB idea is good, but flawed in execution. I welcome a fresh perspective on how to measure success.

ammused wrote:

What I find the most ammusing is the one vocal and upset blogger probably could not pass the english exam either... I know a lot of people who work in the public school system for various Counties throughout the State, and they all agree the NCLB idea is good, but flawed in execution. I welcome a fresh perspective on how to measure success.

Well traditionally, one trusted teachers to grade students on the subject. You apparrently know different teachers than I do.

Why don't you throw in the phrase "Teaching to the test" sometime and see what kind of response you get.

Brasidias wrote:

Grasmick and her chums lost my respect and trust long ago. Now that they have this out, watch the roles of special-education students grow. They now have one more motivation to classify low performers as special-education students. This in addition to the grant money they get for them. It’s like putting a bounty on the heads of these kids. Next thing you know, teachers will be getting bonuses for finding kids to classify to fit the model.

I can see it now:

"I have an IQ of 155 and I'm still classified by the Maryland Public Schools as retarded!"

The problem with NCLB and Thornton is that they assume you can raise every kid up to the same high level of achievement. That is just unrealistic and was destined to result in equalizing achievement by lowering standards.

I don't know the answer, but I do know that the concept of equalizing achievement is stupid and naive.

The goal should be to get each student to achieve their maximum potential while recognizing that some have far greater potential than others.

Unfortunately even that goal is naive because it is dependent on parents to do their job as well.

As a liberal union man, I oppose changes designed to improve the performance of public school children. I do not want to work harder or be held accountable. The status quo is just fine. I also need a raise. Raise taxes again to give me a raise.

NoFreeRides wrote:

The problem with NCLB and Thornton is that they assume you can raise every kid up to the same high level of achievement. That is just unrealistic and was destined to result in equalizing achievement by lowering standards.
I don't know the answer, but I do know that the concept of equalizing achievement is stupid and naive.
The goal should be to get each student to achieve their maximum potential while recognizing that some have far greater potential than others.
Unfortunately even that goal is naive because it is dependent on parents to do their job as well.

It's naive because it assumes that every student will excel in an academic setting. Even if that were the case, what does it say about us, when one will eventually need a college degree to get a job as a janitor?

once again, the students that want to learn are going to suffer due to the animals that dont care.

elroy wrote:

once again, the students that want to learn are going to suffer due to the animals that dont care.

Or more correctly, due to the fact that MPS seems to think these miscreants need to be in the same classes as functioning students.

yep, sounds like another snow job by the old great grasmick

kathy wrote:

yep, sounds like another snow job by the old great grasmick

She's survived three completely different administrations. You sure it's snow jobs?

Brasidias wrote:

<quoted text>Or what does it say when you actually must know how to read in order to get a college degree?

In my experience, you always had to.

Of course I didn't major in underwater basketweaving.

Wow, had there been some type of measurement to ensure that all children were receiving an appropriate education when you went to school perhaps the spelling, grammar, and punctuation used in your comments would be appropriate and taken more seriously. While this system of measurement required by NCLB from Pres. Bush is indeed flawed, something needs to be in place to guarantee our children write better than you.

kathy wrote:

nanct grasmick should be forced to resign. i think that old age is effecting her thinking. the thing is no child leave behind, not barely not making the cutoff. however better yet maybe she should stop spending over 100 million dollars on tests from measurement inc. you know the same company that did mspap that most experts agree were not good.grasmick is definitely getting a kickback besides violating one of the tenents of educational testing, immediate feed back. do you know that teachers in fla. grade these exams and students do not get their results until late july. horrible. also i do hope you realize the headlins about maryland being no. 1 in education come from advanced placement scores. the state of maryland has nothing to do with the courses or how they are taught. that could be the main reason these children are progressing. also another reason is that they genreally have parents that take an active role in educastion. something the low achieving scholls do not. omalley like alwaysd lies. he could not get rid of this political hack nancy grasmick, like he said. well neither could that theif glendening, while bobby erlisch took campaign funds from lou. thats right nancy would not be anythng but an elementary school teacher in baltimore county,but she married don schaeffer's good friend lou grasmick. once that happend nancy's career took off. see it isn't what you know but who you blow. congrads to nancy, all the plastic surgery could not take away you are a fraud and still over 65.

Jul wrote:

Wow, had there been some type of measurement to ensure that all children were receiving an appropriate education when you went to school perhaps the spelling, grammar, and punctuation used in your comments would be appropriate and taken more seriously. While this system of measurement required by NCLB from Pres. Bush is indeed flawed, something needs to be in place to guarantee our children write better than you.
<quoted text>

But who is to judge that? I submit the Federal Gov't is overstepping its bounds. Your teacher should know whether you can write on grade level or not. NCLB is not only flawed, it sends the wrong message, and for all the wrong reasons.

Jul wrote:

Wow, had there been some type of measurement to ensure that all children were receiving an appropriate education when you went to school perhaps the spelling, grammar, and punctuation used in your comments would be appropriate and taken more seriously. While this system of measurement required by NCLB from Pres. Bush is indeed flawed, something needs to be in place to guarantee our children write better than you.
<quoted text>

Except that this doesn't address the real problem which is failed parenting.

MdTaxPayer wrote:

As usual, when the schools can't meet an established benchmark the next course of action is to LOWER the standard. Past performance has shown that when this is implemented the student's LOWER their perfromance. Way to go adults. So much for the "demanding of higher standards" we hear over and over and over and over again. All talk, no action. We taxpayers continue to get our tax dollars wasted.

I am really ecstatic to hear about these changes. The school where I teach has been placed on a state watch list because of four special education students who did not pass the MSA tests during the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 school years.

The problem with expecting all special education students to pass the state test lies in how we implement the test. Special education students have what is called an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). This IEP outlines what educational (and sometimes behavioral) goals the student will have for the school year. Typically these goals do not match the student's chronological grade level. For example, you may have a fifth grade student whose IEP goals align with third grade standards.(This is understandable since the student is being educated at his/her level. After all the student receives special education services for a reason). When this student takes the MSA, they are not given a third grade version of the test. Instead they are given the fifth grade test. It is no wonder then that the student does not pass. They are not being tested at their instructional level.(It would actually be illegal for the teacher to instruct this student at the fifth grade level as their IEP demands that their instruction be on the third grade level). Therein lies the nature of the beast. You can't expect students to be successful on a test that is contrary to good educational practice and standards. I am sure that this same scenario also applies to English as a Second Language students. I believe that they only have a year of exemption from the test and let's be honest is a year really a long enough time for someone to master the English language at a point where they could pass the MSA/HSA test? I think not!