How Are We Doing?
While Utah points fingers at the federal government over the inflexible mandates of No Child Left Behind, I received the following e-mail yesterday from a native-Vietnamese girl now here in the 11th grade, regarding the assessment/performance requirements in the Utah system we argue is better. Because of her limited English skills, she is concerned about her fate as she contemplates the must-pass Utah Basic Skills Compentency Test (UBSCT).
She writes (very well, I might add),
The UBSCT test is not a fair test because for any student who speaks a different language, the test is very hard. The test makes students feel dumb, and some will give up on school because they get discouraged. For example, I have a friend and he is very smart, but he didn't pass the test. He told me if he doesn't pass it, he will drop out of school and go work in a market or somewhere else.
The test made my parents worry because they don't know what I will do if I don't pass before graduation. Every time my parents see me go around they just tell me to go study. Sometimes I feel like I don't have any time for myself. At least I need a little time to play a game with friends or go to a movie.
I believe the test doesn't show what I can do. Some of my teachers tell me, "Students of ESL need at least 5 years study to English and then they can talk and write well." I think this test is easier for American kids because it is in their native language. The test will make a lot of students not graduate from high school, and they can't study any more, even good students. Some of my friends love to go to school, and they have some dreams. They want to be a doctor, teacher, musician and many things. The test makes everything vanish and students just feel like they are stupid. They don't want go to school anymore, even me.
I think I have tried to study hard in school and do homework every day. I also do many things to help my grades go up. My grades just go up but I still don't pass the test.
I believe the test only shows that I don't read and write well in English. I need more time to learn English. I want to have a chance to go to college. The UBSCT may keep me and other students from doing that. Please help us.
I'll discuss this with Dr. Harrington when I meet with her Monday. In a broad sense, this illustrates the beauty of federalism; if Utah needs to improve its system, as in this case to deal with language difficulties, it can and will. What do we do, though, if Utah determines the federal education program needs improvement? Change becomes exponentially more difficult. In the narrower sense, though, referring to this young woman's concern, I wonder if we don't need to make some additional adjustments in UBSCT to account for special circumstances (e.g., language familiarity or natural cognitive deficits).
She writes (very well, I might add),
The UBSCT test is not a fair test because for any student who speaks a different language, the test is very hard. The test makes students feel dumb, and some will give up on school because they get discouraged. For example, I have a friend and he is very smart, but he didn't pass the test. He told me if he doesn't pass it, he will drop out of school and go work in a market or somewhere else.
The test made my parents worry because they don't know what I will do if I don't pass before graduation. Every time my parents see me go around they just tell me to go study. Sometimes I feel like I don't have any time for myself. At least I need a little time to play a game with friends or go to a movie.
I believe the test doesn't show what I can do. Some of my teachers tell me, "Students of ESL need at least 5 years study to English and then they can talk and write well." I think this test is easier for American kids because it is in their native language. The test will make a lot of students not graduate from high school, and they can't study any more, even good students. Some of my friends love to go to school, and they have some dreams. They want to be a doctor, teacher, musician and many things. The test makes everything vanish and students just feel like they are stupid. They don't want go to school anymore, even me.
I think I have tried to study hard in school and do homework every day. I also do many things to help my grades go up. My grades just go up but I still don't pass the test.
I believe the test only shows that I don't read and write well in English. I need more time to learn English. I want to have a chance to go to college. The UBSCT may keep me and other students from doing that. Please help us.
I'll discuss this with Dr. Harrington when I meet with her Monday. In a broad sense, this illustrates the beauty of federalism; if Utah needs to improve its system, as in this case to deal with language difficulties, it can and will. What do we do, though, if Utah determines the federal education program needs improvement? Change becomes exponentially more difficult. In the narrower sense, though, referring to this young woman's concern, I wonder if we don't need to make some additional adjustments in UBSCT to account for special circumstances (e.g., language familiarity or natural cognitive deficits).
posted by steve u. at 4/16/2005
Subscribe
0 Comments:
<< Home