A very special thanks to Bev Martz (Struthers), Mary Carter (Youngstown City) , and Cheryl Viola (Youngstown City) for sending me the transcription of this editorial so I could post it for all to read. (rlh)
(NOTE: For my brief paragraph by paragraph responses to this editorial go HERE.) Youngstown Vindicator Editorial
Janurary 14, 2000 (Page A-4)
How We See It
Proficiency tests for teachers? The moaning in Columbus of the Ohio Education Association that proficiency testing should be halted until the state establishes new guidelines to help prepare students for the tests suggests that these professional educators may not be as capable and knowledgeable as they profess. If so many Ohio teachers are unable to teach children to do arithmetic or to understand age-appropriate principles of science or to read and write, then they do not belong in the classroom.
As much as demonstrating the proficiency of students, the state tests demonstrate the proficiency of the teachers themselves. One of the beauties of the exams is that performance can be viewed class by class, and teachers whose classes do not measure up can be identified.
Too much complaining: Instead of complaining about the state tests, teachers would be better served by working for improved teacher education with higher standards for those who are admitted to colleges of education and those who receive teaching credentials.
After all, the proficiency tests did not spring from nowhere to confound unsuspecting teachers. The Ohio legislation authorizing the tests was passed in 1987, and the first tests were given to ninth graders in1990 - almost a decade ago. The graduating class of 1994 was the first required to pass the tests to receive a diploma.
So it's more than a little late now for Michael Billirakis, president of the Ohio Education Association, to be asking the governor and state lawmakers to place a moratorium on the use of proficiency tests to determine if students graduate or move on to a higher grade.
What's more, educators served on the committees what determined the learning outcomes the tests are designed to measure and developed the model curriculums for each subject area.
Quality measures: Thus we are concerned with Billirakis' contention that the tests have reduced the quality of learning for many students. We rather suspect that the test results indicate a reduction in the quality of teaching by under-prepared teachers or those who are resistant to change.
When material describing the sixth grade citizenship test, for example, is provided to teachers, they are told explicitly what their pupils should know.
We find it hard to believe that a competent elementary school teacher needs lesson plans from the state so that she can make clear to her pupils "the differences between a democracy, a monarchy and a dictatorship, and the types of political activity that typically take place in a democracy."
The teacher resource manual provided by the state states for the math test, as yet another example, "A fundamental understanding of both two-and three-dimensional geometry is of the utmost importance." Teachers are told that "exercises that reflect the mathematical aspects of everyday life encounters would best serve as a means of preparation."
Shouldn't the ability to prepare such exercises by reasonably expected of a teacher?
Professionalism: Other professionals don't demand that the state provide the resources they need to adjust to new expectations or changing requirements in their fields of endeavor. Why is the teaching profession different?
Many graduates of law schools are unable to pass the bar exam and thus prevented from practicing law. Regardless of the number of courses they have completed in medical school, doctors must still pass state boards before they can treat patients. But we can imagine the howls if graduates of education colleges were required to pass a state licensure examination before being entrusted with the education of the state's children.
While we have no doubt that large numbers of Ohio teachers are fully competent, the stance of their union implies the contrary.