A state task force recently said Colorado students take too many standardized tests. (Thinkstock)
Re: “Common Core, PARCC will expose deficiencies,” Jan. 13 Alicia Caldwell column.
Alicia Caldwell’s assertion that the PARCC tests “will provide unblinking data on the progress that children are making toward acquiring the world-class education they all should have, regardless of where they started in life” fails the smell test. Regardless of the grade level in which children take the tests, all of the tests lack consequences for either students or parents: doing poorly or well or not taking the test at all has no effect whatsoever on whether a student passes a grade level or graduates. Neither students nor parents have any extrinsic incentive to do well. So, follow the money. Whose pockets is Pearson, the publisher and purveyor of the PARCC, lining? Further, Caldwell asserts that PARCC will “expose deficiencies.” In what or whom?
The legislature should either have the courage to attach PARCC results to promotion and graduation or acknowledge it as another taxpayer rip-off of limited education dollars.
Rex Wood III,Lakewood
This letter was published in the Jan. 19 edition.
Alicia Caldwell is another non-educator off target with her support of the failed standardized test model. The very simple truth is that our students have a variety of personalities, intelligence and aptitudes which need to be embraced. A much better avenue would be to use a quick, results-based diagnostic student evaluation. Hire more specialized teachers to close learning gaps at the primary level and stop the mass-directed assault on teachers.
The honest issue in improving student learning is basic student motivation, parental support, behavioral issues, and the societal impact. The real answers are multiple pathways: be productive individuals where skills, the arts, and doing your best are supported by schools; and no one is labeled unsatisfactory.
Not all students open the gift of education at the same time, so give all the students the gift of being lifelong learners. Successful students are most often supported by strong, financially and emotionally stable families. The fix is not solely the schools’ responsibility.
Ron Castagna,Centennial
The writer is a retired principal of Lakewood High School.
This letter was published in the Jan. 19 edition.
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