Slashdot Mirror
Florida Thinks Their Students Are Too Stupid To Know the Right Answers
gurps_npc writes "Robert Krampf, who runs the web site 'The Happy Scientist,' recently wrote in his blog about problems with Florida's Science FCAT. The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is an attempt to measure how smart the students are. Where other states have teachers cheating to help students, Florida decided to grade correct answers as wrong. Mr. Krampf examined the state's science answers and found several that clearly listed right answers as wrong. One question had 3 out of 4 answers that were scientifically true. He wrote to the Florida Department of Education's Test Development center. They admitted he was right about the answers, but said they don't expect 5th graders to realize they were right. For this reason they marked them wrong. As such, they were not changing the tests. Note: they wouldn't let him examine real tests, just the practice tests given out. So we have no idea if FCAT is simply too lazy to provide good practice questions, or too stupid to be allowed to test our children."
Good for making the magic iBoxes work so I can watch porn, but not so much for anything important, like resource utilization or climate modeling. And anyway, math is hard. Who needs it when you can just be a landscaper or stripper anyway?
Check your premises.
Could you please point me to a place where they have this proper journalism of which you speak?
May we live long and die out
If you read TFA, you'll find that this isn't assuming that student's won't know something yet - it is defining a predator as an organism that gets its nutrients from consuming another organism (meaning a cow is a predator).
They're just trying to teach critical thinking - getting young minds to consider alternative points of view. In this instance, for example, they want the students to look at things from the point of view of the grass!
(also, FTFY)
#DeleteChrome
I had a similar incident around 3rd or 4th grade about the "3 states of matter". There was a bit of a kerfuffle when I mentioned plasma. It got worse when I later corrected that glass didn't technically fit the classical model of a solid. That is what I get for reading too much...
Slow Down Cowboy! It's been 1 hour, 47 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
What you see here is the result letting an organization take charge that willingly misspells the word "fact" in order to name themselves.
I don not remember hearing you complain when French Connection UK used a similar tactic.
Naturally, when your state can't handle simple math, the science, technology, and engineering will end up failing as well. It's a good thing that Florida does so well at ... wait, what was it that Florida did well?
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
IT's time we get real teachers in there and fire all the administration that makes retard decisions to have the Phys Ed teacher, to hold the algebra classes because he knows how to use a calculator.
Obviously, the Phys Ed teacher is better suited to teaching Physics, what with being a professional Physician.
Don't kid yourself Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about!
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
Who's right doesn't matter, who has the power does!
Yes, but kiddies also need to be taught that it *ought* to work that way.
Otherwise some of them will get uppity later in life.
Then they'll end up posting on slashdot all the time.. we can't have that.
"Robert Krampf, who runs the web site 'The Happy Scientist,' ...
I read his blog post, Robert doesn't sound so happy.
make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
No, the correct answer is B. Mushroom vs. plant is a living thing vs. a group of living things this specific living thing isn't in. Rocks and tables aren't alive. Pizza, on the other hand, can be, if the old one I found in our refrigerator the other day is any indication.
Don't ever take a law school admissions test. In the example booklet I read, every question was wrong, and you had to pick the least wrong answer. That's the way it was supposed to be. Legal thinking is like that. Don't be surprised that the Supreme Court figured out a way to give the election to GWB.
Reminds me of a story about a student who was asked to measure the height of a building, given nothing but a barometer. The answer was the obvious one, but rather than give that, she came up with three alternatives.
a) Measure the height of the barometer, and carefully laying it end to end on the side of the building, find how many barometer-lengths high the building is.
b) Measure the length of the shadow of the barometer and the length of the shadow of the building. Using proportions, work out the height of the building
c) Locate the custodian of the building. Say to him, 'If you tell me how high your building is, I'll give you this barometer".
History doesn't record whether she got a pass or not.
"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
Adopting orphans just makes the problem worse in the long run unless you're willing to sterilize them upon adoption. It's immoral to contribute to the situation. Better to breed your own children to compete with the orphans for resources if you want that situation to change.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
I had a young single coworker say to me once, "I understand how parents feel now that I have a dog".
I asked, "Oh yeah? Where's your dig right now?"
He responded, "At home, in his cage."
I chuckled, "They'd put me in jail if I left my son at home, alone, in a cage."
Parenting is a hell of a lot more than cooking extra food or owning a pet.
Rush Limbaugh's Rules: ...
#1 Be an asshole.
#2
#3 Profit!
#4 Take lots of pills for fun
#5 Piss off women every chance I get.
#6 The world is governed by the aggressive use of force.
Wow...that last one just doesn't seem to fit with the rest.
A pizza, a rock, and a cat.
Learn to love Alaska
This actually reminds me of a question I put on an English test (for Japanese students):
Mary doesn't each meat, fish or eggs. Mary only eats plants. What is Mary?
My student answered "cow". I think I gave him bonus points.