It all sounds pretty good except for one or two things

Flo Martin

Amanda Rubenstein, a Corona del Mar High School senior, wants

education in California to focus on teacher quality, not on test

scores (“Won’t stand for SATs,” Dec. 4). She feels that analytical or

critical thinking is discouraged since many teachers test with what I

call “vomiting onto a Scantron” -- a bubbling-in-with-a-No. 2-pencil

form -- for proof of student learning. The way schools test affects

the way we teach. And the way we teach affects the way students are

expected to learn. The tail (tests) wags the dog (teaching).

I have several questions for Amanda: First, can a student engage

in upper level critical thinking, evaluation and synthesis without

first having mastered basic level knowledge such as memorizing facts

and figures? Second, how does she propose students be evaluated or

graded for their discussion, thought and analysis skills? Oral

reports? Projects? Research papers? Essays? Portfolios?

The teaching-learning atmosphere that Amanda proposes is ideal and

lends itself well to a seminar format, with no more than 20 students.

The national average class size is 18. The average California high

school class size is 29. As a former foreign language teacher, I have

had up to 43 students in a class. The young woman who took over my

teaching assignment has 190 students. How and how often should she

test? Projects? Oral reports? Classroom interviews? Could you imagine

interviewing 190 students as a chapter test or a final exam? How

about keeping 43 freshmen “on task” during a speaking project? Almost

impossible.

The average California English, social science or language arts

teacher is responsible for between 170 to 190 students. These kids

need to regularly show evidence of learning. So how shall they be

tested? Reading that many compositions, essays or research projects

is a huge undertaking. English teachers don’t have much of a home

life; they’re always reading essays. For Amanda’s vision to work,

voters need to fund lower class sizes. Last I read in the Daily

Pilot, education funding is decreasing, not increasing, right? Oh,

well ... .

So many science classrooms have inadequate lab facilities, if any

lab at all. How can students show performance-based learning here?

So many classrooms have no student computers, no LCD projectors,

no student access to the Internet. Teachers would love daily access

to such teaching and assessment tools. Everyone knows the average

student would rather use technology than read, let alone write

homework. Technology costs money, right? Oh, well ... .

Amanda has failed to include another important factor in her

equation, “poor teachers plus poor tests equal poor students.” Where

do poor parents fit in this scenario? Currently, California parents

are screaming for more standardized testing, not less.

Generally, parents at Corona del Mar are very hard to please,

another aspect of “poor” support of the education process. Many

parents insist that “Junior” get only A’s; Bs are not acceptable. And

Cs are out of the question, since he is somehow miraculously headed

for Harvard, USC or Yale. And, God forbid the kid bring home a D or

F. That keeps him off the basketball, football, soccer, water polo or

tennis team.

I taught at Corona del Mar for three years and dealt with

students’ cheating, drinking on campus, coming to class stoned and

with parents who insisted that the student was not at fault. I even

had parents coming to my office to demand a higher grade.

After I changed one student’s grade from a D to a C (this freshman

was bound for Harvard, don’t you know) the parent had the ultimate

nerve to call me back, after verifying with the counseling office

that the grade had been changed, to ask for a B. Unreal.

So, back to the question of who and how? Who is ultimately

responsible for what goes on in the classroom? The student? The

teacher? The parent? The voter? The system? How do we assess teaching

and learning? Standardized achievement tests? SATs? Research

projects? Presentations? Debates? Portfolios? It’s a tough call. I

know what Amanda and I would prefer, but, let’s face it, the money

just isn’t there.

* FLO MARTIN is a Costa Mesa resident.