tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post116606694636112283..comments2024-01-04T05:57:26.735-06:00Comments on Education Policy Blog: Hosted by the Forum on the Future of Public Education: Liberal democracy, folk positivism, and test scoresCraig A. Cunninghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18160288758906798678noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1166209659998228522006-12-15T13:07:00.000-06:002006-12-15T13:07:00.000-06:00Massachusetts's outgoing education commissioner ma...Massachusetts's outgoing education commissioner made an uncharacteristic speech today that appears to shift focus away from MCAS and towards college prep tests, that is, eliminating the high stakes for high school graduation but adding a higher bar for entrance to state public colleges.<BR/><BR/>Reading the AP story, it appears this would also downshift on standardized tests at lower grade levels - going back to testing in 4th, 7th, and 10th grades but broadening the scope of tests.<BR/><BR/>Coming out of the blue, this appears to me to be a positive shift. Driscoll's comments were part of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce conference.<BR/><BR/>Anyone have any more in depth understanding of this than I?<BR/><BR/>Story link:<BR/><BR/>http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/mcas/articles/2006/12/15/education_commissioner_suggests_eliminating_10th_grade_mcas?mode=PFMassParenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07146102995122011221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1166103828942801452006-12-14T07:43:00.000-06:002006-12-14T07:43:00.000-06:00This is reminiscent of the Lippmann-Dewey debates ...This is reminiscent of the Lippmann-Dewey debates of the 20s, in which Lippmann's "manufacture of consent" was pitted against Dewey's public dialogue. Lippmann would have saved the democracy by making it "realistic," thus ruled by experts; and Dewey would have preserved it through education, participation, and a free press.<BR/><BR/>Today corporate socialism (that's national socialism without boundaries) has control of the press, the schools, and, of course, the sources of capital.<BR/><BR/>Testing, it seems to me, is no longer an instrument used to preserve any kind of objectivity, naive, folk, or otherwise. Testing, today, is a tool for the consolidation of raw power and the perpetuation of a culture of fear and isolation fronted by a rhetoric of freedom and global awareness. <BR/><BR/>The present-day "realists" make Lippman's notions seem as romantic today as Dewey was accused of being then.James Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com