UKC

http://www.nwpr.org/post/firestorm-erupts-over-virginias-education-goals

Virginia has set new goals for tests based on broad ethnicity groups:

Here's what the Virginia state board of education actually did. It looked at students' test scores in reading and math and then proposed new passing rates. In math it set an acceptable passing rate at 82 percent for Asian students, 68 percent for whites, 52 percent for Latinos, 45 percent for blacks and 33 percent for kids with disabilities

I'm confused, would I be more or less likely to understand if I wasn't white?

In reply to Reach>Talent:

what aren't you getting? Why they've done it or why people are reacting to it in the way they are?

Having read through the article it sounds like they're doing nothing wrong. They're not making it easier for any student, it's an attempt to close the gap between different ethnicities' average performance. Surely that's a good thing?

In reply to Reach>Talent:


You know very well it has nothing to do with what you are able to understand, but has everything to do with what those particular socioeconomic groups will statistically achieve.


Still very, very wrong.

In reply to Reach>Talent:
I'm not clear from reading the article what this "test" is - in particular, how old are the kids sitting it and what does it mean to "pass" or "fail". It sounds like it's being used as a performance indicator for the education system rather than (say) a college entrance exam...

In reply to Reach>Talent:

I think it is a time bomb which could increase the gap later in life. The Asian students will have a 'supportive' home life and now will have to work even harder to differentiate themselves to the same degree as they do now, whereas the other groups will now have to work less hard to achieve the same results (which by now are their acceptable expectations set by parents etc).

This means the Asians will be streets ahead when they get in to the real world where success doesn't have any thing to do with/doesn't care about your ethnicity.

In reply to Scarab9: I hope you are being sarcastic.

In reply to Reach>Talent:

Working in a college where we struggle with under achievement in certain groups it sounds like a disaster


But it sounds like a disaster created by politicians who love to say things like everyone will reach this standard by this date. They understand non of the issues and provide no help or resources. It often leads to educators making bad descisions