Redneck Of The Week

This woman, an astronaut, proves to us all that it doesn't matter what your job status is, you can still be an idiot!

Students and MAP Testing

Because of involvements in the St. Charles area business community, the company that employs me recently received a letter from the school district asking for incentive items for students who are preparing for MAP testing.

MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) testing is done at various levels throughout a student's schooling, and provides the state with the "report card" on how public schools are performing.

Unfortunately, when you view the MAP test scores, you'll wonder how on Earth we have so many students that don't score well.

Here's the dirty little secret: the students aren't graded on the tests!

Imagine if you will, you're a high school student, and you've been told that you are going to spend the next couple of weeks preparing for a week-long testing period in which you are not graded -- but the school district is. How will you feel about this?

Many students decide to sit it out, and unfortunately the result is the appearance of poor performance coming from the districts' report cards across the state.

I have an idea. GRADE THE STUDENTS ON THE TESTS!

If you really want to know what the students know (which I assume is the very reason why you're giving them these tests in the first place), quit telling them that they're doing it for their school, and begin a system by which they are graded for their performance on these tests!

In a world where we have eliminated Valedictorians and Salutatorians (we wouldn't want to impose competition or anything, would we?), and in this day of technological advances, surely there must be a way to get grades back to the students prior to the end of the school year!

If you want to know what students can do, you have to challenge them!

I know, it's a novel concept, isn't it?