Many of you are interested in how Common Core and the SBAC test may play out in the future. First, the new federal law Each Student Succeeds Act or ESSA gives more flexibility to the states to determine educational policies. So it is a step in the right direction.
Second, the SBAC test has been shortened by 30 minutes for math and by 30 minutes for English. Superintendent Ybarra has suggested not using the SBAC for high school rather using the SAT. She has also suggested that a committee be brought together to rethink our testing system. We need a testing system that does not take a lot of time, gives immediate feedback to teachers to formulate instruction, and is designed and given by Idahoans.
Finally, the Next Generation Science Standards will probably be rejected this year. The review process had some flaws so the department will re-hold hearings and get more input. I appreciate the work that Idaho teachers did on the standards.
One of the issues that I have about modern science is that it has been politicized. Science is measurable, repeatable, and verifiable. Scientific theories that rely upon historical interpretations and assumptions should be treated with much less weight than observable science that can be implemented into technology. The same can be said about science that depends upon computer models and assumptions about the future.
If anyone ever says that “it is settled science” then I know that their position is a political position being used to justify the use of government power. This must be guarded against in teaching science to our youth. Science is about continual questioning of the known and the unknown. The NGSS violated this in several instances. I hope this is rectified.
Dear Senator Thayn:
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Thank you!
I really enjoyed your discussion of the scientific approach — right on target.
The ACT is a better college admissions test than the SAT. It has four sections and the English section is less “theoretical.” Giving the ACT would allow college bound students to fulfill two requirements at once – much more time efficient. Teachers “teaching to the test” will be covering what students really need to know for college entry level math, reading comprehension, and language arts. The science is so-so in relevance. I highly recommend schools offer college test prep classes as part of the senior project approach – learn resume writing, interviewing, application completion, and test taking (ASVAB, ACT,).
I’m to long removed from the testing of my youth, other than to say I remember sitting for the SAT and remember it being not necessarily difficult, but extremely long and repetitive.
I support your observations of science, using facts not theory. But, with that said, constant, ongoing research being maintained based on facts to refine on ground circumstances, not what someone thinks it ought to be.
Thank you Senator for your attention and keeping us posted.
Politics have no place in our education system, but yet, I hear all the time, if we DON’T adopt a particular policy (Fed driven), we will lose money to operate some of our schools’ programs. One law does not fit for everybody, just as one policy does not fit every district. The local districts need to be the driving force, not some heavy handed government with an outrageous agenda. I like the direction Superintendent Ybarra is heading: direct, time conscious, immediate feed back and LOCAL. We have to get back to the basics and use the digital age as the tool, not the master. And this all starts in the First grade with pencils, paper and imagination….not calculators, lap tops, note books and smart phones.