EDUCATION

Education and testing have been crawling around in my brain.  I wish I had the answers.

In school, it is common to do testing.  This is supposed to tell the teacher to what degree the class has absorbed the subject matter to date.  A really well-put-together test would indicate that the student who got 100% knew all of the subject.  A person who got 90% must not have understood 10% of what was taught.  A student who got a 75% didn't get or retain 25% of what was taught.

For some reason, 75% on a test relates to a 'C' letter grade at most schools.  This is passing.  So, we are passing students who don't get 25% of what is taught.  That doesn't seem right to me.

I realize good baseball hitters make an out 70% of the time.  Where else in our society do we accept that low a standard?  Shouldn't every student get a 100% before they leave school?  Don't we want them to learn everything that is being taught?

Some classes in school are black or white - right or wrong.  These classes are objective - like math and science.  I'm not talking about classes that are graded subjectively.  Grades here are based on opinions or feelings or skill - like art or writing.

It's not so bad to have a range of grades in art and writing.  In math, students need to get the right answer.  What makes math and science worse is the fact that they are building bloc subjects.  A student who misses 25% of the subject matter will be ill equipped to go on to another subject that uses what they should already have learned.

The problem we have is that the teacher cannot hold the class back for the slower students and still get through all of the material required.  The teacher can either do a disservice to the slow students or the advanced students.

The only answer to this problem is larger and larger schools or designating schools designed for a certain level of student.  That way you can slot students with others of similar aptitude.

I say, make every student get 100% on every objective test.  Keep teaching until they get it.
o) o)