Well well, I just got home from school, and I'm ready to rant.
Today I took my english SOL. For those of you who don't attend Virginia publics schools, SOL stands for standards of learning. Apparently, the SOL tests to see whether or not you are proficient in the topic you are being tested on. A huge deal is made of it, and lots of class time is spent preparing exclusively for the SOL. You know what though? They are all bull-crap!!
Never have I wasted so much time this school year! At least when I sleep through a class, I might be getting some sub-conscious signals, but this...this...this...thing, this SOL, was the most ridiculous, most retarded hour and a half of my life. I'm currently taking AP Englihsh (Lang/Comp), and it was insulting to have to sit and answer questions any second grader with a speech impediment could answer. If I meet anyone that fails that test, I am going to slap them in the face. Really, anyone that couldn't pass this test needs to be sent to nursery school to learn how to talk again. I mean, c'mon, I think that after I enter high school, SPELLING should already be taken care of, and is totally irrelevant in my standard of learning.
One of the things that makes me the most angry about this whole thing is that someone on the Board of Edumacation is up in Richmond or wherever pushing for this. Why would they be pushing this? They certainly don't care if we are learning this or not, because they would obviously try something a tad more challenging, as in requiring a brain not ravaged by years of heavy drinking, than the current standards. I have the perfect explanation. MONEY. Yep, its as simple as that. How do schools qualify for money in Virginia? In the nation, for that matter? Standardized testing like the SOL. It all adds up if you think about it. The school board needs more funds to do whatever it is doing. What better way to do that than to inflate standardized test scores by making the tests so easy that anyone can pass? The data would make it appear as though they are doing a good job, and deserving of more money. A perfect scheme.
At my school, we spend out entire year in some of my classes gearing up for the SOL. We have spent entire class periods talking on an irrelevant detail, solely because one or two questions about it might turn up on the SOL. Doesn't anyone realize that this is not the way to learn?! We spend half of our time preparing for a test that any dimwit off the street could pass. Teacher salaries and school funding are dependent on it, so naturally that is where the focus goes. The pain will be felt later when we have an ignorant population incapable of basic math, incapable of composing a business letter, incapable of explaining ideas with any sort of cohesiveness. The American population will be stagnant and we will lose our edge if this is allowed to continue. People wonder why English is becoming corrupted...well take a look at what we are taught. It's amazing that we can speak it at all if passing the SOL means you are proficient in the subject.
I am at school to learn. Exclusively, 100% to learn. For me, its exicting to learn new things, to become knowledgeable, to get one step closer to my potential. Imagine how frustrating it is to me then when we waste time. In that hour and a half, we could have had a discussion on literature and culture -- a thought provoking talk that would have expanded everyones minds to new perspectives and new ideas. Instead, we took a test that required second grade reading skills. What a waste of humanity.
Jared out
Today I took my english SOL. For those of you who don't attend Virginia publics schools, SOL stands for standards of learning. Apparently, the SOL tests to see whether or not you are proficient in the topic you are being tested on. A huge deal is made of it, and lots of class time is spent preparing exclusively for the SOL. You know what though? They are all bull-crap!!
Never have I wasted so much time this school year! At least when I sleep through a class, I might be getting some sub-conscious signals, but this...this...this...thing, this SOL, was the most ridiculous, most retarded hour and a half of my life. I'm currently taking AP Englihsh (Lang/Comp), and it was insulting to have to sit and answer questions any second grader with a speech impediment could answer. If I meet anyone that fails that test, I am going to slap them in the face. Really, anyone that couldn't pass this test needs to be sent to nursery school to learn how to talk again. I mean, c'mon, I think that after I enter high school, SPELLING should already be taken care of, and is totally irrelevant in my standard of learning.
One of the things that makes me the most angry about this whole thing is that someone on the Board of Edumacation is up in Richmond or wherever pushing for this. Why would they be pushing this? They certainly don't care if we are learning this or not, because they would obviously try something a tad more challenging, as in requiring a brain not ravaged by years of heavy drinking, than the current standards. I have the perfect explanation. MONEY. Yep, its as simple as that. How do schools qualify for money in Virginia? In the nation, for that matter? Standardized testing like the SOL. It all adds up if you think about it. The school board needs more funds to do whatever it is doing. What better way to do that than to inflate standardized test scores by making the tests so easy that anyone can pass? The data would make it appear as though they are doing a good job, and deserving of more money. A perfect scheme.
At my school, we spend out entire year in some of my classes gearing up for the SOL. We have spent entire class periods talking on an irrelevant detail, solely because one or two questions about it might turn up on the SOL. Doesn't anyone realize that this is not the way to learn?! We spend half of our time preparing for a test that any dimwit off the street could pass. Teacher salaries and school funding are dependent on it, so naturally that is where the focus goes. The pain will be felt later when we have an ignorant population incapable of basic math, incapable of composing a business letter, incapable of explaining ideas with any sort of cohesiveness. The American population will be stagnant and we will lose our edge if this is allowed to continue. People wonder why English is becoming corrupted...well take a look at what we are taught. It's amazing that we can speak it at all if passing the SOL means you are proficient in the subject.
I am at school to learn. Exclusively, 100% to learn. For me, its exicting to learn new things, to become knowledgeable, to get one step closer to my potential. Imagine how frustrating it is to me then when we waste time. In that hour and a half, we could have had a discussion on literature and culture -- a thought provoking talk that would have expanded everyones minds to new perspectives and new ideas. Instead, we took a test that required second grade reading skills. What a waste of humanity.
Jared out
posted by Jared at
3:29 PM
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