(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
Recently I wrote about Arizona’s system of testing having jumped the shark. The cut scores for the AIMS had been dropped severely, and the state’s version of the Terra Nova exam spun a tale of Arizona students scoring above the national average in every grade and subject tested. Arizonans were asked to believe this, despite having a very difficult to educate K-12 population and NAEP scores below the national average in every test given since the early 1990s.
I am pleased to say that the Arizona legislature, acting in a bipartisan fashion, took corrective action. Essentially they limited the current testing contracts to a single year, and appointed a commission to design a new testing system, specifying the use of a college readiness exam as a graduation exam along the lines of the Michigan model with the ACT.
The challenge now will be for the commission to create a challenging, consistent system of testing providing proper transparency for parents, teachers, administrators and policymakers. The first step was to admit that there was a problem, which the Arizona legislature has now done emphatically.
Having already dubbed George Clowes the Mr. T of the school reform movement, I hereby pronounce that Matthew Ladner is the movement’s Faceman.
Now all you need is a Cylon walking by in the background – a real one, not those ridiculous phonies they have over on the Sci-Fi network.
Since Enlow and I enjoy an occasional cigar, we already argue about who is Denny Crane, and who is Alan Shore. Since I already have Denny Crane and his “Mad Cow” disease nailed down, perhaps I should take “Howling Mad” Murdoch as well. Enlow will pitch a fit if he doesn’t get to be Hannibal…
Who could resist being the guy who gets rescued from the looney bin each episode, only to be put back again until next week?
It’s a perfect fit… ladner as Mad Cow Crane and Howling Mad Murdock and Enlow as Ansty Alan Shore and the Faceman… although i do love it when a plan comes together.
Hannibal is the only one who smokes cigars, so you better grab him quick or else I will!