Well, Here's Something That Will Never Fly

[dr_pretentious]

Check out this astonishing article in the New York Times. Apparently our nation's illustrious Secretary of Education knows just what American higher education needs: federally mandated standardized testing for undergraduate degrees. Because, you know, No Child Left Behind has been such a rousing success in our nation's primary and secondary schools.

This quotation is especially mind-blowing:
“Too many Americans just aren’t getting the education that they need,” the report said. “There are disturbing signs that many students who do earn degrees have not actually mastered the reading, writing and thinking skills we expect of college graduates.”

And increasing the emphasis on standardized testing is so conducive to developing sophisticated writing and critical thinking skills, right? Nothing like filling in dots with a number two pencil to reveal a capacity for independent thought. And turning colleges into cram schools is sure to prepare our college graduates to compete in a global labor market.

Thank you, Secretary Spellings. Why didn't I think of that?

Comments

[serbrew.livejournal.com]

It seems that they are now passing the buck to the higher institutions of learning to make sure that one knows how to read and write? Excuse me, how are they going to use standardized testing to determine if someone is to graduate? That is the role of the professor knowing whether the student has demonstrated the knowledge to pass the course. And how do you standardize a test between a chemical engineer and a philosophy major? It should be up to the the K through 12 grade levels that we learn the basics. College is an option. Even a HS graduate should be able to read, write and comprehend what is being read or written and be able to function in the working world. Perhaps not a great job, but a job nonetheless.