MAP Tests on the Way Out
From the state education department comes reason for Missouri high school students to rejoice: The gradual demise of the Missouri Assessment Program — or MAP exam — is under way.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that MAP by any other name is still a test. In other words, a replacement is imminent.
Beginning in 2008-09, the state’s 10th- and 11th-graders will take “end-of-the-course” exams to gauge their knowledge in algebra I, biology and English II.
Bottom line: State and federal education officials really want to know what high-schoolers know.
Wait, it gets worse.
By the end of the 2009 school year, student proficiency in algebra II, geometry, integrated math II and III, English I, government and American history also will be put to the test.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced this week that Riverside Publishing of Rolling Meadows, Ill., had been awarded a $28 million, six-year contract to oversee development, publication and scoring of the tests.
Company President Richard Swartz said he was excited about the opportunity.
Response from high-schoolers is expected to be more subdued.
Now, I don’t think standardized tests are completely evil. I think they give us a great snapshot of what the students are learning so it can tell us our strengths and weaknesses. What I do have a problem with is No Child Left Behind and taking away funding if schools don’t meet the requirements. If a school is doing poorly (and usually these are schools in poverty) you shouldn’t take away what little money they have. That’s going to put them at an even bigger disadvantage and create more stress for the already heroic teachers that teach in such areas. It’s a becoming more and more of a trend for teachers to teach for the test. Pressure from administrators, the school district, the state, and the Federal Government all force teachers to teach the test. The best way for a child to learn is to relate the material to them. Tests (which have been accused for a long time of being culturally biased) don’t do that. I hope the next White House does something a little better for education.