Thursday, August 23, 2007

Maybe Dumb Prospective Teachers Really Aren't Dumb

Maybe we just haven't yet found a way to assess how smart they really are.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm. On one hand, I've taken (and passed) a plethora of such tests in various states in order to be certified to teach. In virtually every case, if the tests were written by a first year teacher I was responsible for supervising, I would have failed them. I won't belabour the point, but merely observe that in order to pass such tests, one has to internally ask and answer this question prior to answering virtually every question: "Which answer would an education school professor who hasn't seen the inside of a public school classroom in God knows how many years and/or a state educrat who hasn't seen the inside of a public school classroom in God knows how many years think was correct as opposed to what the real world, actually works in the real world, common sense answer would be? It's always worked for me.

On the other hand, reasonable testing for such positions can hardly be considered out of the question. And don't get me started on the unquestioned liberal belief that "diversity," in and of itself, is so valuable, so important that it should and must override every other qualifying or disqualifying factor.

Anonymous said...

It does not make me feel secure to know that my kids are being educated by and prepared for tests, that their own teachers cannot pass.

Let DUMB find a job somewhere else.