Normally, if the Free Press is considering publishing a letter to the editor they send an email stating that within a couple of days. Since I haven't received that email, it looks like the FREEP is again not wanting to print facts in contradiction to their misconceptions. Shame on them.
I wrote a response to another editorial in the Free Press two months ago that did not get printed. Your article, Mr. Henderson, is very much like that editorial so I am responding again. Please, educate yourself. You are incorrect in what you think is wrong and how to fix it. It is only fair that Free Press readers get the facts, so please print my response this time. I thank you in advance for presenting both sides of this issue.
Mr. Henderson,
You say our standards aren't good enough. If you read Michigan's standards and benchmarks at each grade level I think you will find that they are quite "good enough", in fact many are extremely "rigorous." If certain school systems in our state are not considering these standards and benchmarks in the lessons they teach to their students that is a problem, but it is not a problem with our standards. If certain students in our state are unable to internalize the concepts being taught, that is a problem, but it is not a problem with our standards. So to say that Michigan schools are failing because our standards are not high enough, is simply, not true. As for your MEAP and NAEP comparisons, and the data you freely throw around, let me clear some things up for your readers. The MEAP is given to all of the students in a certain grade level. The NAEP is given to a sampling of students in that grade level. You say in 2009, only about 35% of Michigan 4th graders did adequate work on the NAEP which makes it sound like they tested far below the national average which isn't so. For 4th graders the scores in mathematics were just slightly lower, in reading they were practically even as they were in science, and only slightly below in writing. I find it ironic that on Jan. 25th of this year, in your paper, an article was written titled "Michigan students outpace U.S. national average on the NAEP exam! Let me also clarify something about standardized tests. There is something called a score spread that is necessary in order for the test to produce comparisons. The makers of these tests want a wide range of difference in the scores. Questions that produce the most score spread are ones that only about half of the test takers can answer correctly. Now get this, the questions on these tests that can be answered correctly by half the population tested are linked to the students' socioeconomic status. Can you guess which half answers correctly? Another fact, standardized tests were never meant to determine successful and failing schools. One more fact, those that produce these tests are making loads of money. Although non-profit, in 2007 ETS made 94 million, ACT took in 35 millions and CollegeBoard, 55 million! These company leaders support politicians. While there may be much wrong with some districts in Michigan, there is much right with many others, and how a student scores on a standardized test is the least telling factor in what is working and what is not.
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