With NCLB Waiver, Virginia Sorts Kids' Scores By Race 622
According to a story at Northwest Public Radio, the state of Virginia's board of education has decided to institute different passing scores for standardized tests, based on the racial and cultural background of the students taking the test. Apparently the state has chosen to divide its student population into broad categories of black, white, Hispanic, and Asian — which takes painting with a rather broad brush, to put it mildly. From the article (there's an audio version linked as well): "As part of Virginia's waiver to opt out of mandates set out in the No Child Left Behind law, the state has created a controversial new set of education goals that are higher for white and Asian kids than for blacks, Latinos and students with disabilities. ... Here's what the Virginia state board of education actually did. It looked at students' test scores in reading and math and then proposed new passing rates. In math it set an acceptable passing rate at 82 percent for Asian students, 68 percent for whites, 52 percent for Latinos, 45 percent for blacks and 33 percent for kids with disabilities." (If officially determined group membership determines passing scores, why stop there?) Florida passed a similar measure last month.
Embarassing day for whites (Score:4, Funny)
14 points behind Asians?!?!? For shame, fellow whities! Have we become so awful at educating our trailer trash that we've dropped so low?!?
I fear that unless we can find a way to tie moonshine and NASCAR to education somehow, we'll continue to remain second-class learners.
You broke your little ships... (Score:5, Funny)
Needless to say they are performing much better than their teachers expect of them, and have won countless awards for bravery in the face of their intellectual blight. Some parents even donate food - so now I don't have to pack any more lunches!
Re:You broke your little ships... (Score:5, Funny)
Well, if I live in VA I would register my lily white children as black. That way, they get the benefit of the doubt. Aren't blacks always saying no one is pure?
Fortunately, I no longer live there, and some of my children are safely being schooled at home, the rest will be by next year. That way we can hold their standards even higher.
Re:Embarassing day for whites (Score:5, Funny)
In math? Of COURSE you can find a way to tie moonshine (chemical solution calculus and analysis) and NASCAR (fuel consumption, speed, time and distance, centripetal force on a curve) to mathematics and science!
Re:Offensive (Score:5, Funny)
What about mixed-race kids? (Score:5, Funny)
What if Tiger Woods went to school in Virginia? Is his passing rate 68% or 45%?
And when he plays golf, is the hole a par-3 or par-5?
Re:What about kids with multiple races? (Score:5, Funny)
Wait a minute - I need to know what race you are so I can see how accurate your
back-of-the-envelope calculations
are.
They're doing it wrong (Score:5, Funny)
They screwed it up.
They shouldn't be classifying the kids into "racial" categories first and then setting grade requirements; that's silly.
They should assign the kids to racial categories based on their test scores instead.
Re:Embarassing day for whites (Score:5, Funny)
How many grams in an ounce?
Re:Embarassing day for whites (Score:5, Funny)
After finishing the still, finishing the math PhD was the hardest thing I ever did.
Maybe you did these two things in the wrong order?
Re:You broke your little ships... (Score:5, Funny)
We are a very amorous species
Speak for yourself. Slashdotters happen to belong to a morose species instead.
Re:You broke your little ships... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You broke your little ships... (Score:5, Funny)
"B? you get B? not good enough. you asian, not bsian!"
Re:You broke your little ships... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You broke your little ships... (Score:5, Funny)
Now you've done it.
Where are these women that 'will mate with anything regardless of race, color, or creed.' I've been looking for girls like that. They're not fat are they?
JEREMY LIN SCORES 228 POINTS VERSUS LAKERS! (Score:5, Funny)
A week after the NBA's adoption of handicapped scoring based on racial backgrounds and disabilities, Jeremy Lin brought home an impressive performance, scoring 228 points in a single game. However, this wasn't enough to best the Lakers' newest recruit, a kid with no arms, whose managed to kick a single penalty free throw into the basket for a weighted point value of 685.
If you were Asian... (Score:5, Funny)
"If there going to..."
If you were Asian, you wouldn't have made that grammatical error.
Re:Embarassing day for whites (Score:5, Funny)
No, these days, I'm pretty sure the only way to survive getting a PhD in anything with your sanity intact involves a copious amount of the strong stuff....