Virginia New Achievement Standards Based On Race And Background

[kytwell 179]

Virginia's new achievement standards have raised eyebrows.

Part of the state's new standards dictate a specific percentage of racial group that should pass school exams, a move that has angered the Virginia Black Caucus. The caucus' chairwoman, Democratic state Sen. Mamie Locke, says the new standards marginalize students by creating different goals for students of various backgrounds.

"Nothing is going to work for me if there is a differentiation being established for different groups of students," Locke told the Daily Press . "Whether that's race, socio-economic status or intellectual ability. If there is a differentiation, I have a problem with it."

Virginia Secretary of Education Laura Fornash disagrees with Virginia Black Caucus' assertions.

"Please be assured that the McDonnell administration does not hold a student of a particular race or income level, or those of any other subgroup, to a different standard," Fornash wrote in a three-page letter explaining the changed standards.

The standards do not pose different pass rates for different groups: regardless of race, each student has to correctly answer the same number of test questions in order to pass. The difference lies in the expectation of passing from groups of different backgrounds. The new rules were designed as part of Virginia's waiver from No Child Left Behind , along with 31 other states and Washington, D.C.

For instance, only 45 percent of black students are required to pass the math state test while 82 percent for Asian Americans, 68 percent for whites and 52 percent for Hispanics are required to pass. In reading, 92 percent of Asian students, 90 percent of white students, 80 percent of hispanic students, 76 percent of black students, and 59 percent of students with disabilities are required to pass the state exam.

The state says these percentages are based on previous pass rates for the various groups, but many school officials aren't satisfied, saying that if the state expects less performance from a particular group of students, they will lose the motivation to perform better.

Educator Carolyn J. Smith told Pilot Online that the focus should be on boosting performance in underperforming racial groups rather than expecting less.

"The ones in the lower grades, if they don't feel like they can do math, they'll give up," Smith told Virginian-Pilot columnist Roger Chelsey , "And some parents say, 'I can't do math, either.'"

This belief then becomes a legacy, according to Smith, a cycle that one has to break as early as the child's first year in school.

The issue of black and Hispanic students underperforming their Asian and white counterparts might have more to do with segregation and expectations than ability.

According to author and presidential professor at the University of California, Los Angeles Jeannie Oakes eliminating traditional tracking methods that measure performance based on race is particularly important to guaranteeing equal success among different races.

“Once we put students in groups, we give them very different opportunities to learn -- with strong patterns of inequality across teachers, experience, and competence," Oakes says. "There was this pervasive view that Latino and African American kids can’t measure up in a way that more affluent or white kids can and we can’t do anything about it.”

If the standards are set this way, students as well as teachers begin believing and fulfilling the prophesy, according to author andfreelance writer Julie Halpert.

"...With little motive to succeed academically, the children didn’t get high grades or score well on standardized tests," Halpert says. "In other words, they performed exactly as the teachers predicted, in response to the climate of low expectations."

Instead, many educators believe "detracking" or "heterogeneous or mixed-ability grouping" ensures success across racial lines. Though the practice of detracking is still contested, some educators believe lowering expectations should simply not be an option.

Mary T. Christian, a career educator and member of the Hampton NAACP's education committee, said she's shocked at the low pass rates for some groups.

"Lower expectations are detrimental to students' growth," said Mary Christian, career educator as well as former state legislator. When you lower expectations, there is no challenge. Students and teachers will do the minimum."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/23/virginia-new-achievement-based-on-race_n_1826624.html

Another gift from NCLB?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

http://www.huffingto..._n_1826624.html

Another gift from NCLB?

But it's not racist when well meaning Liberals do it.. LOL

[kytwell 179]

The State Board of Education will consider revisions next month that would set different mathematics goals for different groups of students — higher pass rate standards for Asians than whites, lower ones for blacks and Hispanics. The Obama administration is allowing states to set different goals for different student groups, but lower-performing students are required to make greater rates of progress in coming years. As WFIR’s Evan Jones reports, it is all part of the federal “No Child Left Behind Act”.

http://wfirnews.com/local-news/va-to-consider-different-math-standards-for-different-races

[kytwell 179]

But it's not racist when well meaning Liberals do it.. LOL

People within the same race, learn differently. The video is about 10 mins long, but it is interesting.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

But it's not racist when well meaning Liberals do it.. LOL

Liberals? I thought VA had elected a conservative governor.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

People within the same race, learn differently. The video is about 10 mins long, but it is interesting.

so your saying people of different races do not have the same aptitude ?

So if my home state had a track meet and said Blacks must run the 100 meter 1 second faster than whites to win, that would be cool right ?

Liberals? I thought VA had elected a conservative governor.

It education it has to be liberal.. Please don't interrupt me with any facts when I am making a point

Liberals? I thought VA had elected a conservative governor.

and it's extremely racist no matter who came up with it.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It education it has to be liberal.. Please don't interrupt me with any facts when I am making a point

Sorry, I try not to bring any facts to discussions here but I admit that I slipped.

and it's extremely racist no matter who came up with it.

I agree - I think this is really disturbing.

[Darnell 8,479]

Thank You Mr. Bush.

[kytwell 179]

so your saying people of different races do not have the same aptitude ?

So if my home state had a track meet and said Blacks must run the 100 meter 1 second faster than whites to win, that would be cool right ?

That's exactly what I suspect. Even people within the same race have different aptitude's, depending upon the methodology of the test and what the results are expected to be. Everyone learns best in different ways, we all can't excel to the same standard, within the same system. Even my kids are different, my son learns best by being read to or talking to explain it to him. His sister could be told the same thing 100 times and she wouldn't understand it at all, but if I wrote it down and she read it, she would know it.

And it's a foregone conclusion that the blacks would be faster, maybe even by a wider margin than 1 second; Michael Johnson said as much a few weeks ago.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

That's exactly what I suspect. Even people within the same race have different aptitude's, depending upon the methodology of the test and what the results are expected to be. Everyone learns best in different ways, we all can't excel to the same standard, within the same system. Even my kids are different, my son learns best by being read to or talking to explain it to him. His sister could be told the same thing 100 times and she wouldn't understand it at all, but if I wrote it down and she read it, she would know it.

And it's a foregone conclusion that the blacks would be faster, maybe even by a wider margin than 1 second; Michael Johnson said as much a few weeks ago.

Well you don't have to be a genius to figure out Blacks are more athletically gifted. Blacks are so disproportionally represented in sports in speed and agility skill positions. However i think pointing out the obvious has gotten some people in hot water before.

[kytwell 179]

However i think pointing out the obvious has gotten some people in hot water before.

No doubt, double standards. And this is another example of it.

[Darnell 8,479]

so your saying people of different races do not have the same aptitude ?

He's prolly not saying it, directly,

but might be commenting on the results of the demographic study.

Perhaps?

Look - demographics is demographics. Numbers can be skewed along the way, anytime, by the researcher or the unpaid intern krewe, to 'suit the purpose' of the research.

IMO, it's disingenuous...

I hope all minorities who are offended sue the ####### out of everyone involved... It'll be fun to watch.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

He's prolly not saying it, directly,

but might be commenting on the results of the demographic study.

Perhaps?

Look - demographics is demographics. Numbers can be skewed along the way, anytime, by the researcher or the unpaid intern krewe, to 'suit the purpose' of the research.

IMO, it's disingenuous...

I hope all minorities who are offended sue the ####### out of everyone involved... It'll be fun to watch.

I would not count on it. I have never seen minorities get offended when Racism works in their favor.

[Darnell 8,479]

There seems to be some hue and cry, back in post #1, though.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

The RACE CARD? Its whats for breakfast lunch and dinner.