The Golden Age of Florida Education

Jane, You Ignorant Slut:  In which Kamikaze Contributing Daddy Steven D. calls the Suburban Kamikaze out for her rant on the dangers of standardized testing...

I left Florida in the early 1990s, and looking back I can’t help but think how lucky I was to get out before all of this awful testing business began in the public schools. You and other leading pundits are absolutely right that what’s happening now has destroyed what was once the shining example for public schooling nationwide. I can easily see why education historians have identified the second half of the 20^th century as the Golden Age of Florida Education, when the state’s public schools were the envy of white parents everywhere.

In those days, it wasn’t uncommon to see 3^rd graders reciting the works of Chaucer and fifth graders performing Shakespeare and analyzing the great works of American literature. The scholarship was high as students competed fiercely in math and science.

Nor were the arts neglected in the all-out race to prepare young scholars for Florida’s world-class university system.  Campuses like the University of Florida and Florida State University drew young intellectuals from high schools around the country, and these schools regularly found themselves ranked No. 1 in engineering, physics, and other hard sciences.

Now, what do Florida children face in their schools every day? Relentless preparation for tests in arcane "subjects" like reading and math, and a mindless obsession with arcane data-gathering by pencilpushers and bean counters in Tallahassee.

Instead of waiting a decent interval – say the 3^rd grade – before testing students to see whether they’ve actually learned anything, the state is now forcing the little tikes to submit earlier and earlier to the rigors of assessment, in the ridiculous pursuit of finding out whether schools and teachers are actually doing anything.

So, what’s been the result of all this "drill and kill" testing? You guessed it. The public schools are going right down the toilet.

And predictably, the effects have been among the worst for the state’s minority students. Back in the day, educators focused on building the "self-esteem" of these students while downplaying their poor academics, which, after all, was to be expected. Now, to the enduring shame of these students, the state is making things worse by actually measuring how badly they’re doing!

Shame on you, Sunshine State.

SK Contributor Steven D.'s so-called "expertise" in this area includes a decade as a national education reporter and a stint in secondary education, during which he was gullible enough to be taken in by the infamous "Major Woody"  attendance hoax.

Photo: Everglades alligator, by Rick McCawley

© 2007 Suburban Kamikaze

Comments

[Charlie]

The reference to Florida’s world-class university system reminded me of a Letterman Top Ten list of courses for college athletes, including:

Subtraction: Addition's Tricky Pal

The First 30 Pages of "A Tale of Two Cities": Foundation of a Classic

Pre-Law Seminar: Age of Consent in the 50 States

The Denny's Menu: Recent Discoveries

The Bunny and the Wolf: Hand Shadow Workshop

and

From "First Love" to "Looker": The Films in Which Susan Dey Appears Naked