(From the blog of Mister Journalism: Reading, Sharing, Discussing, Learning)

By Jeff Salisbury https://misterjournalism.wordpress.com/

College spring season is just about to wrap up here in Gulf Shores where we’ve been snow-birding for the month.

Crazy and chaotic.

From our vantage point seven floors up and overlooking the Gulf, we’ve watched firsthand the 911 calls being made by first-responders and not just within our view, but watch the TV reports of them up and down the beaches along Gulf Shores and next door in Orange Beach dispatched for a wide variety of issues: swimmers caught in the undertow – drug and alcohol overdoses – assaults – fights – accidents – vehicles stuck in the sand – drunk and disorderly bar and restaurant patrons – and of course underage drinking.

Easter weekend seems to be the end point of the college spring breaks and the beginning of the high school spring breaks. Perhaps not as crazy and chaotic as the round of college breaks, but at least in Michigan a different type of crazy chaos will greet students when they return.

After many years (2008-2015) administering the mandatory ACT to college bound and non college bound students alike, the Michigan’s Department of Education (MDE) will transition to using the SAT as part of the Michigan Merit Examination (MME).

The state will also offer the PSAT 8/9 and PSAT 10 to ninth- and 10th-grade students free of charge this April.

Here are the 2016 testing dates:

April 12: SAT test day

April 12–13: PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 test days

April 12–15: SAT testing window for students with school-based accommodations

April 12–26: PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 testing window for students with school-based accommodations

April 12–26: PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 makeup testing window

April 26: SAT makeup test day

And Michigan parents have little or not say at all in the whole process – whether their students intend to go on to a four-year college or university – or not.

Writer and educator Peter Greene, in his CURMUGCATION blog noted recently that in the state of Pennsylvania, you can’t give a child an IQ test without parental permission.

The IQ test.

Controversial and highly debatable, but well known, moderately well understood, and extensively tested over the decades.

Everybody kind of knows what it’s for and what it measures.

A longstanding part of the educational landscape.

And yet the school cannot give your child that test without your permission.

Imagine if we did that with the Big Standardized Test in every state. Imagine if we recognized parental authority when it came to administering Big Standardized Tests to children.

Imagine if the state and the school had to get parental permission before administering to your child the PARCC or SBA or PSSA or WhateverTheHellAnagramYourStateIsPlayingAt.

Imagine if the people fighting so hard against opt out had to fight to get everyone to opt in.

Could they make a case for the tests?

Could they convince parents that there is some useful reason for building an educational system around high stakes testing?

We know the answer.

They know the answer.

That’s why they’ve kept making sure that the force of law is behind the BS Tests.

But if I have to ask permission to give an IQ test, why not the same for the BS Test?

Sources:

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/state-partnerships/michigan

http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2016/03/opting-in.html

— until next time, keep reading, sharing, discussing and learning.