Submitted by Fred Stopsky, Jun 21, 2007 13:07

The New York Sun continues to print meaningless articles about testing that are more akin to a group of priests in the 15th century arguing about how many angels can fit on the tip of a pin. As a parent, one asks the following questions about their children and reading: Is my child reading? Does my child enjoy reading? What is my child reading? Is my child being intellectually and emotionally challenged by reading? Perhaps, New York Sun readers sit around worrying about their child's reading score, but the rest of us are more concerned about the above four questions. The New York Sun and Mayor Bloomberg get excited when reading scores go up 3 points. Wow! But, the New York Sun and Mayor Bloomberg never ask the four key questions about reading. I have taught for fifty years, and know every first grader wants to read, but the vast majority of 8th graders have abandoned reading. Why? One, not the only reason, is the damn tests which take joy and meaning away from reading! Try ending all testing in reading for five years, encourage teachers to inundate children with interesting reading materials and I promise more children will be reading. I suspect your fascination with testing and scores results from the current lack of any coherent education vision beyond raising test scores or privatizing education. Perhaps, the New York Sun might ask conservative theorists to contribute their ideas on the following questions: What are long term dominating trends on Planet Earth? What should be the nature of education in the 21st century? How could we educate youth to meet needs of the 21st century?

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