If something is labeled End of Course then doesn't it seem logical that the test would be taken after the course is ... finished... and all the information of that course is expected to be in your head and then tested?
Sorry, but this is going to be a Mommy-vent post.
The Florida Board of Education is just getting stupider and stupider every time they change something to 'update' it and make our children more capable of competing with children in other countries. So this year they've gotten rid of the FCAT standardized test which we've had for years and years and oh yeah, since a certain president decided that No Child Should Be Left Behind. That hasn't worked out so well since the teachers and admin created an environment where cheating and lying have become the norm.
We have now moved onto specific EOC(End of Course) tests for specific classes. Namely, Algebra, Geometry, Biology, and US History. My thirteen year old will be taking the Algebra EOC this year. Technically, since he is a homeschooler(virtual schooled) student he doesn't even have to. But au contraire, now the county says that he has to take the EOC if he wants to be enrolled in any public university at a later date. So what was that again about homeschooled students having more freedom than brick-and-mortar students??? Legally, we don't have to do standardized testing. But now we do. But legally we don't. *sigh* Even if universities are throwing money at the kid by the time he's sixteen, I seriously doubt they're going to overlook his lack of EOC test scores. So he has to do them.
Trying to help Trey become more adept at speaking with others about his schooling, being assertive, and getting things done for himself I decided to have him schedule his own EOC testing at his local domiciling school. He's taking an AP test at what will be his domiciling high school(I already got that scheduled) but his EOC testing for Algebra is at his local middle school. Poor thing. He's in 7th grade and having to juggle two different schools. But I thought it'd be good for his character to see exactly what kind of crap I have to deal with trying to get anything at all done for him or his brother. By five o'clock yesterday he was a shaking mess and ready to burst at the seams. He'd had to give messages to three different people at two different locations, and one of them was county based. He'd been transferred ten times and once to a person who was supposed to be someone else but the person lied to him. (This was the assistant principal.)
End result? The middle school didn't have a clue what End of Course testing even was and they're supposed to be doing it in less than two months! It still isn't resolved, even after three days of calling and waiting.
Now here's the truly stupid thing to have to consider here-- none of his teachers have specifically told him that the courses have to be complete by the time he takes his AP(college) exam or his EOC test. Think about that for a minute. The course doesn't have to be complete. But you're being tested on it. I had to ask the teachers directly about this and even then they were wishy-washy about it. They half-heartedly advised finishing the course but weren't too sure if it had to be done. And that was only after I hounded them for a real answer. Where is the educated in education?
Trey's AP exam is May the 17th. But the course itself doesn't end until June the 1st. This Algebra course? The same thing but the test is a week earlier! So now, because none of his teachers know what the hell they're doing this kid has to completely rearrange his syllabus to make sure he is done with those classes and is ready for the tests. This is not an easy thing to ask him to do. His schedule is loaded already to make time for studying.
Thankfully, he only has the one AP Human Geography and the one Algebra EOC test this year. Next year, since he'll be taking Honors Biology, Honors Geometry, and AP US World History he'll have three tests to schedule and worry about. Those three classes will have to be completed by April or May. This means his first semester will be shorter as will his second semester. Jumpin Jesus, people, think about that. It's nuts.
The Board of Education still wants to have their summers off, that is the only reason why they do all this standardized testing between March and the end of May. They want to have the test scores mailed out by the last day of school. Anything the child is 'learning' after the standardized test is taken is supposedly NOT TESTED upon! I ask you-- what is the point of even going to school all those weeks afterward? Talk about a waste of money. If I'd known this when I was in school I'd have skipped those classes every single day and not felt the slightest bit repentant. And yet I would have been suspended for such a daring(intelligent/logic based) move. Damn skippy I'd have rather been going out and having fun rather than sitting around doing lessons that didn't even matter.
Board of Stooopidity. Not Education.
After all this chaos the past three days, Trey told me flatly that he understands now why I rant and scream at the phone sometimes. He said, "It's like talking to a three year old. They didn't even sound like they knew what to tell me about anything. They just kept transferring me."
Amen. Now he gets it.
Teach a child to be independent and they will be independent..... if there's something they want. And in this case there is most definitely something Trey wants and he's going after it full steam ahead-- a free ride to university without $75,000 in tuition hanging over head head until the day he dies.
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