Hooray for getting rid of AMP testing!

To the editor,

Thanks so much to Rep Wes Keller, Rep Lynn Gattis, Senator Mike Dunleavy, Senator Charlie Huggins as well as other strong conservative Republicans whom have been fighting the good fight against the constant inconsistencies of Commissioner Mike Hanley on mandatory testing, Common Core, etc.! Note, I’m not thanking Rep Colver whom in the Jan 11 paper took credit for this! Jim is a Johnny come lately whereas those mentioned earlier have been fighting the good fight against the Feds and NEA!

Now, as to “testing.” What we need to do, with zero cost, is to bring back the “good old days”. Teachers teach, give quizzes, end of week tests, require essays/homework that shows the student has a grasp of the subject. That the student is engaged in learning and is understanding what is being taught. All those means of evaluations are graded, A, B, C, D and F. Yes folks, testing that shows immediately to the student and parents that the student is passing or failing! That was the days where objective testing, not subjective with more concern of “ego’s”, had immediate impact. Then really using teacher/parent conferences that showed where the student is on an individual basis. Then when the student gets a grade at the end of the quarter, Mom and Dad will not be surprised that the student is having problems or failing! Then of course, with F’s and D’s, the student does not pass on to the next year! Consequences in school used to mirror consequences in the work force!

What about the feeling of those failing? What about their feeling of self worth? It sure hurts less during 12 years of school than it does when they can’t get or keep a job because they can’t read, write, have a solid work ethic and/or not knowing what personal responsibility is.

What about the parents? When I was a kid, we had parents like mine that kicked us in the butt for poor performance and those parents that didn’t care or got upset at the teachers when the kid was the problem. Human nature hasn’t really changed that much, just that we have allowed more excuses for poor behavior and performance, thus more “victims”.

Real performance testing is easy to do and we sure as heck don’t need the Feds to tell us how to measure that!

Mike Coons

Palmer