The Pearson Vue GED credential is aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Folks at Pearson tell us that students who earn their Pearson Vue GED are prepared to succeed in the global economy- ready to enter college or university and ready to enter the workforce. However, today more and more parents, teachers and people concerned about education have major doubts about the Common Core State Standards and their accompanying tests. As goes common core so will go the Pearson Vue GED test; hopefully both will be derailed in the near future.
New York Common Core Test Results
Common Core test results were released in New York State recently. In an article on Breitbart.com, one parent reported- "“I don't believe the current round of test results have any real meaning,” parent Mitchell Rubinstein said... “The state education department freely admits manipulating the scoring and cut scores from one year to the next. They are just making it up as they go along, and our children are bearing the brunt of it.” Rubinstein said he was told by several teachers that some of the brightest, most talented students in his school district failed to finish the exams because of their length. “How can those test scores be meaningful?”” Read more here.
And even after spending $28 million in curricular materials, test scores didn't change much. Why are so many Americans still thinking our kids and teachers are damaged and instead are giving allegiance to a Bill Gates funded - corporate created test? It doesn't make sense to me.
And here is a chart I had included in a previous article, showing New York’s scores-
Utah’s Common Core Test Results
Next we have Utah, which has a very active group of people railing against the Common Core State Standards. Across the grades there is a less than 50% pass rate on the SAGE test, their test used to measure Common Core proficiency. Last year student proficiency levels were much higher: depending on the grade level- from 39 percent to 85 percent of students were deemed proficient in math; and in language arts, from 77 percent to 90 percent of students were deemed proficient.Here are Utah's students’ test results for 2014:
"Gayle Ruzicka, head of the Utah Eagle Forum and a staunch opponent of SAGE (the test they used) and the Common Core, said Monday she hopes the relatively low scores will "be a wake-up call for a lot of people."” Read more here.
Common Core will come off the tracks in Washington State, and we will be ready!
Washington State will test all of its students using Common Core aligned tests starting this next school year- 2014/2015. However, now, even before the Common Core test requirements, many teachers and parents in Washington State are angry with the Federal government's No Child Left Behind law. (I am from Washington State myself.)
Washington State had wanted to be free of the No Child Left Behind's demand that 100% of students must meet the state standards on their standardized tests (2013's tests) however to escape that mandate we had to agree to have our teachers evaluated using student test score. We didn't and don't want our teachers to be evaluated by their students' grades on the corporate funded and made tests.
Obviously, In Washington State we didn't reach that unrealistic bar of 100% success and also we didn't agree to having our teachers evaluated by their children's test scores, and now indeed, in the eyes of Arne Duncan and the Federal government, we are failures and our schools must notify all of our parents of that. What a scam!
From an article on Diane Ravitch’s blog “Washington State: An Example of NCLB Absurdity”- Click here.
“In exchange for gaining freedom from No Child Left Behind’s (NCLB’s) demand that 100% of students would be proficient by 2014, the state would have to agree to endorse Arne Duncan’s inane idea that teachers should be evaluated by the test scores of their students. Apparently some wise policy makers saw the research and the universal failure of Duncan’s idea and said “no thanks." Now virtually every school in the state of Washington is a “failing school.”
"The superintendents are required to send a letter to parents informing them that their child attends a failing school. But 28 superintendents sent a cover letter explaining that the law required them to say something untrue. … NCLB is a pathetic hoax that was intended to label almost every school in the nation a failing school. Kudos to the superintendents of Washington State for standing up to abusive federal power—not only NCLB but the coercive waiver too.”
Read that again, stand back and think about it. In any universe can all students pass a standardized test? Can we hold a teacher responsible for the full abilities of their students? If a student is in special ed do we blame the teacher than the student can't do Algebra 2? Do we blame the teacher when kids don't have any food at home and fall asleep in class? How about if the kid can't carry a tune or do a push-up? Honestly, let's use our heads!
Here is a robo call that the Kent School District sent to all of its parents and families literally telling parents that No Child Left Behind is a dumb law. I applaud the Kent School District. Watch that video here.
How people nationwide are viewing Common Core
After learning about Common Core State Standards, how they came about, the Common Core test results in both K-12 and on the Pearson Vue GED and the learners' response to learning in the Common Core system, parents and teachers and people concerned about public education, are changing their views on the Common Core State Standards. More and more people are opposing common core. I suspect common core will go down in flames within 2 years. Note the change here:
The Pearson Vue GEDGetting back to the title- The Common Core Train is Coming off the Tracks and the Pearson Vue GED Caboose will too"- once the Common Core State Standards are rejected we can get back to a GED test normed to the actual abilities of high school graduates. We'll be free to return to sanity.
My question is why did the states adopt the Pearson Vue GED before high school students were able to show 60+% competency on common core high school level exams? Is it logical and just to have a high school equivelency test NOT match the authentic and true abilities of high school graduates? Clearly, our high school graduates have not reached that Common Core bench mark level of proficiency yet. And judging by the test scores in New York and Utah it could be years, if ever, that they are able to.
So why put the cart before the horse? What could be the reasoning of the power brokers behind the scenes, like Pearson, ACT and the Gates Foudation and select state govenment employees, who chose the Pearson Vue GED? Simply put, it seems they had to close the just and honest GED option (the 2002 test) before they could roll out the Common Core State Standards Tests. If they had simply used the previous, just and fair version of the GED, more and more students would drop out of school and earn their credential that way. Now, students don't have that option. They are stuck.
Where do we go from here?
There is a different test available to GED students. A fair test which is normed to the actual, true abilities of high school graduates. We could adopt this test in my state, Washington State, or in your state- The HiSET test. California approved it’s use on August 5th . The folks in California must agree with me that it’s best to have a lower cost test, with the option to take it on paper, a test that is normed to the actual abilities of high school students in this country, a fair test. Here are the 12 states that made the wise choice- The HiSET choice!
Here is the press release announcing California's decision. Thank you California for offering students a fair choice! (I added in the green panel- I was so happy!)
What can I do?
- Inform yourself on the true nature of the economy. The paradigm that this common core movement is built on is false. See here and here.
- Inform yourself on who is pulling the strings of Common Core. See here.
- Go to Political meetings- speak about what you know- write a resolution to get the HiSET test in your state as an alternative to the Pearson Vue GED. Click here to get more information about the HiSET test.
- Talk to legislators ask them to allow the HiSET test in your state.
- Talk to teachers- tell them about the HiSET test
- Talk to school board members- tell them about the HiSET test
- Find out about local teacher-parent groups opposing common core and join with them
- Run for office
Feel free to write me with any comments, question or ideas you have. springforschools@aol.com
Elizabeth Hanson
http://restoregedfairness.org/latest-news/35-the-common-core-train-is-coming-off-the-tracks-the-pearson-vue-ged-caboose-will-too
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