Chapter Three of Tony Wagners The Global Achievement Gap

Chapter Three of Tony Wagners The Global Achievement Gap

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Tony starts this chapter out by showing an example of a tenth grade exams that the students must pass in order to graduate after NCLB.  He then critiques the tests.  In 2007, 13% of Massachusetts 10^th graders did not pass the MCA tests. 

A Way to Think About NCLB and High School State Tests  Wagner discusses some of the controversies that have arisen from NCLB.  For example, the goal of having 100% proficiency in reading and math for all students by 2014, a highly punitive approach toward students, teachers, and schools in terms of consequences for poor performance on the tests, the lack of any assistance for schools that are not making AYP, a weak definition of the requirement to have “highly qualified teachers” in all subjects, and the highly varied standards that individual states use for determining whether students are “proficient” and schools are making AYP. 

The two main questions he highlights in this chapter are: To what extent do these state tests assess the skills that matter most for work, citizenship, and college? and What is the impact of teaching to these tests on students’ motivation to learn and to stay in school?

Is Math Really “Problem Solving” – and What About Science?  Many business leaders say that todays high school graduates do not have adequate preparation in science and math.  Algebra is a math skill that is required to pass state tests, but unless people are math majors the most common math that they will be doing are arithmetic, statistics, and probability not algebra.  Tony asks, What should all high school graduates know in order to be literate in math and science as disciplines of problem solving?  When our students are not given a multiple choice type exam, but instead are required to come up with the answer on their own using knowledge they already acquire, they are unable to apply what they already know. 

Writing by Formula  This section talks about how students are taught to write essays by having an introduction paragraph, followed by three supporting paragraphs, then ended with a conclusion.  This ‘formula’ should get them passing scores on the state tests and SATs.  He then gives evidence that many schools do not even consider the scores students got on the writing section of the SATs for a true indicator of their writing skills.  That is because students are never given a topic they have never seen and asked to write spontaneously for 25 minutes. 

College-Ready?  Tony asked students who were attending college, “Looking back, what about your high school experience did you find most engaging or helpful to you?”  Many students talked about extracurricular activities (clubs, school yearbooks, etc.) as the most engaging, then came friends, and sports.  Tony asked the students about academics, and they said that the stuff they learned in high school was irrelevant, because they started over in college.  Tony asked the how they thought high school time could have been better spent, and all agreed they should have spent more time on writing, research skills, time management, and how to work with others in study groups.