Thread: Washington yanks Latino passage from statewide exams

Washington yanks Latino passage from statewide exams
Education - Some said the story about 1950s farmworkers was demeaning
Sunday, March 25, 2007
CURT WOODWARD
The Oregonian
SEATTLE -- A story depicting Mexican immigrant children picking strawberries for less than $1 an hour will be removed from a statewide test after an outcry from Latino leaders and test opponents.

Terry Bergeson, Washington state's top public education official, said the book excerpt should not have been used without an explanation that the scenes were from the 1950s and not the present.

Opponents of the high-stakes statewide test and a national Latino group said they were not satisfied.

"This is not over. It's just getting started," said Maria Salazar, a regional vice president for the League of United Latin American Citizens.

The passage in question, part of a reading skills test for high school sophomores, is an excerpt from "Breaking Through," an award-winning fictionalized memoir by Francisco Jimenez.

Bergeson removed the excerpt after a nonprofit group opposing the statewide test sent state officials and news media an e-mail reportedly from a Latino student who said he was offended by the story.

An excerpt of the book provided by Bergeson's office depicts a migrant family's experiences working for a strawberry grower in the 1950s. It was included in the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, a standardized test that can determine whether a student graduates.

"I looked forward to weekends, when my brother, Papa, and I worked together. Roberto and I found ways to have fun. We raced to see who could pick faster and fill more crates," it reads in part.

The story also says the two boys were paid 85 cents an hour for their labor, while their father got $1 an hour.

The nonprofit Parent Empowerment Network said the student who sent the e-mail requested not to be publicly identified. Group director Juanita Doyon said the student was a high school sophomore from western Washington.

Bergeson, the state's elected superintendent of public instruction, said the book excerpt was reviewed as part of the test to guard against bias and insensitivity.

"Even after such review, it's possible that someone might find a passage or question insensitive to a particular group or culture. We appreciate that prospect being brought to our attention," Bergeson said.

Bergeson also said the education agency would review this year's reading scores for signs that Latino students fared differently on the test questions at issue.

Salazar said the excerpt was upsetting because it lacked any explanation about historic difficulties faced by Latinos in the United States.

Without that context, the excerpt could serve to simply repeat stereotypes about Latinos being poorly paid migrant farmworkers, Salazar said. She called for an investigation into the test's development.

"Along with allocation of funds comes accountability in this country -- the last I checked," Salazar said.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonia ... xml&coll=7

Playing the poor offended victim is becoming the norm. They just keep searching for things to be offended by and it's becoming sickening.

"Even after such review, it's possible that someone might find a passage or question insensitive to a particular group or culture. We appreciate that prospect being brought to our attention," Bergeson said.

Well, this is going to work out real well.

I imagine that there's just about nothing that could be said or written that wouldn't offend someone.

We truly are living in the Age of the Moron.

Well, the age of the moron has been around for quite a long time, also coined as the Age of Silver and Bronze since Hesiod's time...

Link to previous post on this subject:

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?nam...wtopic&t=58173

By removing this question from the test, even for those students that have already taken the exam, this will raise the average score for those who were too "sensitive" to handle a question of historical consequence, while at the same time it may lower the average score of the those students who scored well on the test question. I guess this is a way to "level the field" in testing. Washington public education is becoming renouned for "dumbed down" kids, thanks to this kind of BS.