Fred Smith, a testing expert who worked for years at the
New York City Board of Education, now advises Change the Stakes, an
anti-testing group. In
this article, he analyzes the progress of nine schools in
New York state that bear the name of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The schools are located in different cities and communities but
they bear two common features: they are racially segregated, and
their test scores are abysmal. Taken together, 91% of the
children enrolled in these schools are black (67%) or Hispanic
(24%); 13% are considered to be limited in English proficiency.
About 90% receive free (85%) or reduced-price (5%)
lunches. At these schools, 2,883 students took
the statewide English Language Arts exams and 2,921 took the math
tests — providing 5,804 test scores. Most students were in grades 3
to 5….. What of the 8- to 10-year-old
children whose educations, hopes, formative development and chances
for future success are bound up in these wonderfully named schools
where circumstance has placed them? In 2009,
when the state exams were discredited for being ridiculously easy,
55% of the heirs to King’s legacy were found to be proficient in
reading, as were 71% in math. By last year, with the advent of
tougher “more rigorous” exams, the results had fallen to 24% and
31%. The April results released this month
fulfilled the prophecy: 7% and 6% proficiency in reading and math
at the nine schools. What a disgrace: 7% proficiency in
reading, and 6% proficiency in math. Perhaps Commissioner John King
can take over these schools and kick out the kids with low scores,
suspend those who don’t walk in a straight line, institute a
“no-excuses” culture of “high expectations.” Can we not do better
by the children in these schools and in all schools regardless of
what they are named? Must we treat them like little robots to
compel them to obey? Or can we not educate them with dignity and
purpose and prepare them to live fruitful lives?  
  Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/sad-measure-dr-king-dream-article-1.1438608#ixzz2dGw25m3P