Updated Dec 7, 2011 - 9:25 am

Are you smarter than a school board member?

Listen to Dave Ross Commentary: Are you smarter than a school board member?

Look at this: a member of the school board in Orange County Florida took the FCAT - the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test -- and failed.

His name is Rick Roach, and he's no dummy: he has a bachelor of science and two masters in education. But on the tenth grade FCAT, he scored 62 percent on the reading section, and couldn't answer ANY of the math questions. He got ten right by just guessing.

An so he concludes that the test has no practical purpose except to make smart kids feel stupid.

OK. I know we hate tests. They scare us. The web is full of test anxiety videos.

But tell me: Where did educators get the idea that tests are flawed because the adults can't pass them?

The kids are SUPPOSED to be smarter than the school board. AND smarter than their parents.

That's the whole reason behind organized education!

If our kids were only as smart as the school board, we'd still be wondering why apples fall to the ground.

Only if the next generation is smarter than we are can we hope for a day when every e-mail attachment will open properly.

That's why it's worth getting up in the morning.

Knowing that our kids are smarter than we are gives us the hope that as screwed up things are, the NEXT generation might just have a chance of getting it right. Or at least screw it up differently. PLEASE screw it up differently. It keeps history interesting.

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Lonestar wrote...

Obviously a hoax

December 7, 2011 9:43 am

My guess is Roach (appropriate name) is a shill for the teachers' union who oppose standardized tests because they might lead to increased accountability. This guy failed the test on purpose to appease his union benefactors.

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Market72 wrote...

Lonestar scored this one correctly...

December 7, 2011 10:01 am

This guy took one for the union team. By law, a teacher's union cannot force teachers to join. It is a voluntary organization. I still don't understand why, in this day and age, we need a teacher's union in our state. New learning styles and teaching practices are being taught to our young soon-to-be teachers everyday in colleges around the country. Hopefully in the next few decades, the non-union concept gains some traction and filters out the "back in the old days" teaching attitude held by a lot of current teachers.

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Sean wrote...

Get rid of the teachers' union???

December 7, 2011 10:27 am

How would the worst teachers and pedophile teachers and drinking-and-driving teachers find a job anywhere if we did THAT???

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mnpat wrote...

"His name is Rick Roach, and he's no dummy"

December 7, 2011 10:26 am

If you can't pass the test, I don't care how many letters he has on the backside of his name, he is either a dummy or providing fodder for his teachers union.

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Sean wrote...

REALLY?

December 7, 2011 10:26 am

62 percent on the reading section? That's pretty poor.... This from a schoolboard member and a person with two masters' degrees????

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SeattleNative wrote...

His Master's degrees are in education

December 7, 2011 11:23 am

'Nuff said.

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Bucket Dad wrote...

Amen, SeattleNative!

December 7, 2011 12:17 pm

I am more and more convinced that the universities now days teach Education Majors a whole bunch of theory on HOW to teach, but next to nothing on WHAT to teach. Even back in 1985, I took the California teaching credential. My buddy (a business major grad) and I (a Physics major grad) finished the Math portion in a quarter of the time that was allotted - and that's with a hangover. In the break right afterwards, the Education majors were all commiserating how that was the toughest thing they ever took. And that was suppose to be an eighth-grader level math test.

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Angry Monkey wrote...

Of course he failed...

December 7, 2011 2:43 pm

unless he is a math teacher, or using algebra, trig, or calculus (or whatever kind of math was on the test) on a daily basis, I would expect him to fail. I dominated my college math classes, while I was taking those classes, but I would bomb those same finals now. Why? Because, I have not used that math, day in and day out, since graduation, I have no need to. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the kids in his school district can pass the same test, or at the very least, know how to solve the math problems. Because they have to study it every day.
I'd also wager that few, if any, of the most frequent posters on this forum could do any better. Except of course for the rocket scientists, engineers, and actual teachers. Judging from most of the comments here though, the rocket scientists, engineers, and teachers are on another blog, so I doubt it will be a factor.

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rational wrote...

Perhaps he's building a case for a lawsuit

December 7, 2011 9:11 pm

He could sue the universities that gave him 2 masters degrees given that he can't pass a highschool test.
Time to take him at his word and replace him since he's not qualified to control the education of others.

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Updated Dec 7, 2011 - 9:25 am

Are you smarter than a school board member?

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