The State Should Devise a New Acronym: SCAM
State...Certification...(Another)...(Money Grab)
At long last, after years of procrastination (10 years after my initial certification) and avoiding the outrageous fee ($88)to take the New York State Content Area Speciality test in Social Studies, I sat for the four freaking hour exam. Ninety multiple choice questions later, (and one should note that there were hardly any questions dealing with global history,) the exam required a "DBQ"-style essay explaining the context of, and comparing the intents of, the Prussian General Code of 1791 with the French Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789. Finally, something other than New York, US history, geography and economics. Kind of weird that there were no documents to examine, though, just a few bulleted highlights on each.
The French revolution was easy enough, but I had never heard of the Prussian document. I goggled it earlier today, and had only 5 hits, one of which was the California Content Test for Social Studies...and to my surprise, there was the exact question...boy these testing companies are laughing all the way to the bank...oh, yeah, the test is specially tailored to your state's needs...blah, blah, blah.
And to think my school is swallowing all that pre-fab College Board curriculum hook, line and sinker. I guess there is an upside to the district only implementing 1 or 2 years of a five-year program, before abandoning the program du jour and following the funding for some other curriculum cash cow/panacea.
At long last, after years of procrastination (10 years after my initial certification) and avoiding the outrageous fee ($88)to take the New York State Content Area Speciality test in Social Studies, I sat for the four freaking hour exam. Ninety multiple choice questions later, (and one should note that there were hardly any questions dealing with global history,) the exam required a "DBQ"-style essay explaining the context of, and comparing the intents of, the Prussian General Code of 1791 with the French Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789. Finally, something other than New York, US history, geography and economics. Kind of weird that there were no documents to examine, though, just a few bulleted highlights on each.
The French revolution was easy enough, but I had never heard of the Prussian document. I goggled it earlier today, and had only 5 hits, one of which was the California Content Test for Social Studies...and to my surprise, there was the exact question...boy these testing companies are laughing all the way to the bank...oh, yeah, the test is specially tailored to your state's needs...blah, blah, blah.
And to think my school is swallowing all that pre-fab College Board curriculum hook, line and sinker. I guess there is an upside to the district only implementing 1 or 2 years of a five-year program, before abandoning the program du jour and following the funding for some other curriculum cash cow/panacea.
posted by Elliott at Monday, July 24, 2006
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