While doing research on the subject of the faults on standardized testing, I have learned much more than I have wanted to know. And I have asked myself, if there is all this evidence to discredit testing, why does it still occur?
Of course one can argue that we are stuck in our ways and used to setting benchmarks for all students. But I believe it is mainly due to the fact that our educators and administrators are having much difficulty coming up with creative ways to understand and summarize students ability. They need to be able to fit information into graphs and charts when talking about progress in education. They need to be able to have profits and deficits and gross product. Basically, Education is in the hands of business men.
Education needs a reform that will completely change the way it is perceived. Not only in terms of testing, but in the way it is funded and handled. No institution is perfect, but it is important that as a nation we attempt to constantly better our education of society. This may cause for radical changes, such as moving power from states into more locally based groups, but I believe it to be completely necessary.
I can only hope that more educators that hold more diverse positions, such as myself, are ready to fight a long battle of reform. And if total reform never comes, we will at least contribute as greatly as we can to directly affect our students.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Testing As A Joke
Some test administrators are catching on to the ridiculousness of standardized testing, but in the wrong way.
SAT Monitors Napped, Ignored Rules, Teens Say
By Jay MathewsWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, November 17, 2006; Page A01
They started the SAT that Saturday morning more than an hour late, not helpful for a college-entrance test many consider an ordeal under the best circumstances. But the situation worsened for eight students with learning disabilities in one second-floor testing room at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Northwest Washington.
According to three of the students who were there Oct. 14, the proctor and the associate test supervisor in the room let students work on some sections long after time expired and on others ahead of time. They let students make cellphone calls and eat in the room. Lacking a clock, they let students time the examination themselves with a microwave oven timer.
Occasionally, the three students said, the two test administrators dozed off. All of those actions were flagrant rule violations. Some test experts called the episode, which occurred at one of the country's busiest testing centers, a striking example of persistent problems with the administration of the SAT. Students called it worse.
Penelope Meyers, a senior at the private Edmund Burke School in Northwest, said she burst into tears when she got into her mother's car at 4:30 p.m., nearly nine hours after she had arrived at the exam site.
"It was the most bogus and corrupt joke I had ever heard of," she said.
Hana Viswanathan, a senior at the private Washington International School, also in Northwest, offered an SAT word to describe what happened: debacle...
...At one point, Meyers said, the associate supervisor noticed that a few students had finished one section early and told them that they could start the next. Meyers, who knew this violated the rules, did not start. The official came over and whispered in her ear to go ahead.
Meyers replied that she was not going to cheat. The administrator, according to Meyers, said: "It doesn't matter. There's only a few minutes left."
SAT Monitors Napped, Ignored Rules, Teens Say
By Jay MathewsWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, November 17, 2006; Page A01
They started the SAT that Saturday morning more than an hour late, not helpful for a college-entrance test many consider an ordeal under the best circumstances. But the situation worsened for eight students with learning disabilities in one second-floor testing room at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Northwest Washington.
According to three of the students who were there Oct. 14, the proctor and the associate test supervisor in the room let students work on some sections long after time expired and on others ahead of time. They let students make cellphone calls and eat in the room. Lacking a clock, they let students time the examination themselves with a microwave oven timer.
Occasionally, the three students said, the two test administrators dozed off. All of those actions were flagrant rule violations. Some test experts called the episode, which occurred at one of the country's busiest testing centers, a striking example of persistent problems with the administration of the SAT. Students called it worse.
Penelope Meyers, a senior at the private Edmund Burke School in Northwest, said she burst into tears when she got into her mother's car at 4:30 p.m., nearly nine hours after she had arrived at the exam site.
"It was the most bogus and corrupt joke I had ever heard of," she said.
Hana Viswanathan, a senior at the private Washington International School, also in Northwest, offered an SAT word to describe what happened: debacle...
...At one point, Meyers said, the associate supervisor noticed that a few students had finished one section early and told them that they could start the next. Meyers, who knew this violated the rules, did not start. The official came over and whispered in her ear to go ahead.
Meyers replied that she was not going to cheat. The administrator, according to Meyers, said: "It doesn't matter. There's only a few minutes left."
For full article, click here; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601981.html?nav=rss_education
Funny at first, but an ironic and sad twist on the current state of testing. Usually my posts are about administrators in the government and in the schools who take testing too seriously. This story makes for a sad attempt at measuring a students aptitude.
I had a similar event happen to me, during a Intro to Sociology final exam in my first year of college at Portland State University. The teacher had not made enough exams for the large lecture class, so she passed out half of them to students and then left to go copy the rest. I was sitting in the back and became frustrated, along with many other students, at the unfairness occuring. Some students were so annoyed that they started talking to those around them, but the students in the front taking the exam became annoyed with those in the back, and a fight started between a couple of students. This was odd but not the worst of it.
The professor came back into the class and reported that the copier machine was broken and those who hadn't recieved a test yet had the responsibility to go to the second floor offices and ask for a test there. Once in the second floor,we were told that we should just sit in the offices and take the exam, since we were already getting a late start. There we were interrupted frequently, unsupervised, and talking with eachother about the absurdity of the situation. We joked that we were subjects in an experiment for the Sociology class.
What causes these extremes in opinions and execution styles in testing? Is it the professor/teacher/administrators personality? Or are they trying to hint at their opinion of standardized testing as a whole? Was my sociology teacher secretly showing us the errors of testing? And were the administrators of the SAT in Washington sharing the same point of view that I hold on tests? Whatever the reasons, if these problems keep persisting with testing, a reform is bound to happen, hopefully.
Standardizing the Standard's Standard Standards.
Tests being used to test students ability has always gone to the extreme, but this case of testing is a new low.
Those Who Pass Classes But Fail Tests Cry Foul
By Ian ShapiraWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, November 21, 2006;
Sylvia James hardly considers herself clueless in mathematics. After all, she finished sixth grade with a B-plus in the subject and made the Honor Roll, which she saw as a victory in a challenging year of fraction conversion and decimal placement.
But what happened when she took the state math test?
She flunked it.
Now, by that measure, Virginia considers the 12-year-old below par in math.
"I was kind of shocked," said Sylvia, who attends Herbert J. Saunders Middle School in Prince William County. "I just thought I was going to pass it because I always usually pass everything else. I guess I went through the test pretty quickly."
Many students in the Washington region are suffering from academic split personalities. Driven by the federal No Child Left Behind law and tougher state diploma standards, the testing blitz has left these students in a curious limbo: They pass their classes with B's and C's yet fail the state exams..."
So here is a question. If a student fails a test required to be taken by the state, what is the point of having a class to help prepare them for the class? Especially if the student is led to believe that their performance in the class is some kind of reflection on what the test will be on?
This story could easily be used to make a point for someone who believes that testing should be done away with completely, but I think it makes a stronger point for individuals who believe that at least the NCLB Act should be demolished. Errors in standards will continue to show themselves as long as we are setting black and white benchmarks for students who learn in the greys.
Another problem that could be the cause for this and other cases is that the communication between the state and the classroom on what students are to learn is not happening. If the state has higher standards on what is expected of the student and does not inform districts and educators of these expectations, the state is to blame, again.
"...Whatever the reason, the fact that some bright students struggle on state exams upends the perception that only the worst students fail them.
"This is a warning sign that there's something out of tilt in the system," said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy in Washington, which tracks how states implement the federal law.
Thelaw requires annual state testing in reading and math for all students from grades 3 to 8 and at least once in high school. The results are used to rate schools, and those that fall short of adequate progress are threatened with sanctions. States often add more tests in high school that students must pass to graduate..."
For full article, click here; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112100075.html?nav=rss_education
So instead of the state working with the classes to help raise testing abilities (since it seems testing will not be absent from education anytime soon), they decide to apply more tests to schools who fall short of previous exams. This not only makes no sense, but prompts a negative cyclical effect which tells students and parents that they are not as bright as they should be. This type of encouragement is the last thing needed in public education.
Those Who Pass Classes But Fail Tests Cry Foul
By Ian ShapiraWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, November 21, 2006;
Sylvia James hardly considers herself clueless in mathematics. After all, she finished sixth grade with a B-plus in the subject and made the Honor Roll, which she saw as a victory in a challenging year of fraction conversion and decimal placement.
But what happened when she took the state math test?
She flunked it.
Now, by that measure, Virginia considers the 12-year-old below par in math.
"I was kind of shocked," said Sylvia, who attends Herbert J. Saunders Middle School in Prince William County. "I just thought I was going to pass it because I always usually pass everything else. I guess I went through the test pretty quickly."
Many students in the Washington region are suffering from academic split personalities. Driven by the federal No Child Left Behind law and tougher state diploma standards, the testing blitz has left these students in a curious limbo: They pass their classes with B's and C's yet fail the state exams..."
So here is a question. If a student fails a test required to be taken by the state, what is the point of having a class to help prepare them for the class? Especially if the student is led to believe that their performance in the class is some kind of reflection on what the test will be on?
This story could easily be used to make a point for someone who believes that testing should be done away with completely, but I think it makes a stronger point for individuals who believe that at least the NCLB Act should be demolished. Errors in standards will continue to show themselves as long as we are setting black and white benchmarks for students who learn in the greys.
Another problem that could be the cause for this and other cases is that the communication between the state and the classroom on what students are to learn is not happening. If the state has higher standards on what is expected of the student and does not inform districts and educators of these expectations, the state is to blame, again.
"...Whatever the reason, the fact that some bright students struggle on state exams upends the perception that only the worst students fail them.
"This is a warning sign that there's something out of tilt in the system," said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy in Washington, which tracks how states implement the federal law.
Thelaw requires annual state testing in reading and math for all students from grades 3 to 8 and at least once in high school. The results are used to rate schools, and those that fall short of adequate progress are threatened with sanctions. States often add more tests in high school that students must pass to graduate..."
For full article, click here; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112100075.html?nav=rss_education
So instead of the state working with the classes to help raise testing abilities (since it seems testing will not be absent from education anytime soon), they decide to apply more tests to schools who fall short of previous exams. This not only makes no sense, but prompts a negative cyclical effect which tells students and parents that they are not as bright as they should be. This type of encouragement is the last thing needed in public education.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Too Much Pressure
The stakes are high when it comes to financial and government support of schools. The state of Virginia has lately become very familiar with these stakes.
Bid to Waive Middle School Scores Rejected
Superintendents Fear That Surprisingly Low Pass Rates Will Hinder Accreditation
By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page B10
The Virginia Board of Education this week denied requests from local officials to shield middle schools from fallout from unexpected low scores on last spring's state math tests. The board's decision, disclosed yesterday, rebuffed appeals from several superintendents, including Edgar B. Hatrick III of Loudoun County.
In a letter to the superintendents, board President Mark E. Emblidge wrote that a new state law barred any move to withhold past test results from the calculations used to rate schools. Therefore, he wrote, schools must adapt. "I am confident that the lessons learned by all of us from the 2005-2006 test will result in higher student achievement this year," he wrote.
Pressure is high for educators to raise standardized test scores. In Virginia, 51 percent of sixth-graders and 44 percent of seventh-graders passed last spring's math tests. Pass rates help determine whether schools receive state accreditation, a distinction that signifies they have met minimum standards.
Seventy-one percent of middle schools statewide gained full accreditation this year, down from 83 percent last year. Nearly three-quarters of middle schools failed solely because of math scores, the state Department of Education reported. Schools that fail to meet benchmarks for three consecutive years are denied accreditation and must work with the state to raise scores."
For the full article, click here; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100601435.html?nav=rss_education
So it seems that once a school is labeled "unfit" by national standards, they not only score low on the tests, but they are dropped deeper into a hole which they will have to struggle by not being accredited. This can only be seen as an ineffective and unreasonable way to improve our public education.
The fact that the Board of Education hopes that teachers and administrators will see this as motivation to improve for next year is absurd. If the scores are lower than last year, wouldn't it make sense for them to have been motivated this year? It is a downward spiral with good intentions, but is poorly executed and has proven yet to be successful.
These national tests, along with all NCLB policies, seem to be nothing but hurting the public school systems. Cutting funds, changing curriculums at a fast pace, and introducing new and more advanced concepts to be tested by students comes at a cost the U.S. is not ready to pay.
".."We need time to figure out what happened," Hatrick said yesterday. "The results were so inconsistent with everything else students were doing."
Evaluation and development of determing a students' ability and level in the educational system needs to be completely re-thought and revised. Only then will students be given a fair chance to be taught in a truly enriching learning environment.
Bid to Waive Middle School Scores Rejected
Superintendents Fear That Surprisingly Low Pass Rates Will Hinder Accreditation
By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page B10
The Virginia Board of Education this week denied requests from local officials to shield middle schools from fallout from unexpected low scores on last spring's state math tests. The board's decision, disclosed yesterday, rebuffed appeals from several superintendents, including Edgar B. Hatrick III of Loudoun County.
In a letter to the superintendents, board President Mark E. Emblidge wrote that a new state law barred any move to withhold past test results from the calculations used to rate schools. Therefore, he wrote, schools must adapt. "I am confident that the lessons learned by all of us from the 2005-2006 test will result in higher student achievement this year," he wrote.
Pressure is high for educators to raise standardized test scores. In Virginia, 51 percent of sixth-graders and 44 percent of seventh-graders passed last spring's math tests. Pass rates help determine whether schools receive state accreditation, a distinction that signifies they have met minimum standards.
Seventy-one percent of middle schools statewide gained full accreditation this year, down from 83 percent last year. Nearly three-quarters of middle schools failed solely because of math scores, the state Department of Education reported. Schools that fail to meet benchmarks for three consecutive years are denied accreditation and must work with the state to raise scores."
For the full article, click here; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100601435.html?nav=rss_education
So it seems that once a school is labeled "unfit" by national standards, they not only score low on the tests, but they are dropped deeper into a hole which they will have to struggle by not being accredited. This can only be seen as an ineffective and unreasonable way to improve our public education.
The fact that the Board of Education hopes that teachers and administrators will see this as motivation to improve for next year is absurd. If the scores are lower than last year, wouldn't it make sense for them to have been motivated this year? It is a downward spiral with good intentions, but is poorly executed and has proven yet to be successful.
These national tests, along with all NCLB policies, seem to be nothing but hurting the public school systems. Cutting funds, changing curriculums at a fast pace, and introducing new and more advanced concepts to be tested by students comes at a cost the U.S. is not ready to pay.
".."We need time to figure out what happened," Hatrick said yesterday. "The results were so inconsistent with everything else students were doing."
Evaluation and development of determing a students' ability and level in the educational system needs to be completely re-thought and revised. Only then will students be given a fair chance to be taught in a truly enriching learning environment.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
The Need for Speed.
In elementary and secondary schools, promptness of reading has always been emphasized by the educators. When students take reading tests, such as the MEAP, they are timed and unallowed to give themselves time to make meaningful connections in what they read.Many teachers attempt to test childrens fluency at reading by using charts which show how many words per minute the student is able to read. This is contradicting to what many people believe reading to be all about. Many teachers attempt to test childrens fluency at reading by using charts which show how many words per minute the student is able to read.
In Quest for Speed, Books Are Lost on Children
In Quest for Speed, Books Are Lost on Children
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 24, 2006; Page A10
Your fourth-grader is galloping through Lois Lowry's utopian novel "The Giver," and you marvel at her reading speed.
Stop marveling. Most likely she has little idea what the book actually means.
In many classrooms around the country, teachers are emphasizing, and periodically testing, students' reading fluency, the current buzzword in reading instruction. The problem is that speed isn't the only element to fluency, educators said. Key elements are also accuracy and expressiveness.
"The food was delectable" is different from "the food was detestable," and Shakespeare should not sound like a chemistry textbook.
It is a complicated process teaching students to recognize enough words and read at a consistent rate so they can spend their time concentrating on meaning rather than decoding, educators said. And when tackling a book such as "The Giver," one that deals with a boy's discovery that his utopian world comes at the expense of the stifling of intellectual and emotional freedom, meaning is critical.
"Fluent readers are readers who know how to dig into a book and pull out just what they are looking for -- whether it is information, a part with strong language, a part with good character development, or just a chance to read for fun," said Susan Marantz, a longtime teacher now at a suburban school in Columbus, Ohio.
As a result, some kids are motivated to read only to beat a test clock, he and other researchers said.
"Are kids responding well to fluency exercises?" asked Kylene Beers, a senior reading researcher at Yale University's School Development Program and chairwoman of the National Adolescent Literacy Coalition.
"The more important question to ask is: Are teachers focusing on all three parts of fluency?" Beers, vice president-elect of the National Council of Teachers of English, wrote in an e-mail. "When fluency is only about building automaticity (and therefore speed), then some [teachers] do mistakenly believe that the point of reading is fast decoding. That's no more the best measure of a skilled reader than fast driving is the best measure of skilled driver."
"They read so fast, with no punctuation and no expression, that we'd go back and ask comprehension questions and they weren't very successful answering them. They hadn't understood what they read," he said.
"It all comes down to the teacher," he said. "It's people, not programs."
This is just another way of ‘standardizing’ the experience many young people have in education. Instead of focusing on content and connections, students are told that the faster the better. Sometimes faster is better, when doing a math problem, spelling a word, or when needing to complete a test.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
What type of culture?
To begin to talk about standardized testing that takes place in the educational system, you must also talk about politics and policymakers. Testing has become a benchmark to provide satisfaction for the politicians and citizens who believe it to show trends, progress, and highlight areas in need of improvement. Although research shows that this often not true, the United States has re-focused itself in becoming a test-based educational society. A society where to achieve and be successful, you must also be a good test taker.
The Rise of the Testing Culture
As Exam-Takers Get Younger, Some Say Value Is Overblown
By Valerie StraussWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, October 10, 2006; Page A09
"...Kids get tested and labeled as soon as they get into kindergarten," said [Kisha] Lee, who runs the state-certified Alternative Preschool Solutions in Accokeek. "They have to pass a standardized test from the second they get in. I saw kindergartners who weren't used to taking a test, and they fell apart, crying, saying they couldn't do it. The child who can sit and answer the questions correctly is identified as talented," Lee said. "It hurts me to have to do this, but it hurts the kids if I don't."
So it seems we are not actually testing the material, the intelligence, or even the cumulative knowledge of the child, but their ability to recall information in a controlled setting. This is hardly what standardized testing is claiming it does. Testing at such a young age seems that it would prove fruitless. Assuming that all young children have the ability to understand how to take a test is absurd.
"...We are obsessed with tests," said Occidental University education professor Ron Solorzano, who used to teach in Los Angeles public schools. "We are pretty much preparing [kids] for the SAT at the age of 6," added Solorzano, who also worked at the Educational Testing Service, the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organization. Americans embrace tests because they are entranced with objectivity -- or at least the appearance of it, experts say.
For the full article, click here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/09/AR2006100900925.html
A study coinciding with this article showed that 71% of teachers believed that there was too much testing in schools. Compared that to 17% of parents believing the same, there is a gap in communication between the two groups. If parents were aware of how teachers felt about testing and felt about spending weeks teaching to the test, i believe it would spark conversation and questions about the "necessary" testing.
The Rise of the Testing Culture
As Exam-Takers Get Younger, Some Say Value Is Overblown
By Valerie StraussWashington Post Staff WriterTuesday, October 10, 2006; Page A09
"...Kids get tested and labeled as soon as they get into kindergarten," said [Kisha] Lee, who runs the state-certified Alternative Preschool Solutions in Accokeek. "They have to pass a standardized test from the second they get in. I saw kindergartners who weren't used to taking a test, and they fell apart, crying, saying they couldn't do it. The child who can sit and answer the questions correctly is identified as talented," Lee said. "It hurts me to have to do this, but it hurts the kids if I don't."
So it seems we are not actually testing the material, the intelligence, or even the cumulative knowledge of the child, but their ability to recall information in a controlled setting. This is hardly what standardized testing is claiming it does. Testing at such a young age seems that it would prove fruitless. Assuming that all young children have the ability to understand how to take a test is absurd.
"...We are obsessed with tests," said Occidental University education professor Ron Solorzano, who used to teach in Los Angeles public schools. "We are pretty much preparing [kids] for the SAT at the age of 6," added Solorzano, who also worked at the Educational Testing Service, the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organization. Americans embrace tests because they are entranced with objectivity -- or at least the appearance of it, experts say.
For the full article, click here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/09/AR2006100900925.html
A study coinciding with this article showed that 71% of teachers believed that there was too much testing in schools. Compared that to 17% of parents believing the same, there is a gap in communication between the two groups. If parents were aware of how teachers felt about testing and felt about spending weeks teaching to the test, i believe it would spark conversation and questions about the "necessary" testing.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Taking Affirmative Action
When Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrived at the Grand Valley State University Fall Arts Celebration, I was unsure of what to expect. His lecture on the history of the Encyclopedia Africana, and it's creator W.E.B. DuBois was entertaining and interesting, but not what I had thought the famous professor would be lecturing on. However, during the question and answer period, I felt he made multiple insights into the world of racism, technology, and affirmative action in the present day.
While it is not fair to assume where exactly Gates stands on the subject of affirmative action based on his lecture last Wednesday, it is important to dive deeper into his recent and past quotations on the popular subject.
"'Rough magic of the cultural mix' is nation’s best hope
BY KATHLEEN O'TOOLE
...Thanks to the civil rights movement and affirmative action, he said to "the tenth," the black middle class has quadrupled since Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, but a larger proportion of black children now live below the poverty line. He urged the tenth to "stop feeling guilty about our own success" and instead "feel a commitment of service to those left behind."
Referring to African Americans as "a nation within a nation" with a population larger than that of Canada, he said, "We can't pretend any longer that 35 million people will ever possibly be exactly members of the same economic class.
"The best we can strive for is that class differentials within the African American community what I call the bell curve of class cease their lopsided ratios because of the pernicious nature of racial inequality." Black intellectuals who want to lead must confront "the twin realities of white racism on the one hand and our own failures to take the initiative and break the cycle of poverty on the other."
Full article link: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/1998/october21/gates1021.html
Gates is stating above what I feel too little people take into consideration.
The United States, as well as many other nations on this planet, are lucky enough to be filled with an enormous amount of diverse and unique people. Whether it be race, language, physicality, or culture that makes us different, this diversity can enrich and enliven what sometimes turns into conformity or boringness. While not everyone may have the same views as I do on race, I think in an educational setting it is necessary to invite and educate all races equally. This equality involves affirmative action.
The 'commitment of service to those left behind' Gates speaks of is what I believe to help open doors that have remained locked unfairly for much of history. Affirmative action is not attempting to reward or make up for mistakes in the past, but is trying to change the educational and socioeconomic status for the better, and to emphasize the diverse world that we share today.
While it is not fair to assume where exactly Gates stands on the subject of affirmative action based on his lecture last Wednesday, it is important to dive deeper into his recent and past quotations on the popular subject.
"'Rough magic of the cultural mix' is nation’s best hope
BY KATHLEEN O'TOOLE
...Thanks to the civil rights movement and affirmative action, he said to "the tenth," the black middle class has quadrupled since Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, but a larger proportion of black children now live below the poverty line. He urged the tenth to "stop feeling guilty about our own success" and instead "feel a commitment of service to those left behind."
Referring to African Americans as "a nation within a nation" with a population larger than that of Canada, he said, "We can't pretend any longer that 35 million people will ever possibly be exactly members of the same economic class.
"The best we can strive for is that class differentials within the African American community what I call the bell curve of class cease their lopsided ratios because of the pernicious nature of racial inequality." Black intellectuals who want to lead must confront "the twin realities of white racism on the one hand and our own failures to take the initiative and break the cycle of poverty on the other."
Full article link: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/1998/october21/gates1021.html
Gates is stating above what I feel too little people take into consideration.
The United States, as well as many other nations on this planet, are lucky enough to be filled with an enormous amount of diverse and unique people. Whether it be race, language, physicality, or culture that makes us different, this diversity can enrich and enliven what sometimes turns into conformity or boringness. While not everyone may have the same views as I do on race, I think in an educational setting it is necessary to invite and educate all races equally. This equality involves affirmative action.
The 'commitment of service to those left behind' Gates speaks of is what I believe to help open doors that have remained locked unfairly for much of history. Affirmative action is not attempting to reward or make up for mistakes in the past, but is trying to change the educational and socioeconomic status for the better, and to emphasize the diverse world that we share today.
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