Friday, July 13, 2007

Testing Teacher Competency: Try It Yourself!

Today's guest host on the Rush Limbaugh radio show is economics professor Dr. Walter E. Williams. He just told about teachers in Peru who set fire to a train station in protest of being made to take teacher competency exams. Wow, those are certainly some fine role models for Peruvian children (sarcasm off).

Dr. Williams wondered whether Peruvian teacher competency tests are harder than those in the U.S., and he gave as his favorite example the CBest test, the competency test given to teachers in California. That test is at about a ninth-grade level. Dr. Williams shared one question from the test: Four times what number plus four equals 32? My goodness, that was tough.

I wrote about this test a while back: why its existence should encourage homeschooling parents, and how you can try the test yourself. You'll find that article here.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Just wanted to let you know that we're now living in Las Vegas.
The Lord has provided us with many blessings since you last heard from me.
Thank you for all the prayers. I hope to be more online now that I have a library card and access.

Sherry said...

9th grade level, huh? No wonder they're scared (TIC).

This sort of thing is ubiquitous, and yet I'm supposed to put up with ppl questioning my ability to homeschool my kids!

Sheri said...

Thanks for sharing this link. It is exactly what I've been looking for.

Like any other homeschooling mom, I've been told I should have a teaching degree to teach my children. My answer has always been, "If I could take the teacher test today and pass would you still demand it be formally completed?"

I've found the asking person tells quite a bit about themself and their own dependence on the system and norm.

Barbara Frank said...

Sherry, the thing that gets me is that anybody can brush up on their skills, but no one can know our kids like we do.

Sheri, I know a lot of former teachers who are now homeschooling their kids, and most say what they learned in ed school had to be unlearned. And yes, I totally agree with your last statement!