Florida County Makes '23' a Passing Grade

Associated Press ^ | MAY 30, 12:34 ET | Associated Press

[BlessedBeGod]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - You can get three-quarters of the answers wrong and still pass this test.

Palm Beach County high school students taking a new history exam this week need to answer just 23 of 100 multiple-choice questions correctly to pass.

To get an A, they need to get just over half the answers right. A B grade requires only 39 correct answers.

The new final exam for American and world history classes was developed by school district officials to ensure students learn state- required lessons that include history about women, Africans, African-Americans and the Holocaust.

The 100-question test, specific to Palm Beach County, replaces individual final exams that teachers create themselves. The district, which recommended the grading scale, sent letters to schools giving them the option to use it on the new test.

Many said they will, while teachers in some schools said the issue hasn't yet been discussed. It will be for this year only.

But some teachers were concerned about the low passing scale.

"I don't think if you administer a valid test and a kid misses half of the questions, that they should pass," said Thomas O'Brien, a social studies teacher at Lake Worth High School.

School board member Debra Robinson, who introduced the idea of using a standardized history exam last fall, said she accepts the grading scale this year, because it's the first time the district is using the exam.

Final exams are worth 20 percent of a student's grade.

[BlessedBeGod]

Unbelievable. Only in Palm Beach.

[Poohbah]

And watch: students that don't get 23 questions correct will insist that the test layout confused them and demand a mulligan. Meanwhile, their teachers will be looking for possible correct answers (dimpled checkbox, erased checkbox, etc).

[mgc1122]

Un-f'ing believable. Do yourselves, your kids and the nation - get the gubbmit out of schools.

[El Sordo]

Multiple choice?

If they give three possibilities, you could fly through, select random answers, finish the test in two minuutes, and still be almost assured of getting a 'B'.

[prophetic]

its a darn crying shame.

Gee I wonder if I can get a well paying executive job ($100,000 per year) while failing 70% of the interview questions?

[Youngblood]

Dear oh dear!

[Big Dan]

Assume that there are 4 possibilities for each question. If you answer "D" for *every question*, you will likely pass.

In other words, you have to be worse than random to fail that thing. Feh.

[cgbg]

new final exam for American and world history classes was developed by school district officials to ensure students learn state- required lessons that include history about women, Africans, African-Americans and the Holocaust.

women, Africans, and African-Americans?

Jeb, sounds like you got a lefty propaganda problem here.

Home School Bump!

[lds23]

23 is a fantastic number.

[Thinkin' Gal]

23/Palm Beach alert. They might as well insert those verichips as the tests get handed back, in case any of these high-schoolers get lost in life.

[Ohioan]

The new final exam for American and world history classes was developed by school district officials to ensure students learn state- required lessons that include history about women, Africans, African-Americans and the Holocaust.

Why do I suspect, without even looking at the questions, that there may actually be a net gain for civilization, if the students only master 23% of this curriculum?

Traditional history--real history--would of course include information about a very wide variety of identifiable parties and factors. But real American History to be a comprehensible part of the history of America, must put the principal emphasis on the origins of settlement, the Revolution, the men who conducted it, and those who established the institutions of the new Federal Republic and its member States. That is the foundation for everything that has happened since, and any other emphasis must lead to very, very confused young minds, unable to relate much of anything to much of anything else.

Of course, confusion is the Left's stock-in-trade.

William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site

[CounterCounterCulture]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - You can get three-quarters of the answers wrong and still pass this test.

Oh, that's just too damn easy. Palm Beach County? Figures.

[litehaus]

"Unbelievable. Only in Palm Beach"

AND,TOMORROW THEY VOTE!!!

[Only1choice____Freedom]

23 That's even lower than just dumb luck. I guess it's off to vote then! That explains how Gore couldn't even get the random vote for Palm Beach.

[ConservativeNJdad]

Even that guy from the 'dial down the center' TV commercials, who answered 'C' to every question, has a good chance of passing this test. Of course, we'll probably find out later that there are only 3 or even 2 choices for each question, and 1 of them will be obviously wrong.

[wbill]

The county that I live in (in NC) had a similiar situation to this. Kids are given tests at the end of the year. The teachers are also 'graded'...there is tremendous pressure on them to have the kids in their class pass these tests - this leads to the teachers 'teaching only the test', but's that's a whole new topic. Last year, the kids weren't passing their mandatory end-of-grade tests - if they fail, they're not promoted - so the school commission's original solution was to lower the passing grade. Passing was something like 18-20% correct on a mulitple choice (A,B,C,D) test.

The public was so outraged that all of the results were thrown out and the tests were given again. Students were given a dumbed-down test written by the teachers that even Mortimer Snerd could pass. Lo and behold, the kids made their marks, teachers got all-around kudos, and the school spits out a new generation of underachievers.

I'm going to forward this article to my boss and ask him how long I can expect to hold my job if I only complete work correctly 23% of the time. Wonder what his answer is?

[Paul C. Jesup]

Mark my words, catastrophic stupidity from within this nation will cause the death of this nation, or at the very least, this nation's government.

[Steve_Seattle]

In a few years these students will show up at the polls on election day, will be confused by - and unable to read - the ballot, and will complain that they were disenfranchised and their voting rights denied.

[N. Theknow]

The new final exam for American and world history classes was developed by school district officials to ensure students learn state- required lessons that include history about women, Africans, African-Americans and the Holocaust.

I don't think I could answer 23 questions correctly if the test included PC-BS about these topics.

I have also pondered the meaning of the shortest month of the year being named "Black History Month".

[Steve_Seattle]

If the answers are relatively evenly distributed between A, B, C, D, you could pass by answering "A" to every single question. You wouldn't have to know the correct answer to ANY of the questions.