Well geesh - no wonder kids these days don't know anything ...

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05-30-2002, 02:17 PM
LanSite

;)

Fla. County Makes '23' A Passing Grade

Thursday May 30, 2002 5:40 PM

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.

As a side note - I think this is ridiculous
05-30-2002, 02:19 PM
Runes_Tooth

HEY! I resent that

I made a 94 on my Algebra EOC! So there!
05-30-2002, 02:21 PM
TallGuyLittleCar

If you get under 23 can you demand a recount?
05-30-2002, 02:52 PM
nordberg

history is sooooooo easy - there's only 1 right answer for pete's sake - they should make the students get a 95 to pass....!
05-30-2002, 02:58 PM
gerbick

why not make it even easier for them?

sheesh. History for Slackers. novel idea.
05-30-2002, 03:02 PM
OMEGA

What a bunch of morons
05-30-2002, 03:11 PM
megatoon

http://image.inkfrog.com/pix/hex/history.JPG
05-30-2002, 04:09 PM
Aria

Quote:

Originally posted by TallGuyLittleCar
If you get under 23 can you demand a recount?

ouch !!! :p

a
05-30-2002, 04:21 PM
tublu

Quote:

Originally posted by megatoon

;) hehe
05-30-2002, 04:38 PM
hollywood

Some AP classes are really hard on High School students and in some of our calc classes a 75 is a very high A. All final exams at our school weigh no more than 20%. Thats the norm and I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. Norberg is right about History though. I never studied and did all my homework in my classes and came out with a 98%. Super easy class aside from government.
05-30-2002, 05:24 PM
SJT

Quote:

Originally posted by nordberg
history is sooooooo easy - there's only 1 right answer for pete's sake - they should make the students get a 95 to pass....!

What the hell kind of History do you do?
A-Level History is one of the hardest A-levels you can take over here (UK)...

Is there no document analysis? nothing?
We had to write a 2k essay each week on things like "Sir Robert Peel's repeal of the Corn Laws was a watershed in Tory policy making, discuss" or "Stalinism caused the more harm than good in the Soviet Union" or whatever (hey, that first question is actually quite good, i haven't done any history for years!).
05-30-2002, 05:44 PM
defuzz

The thing about History is that there isn't just one correct answer. Its as much about comparison and contrasting of different ideas as it is about knowing specific dates.

Can you for instance give a single answer as to why the Second World war started or when the French Revolution actually began?

Defuzz BA (hons) History

EDITED BY DEFUZZ:

Its interesting that you had to write so many essays SJT, I had 6-10 hours of lectures per week, and less essays than that and that was for a history degree!!! I guess I was lucky with my choice on courses.
05-30-2002, 06:48 PM
EvolveDesigns

wOw! thut as greyt! mAbee now I can grajeeuate!
05-30-2002, 07:00 PM
madgoat253

when are you ever going to use american history,
these kids are learning stuff that is crazy hard...!
i think they should pass as long as they can name all 50 states!
05-30-2002, 07:10 PM
RedAbode

haha stupid kids (i am one myself but i'm not THAT dumb)
Technically i'm a teen 13
05-30-2002, 07:34 PM
gurdas

lol this is funny:D they might aswell cut out on exams altogether:p its not like they do alot of exams anyway, well compared to england:(
05-30-2002, 07:37 PM
Fruitloops

Quote:

Originally posted by madgoat253

i think they should pass as long as they can name all 50 states!

Lol, we have to know all the world countries and capitals in my World Geo. class.
05-30-2002, 11:15 PM
pimpjacksmack

95 or higher for an A. That INCLUDED all AP classes. I wasn't a valedictorian, but I was in the top 10%. If you're sayin 25% is acceptable, then why can't you go to class 1.25 times a week?
05-30-2002, 11:15 PM
Mike-Edwards

Quote:

Originally posted by LanSite
;)

Fla. County Makes '23' A Passing Grade

Thursday May 30, 2002 5:40 PM

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

I wonder if they get bonus points for filling in their name in the right place.
:D
05-30-2002, 11:24 PM
Damaso

Don't blame the kids. Blame lazy parents and unprofessional teachers.
05-30-2002, 11:26 PM
eggler

A test for history? "multiple-choice"? If it was 1 out of 4, you could get 40% by just guessing. Is this what you would call a cake class or what? :) If I remember rightly we had to write 2000 word assignments, and the one test we did have we still writing a 1000 words.... (Queensland school, only a few years ago).
05-30-2002, 11:48 PM
]v[orpheus

Quote:

Originally posted by LanSite
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.

Multiple choice of course. :rolleyes:
That still wouldn't have helped some of the no-brainers in my year when I was back in high school. That test sure is ridiculous. Not really a test of what you've learnt.
05-31-2002, 03:02 AM
SeaWolf

Those who forget history are bound to repeat it.
Late
05-31-2002, 03:06 AM
jamble

I hate exams, they're not a reflection on how well you know your subject but rather how well you can do in a one off sitting. Coursework that is done over the length of your subject is much better.

I'm glad I've been there and done it now, I hated school and university was merely a social exercise in alcohol consumption :D
05-31-2002, 03:16 AM
gurdas

Quote:

Originally posted by jamble7000
I hate exams, they're not a reflection on how well you know your subject but rather how well you can do in a one off sitting. Coursework that is done over the length of your subject is much better.

im quite opposite, i hate coursework and much prefer the exams.:)
05-31-2002, 05:18 AM
defuzz

The problem wit exams is that theyt are suppossed to encourage you to spend a long time preparing in order to answer a range of possible questions but I for one spent a day for each of my exams cramming all the important info for a few possible questions and I did fine.

Coursework is no different, the best marks I got were when I wrote the essay the night before it was due (only possible with 3000 words or less essays)
05-31-2002, 07:10 AM
SJT

pah, you could get 25% just by ticking box A all the way through in theory....
05-31-2002, 12:20 PM
]v[orpheus

Quote:

Originally posted by jamble7000
I hate exams, they're not a reflection on how well you know your subject but rather how well you can do in a one off sitting. Coursework that is done over the length of your subject is much better.

I know what you mean. One time I did a robotics course and the instructor was a guy I worked for on an IT project at IBM. Anyway, someone asked him if there was a test and he replied "I don't believe in tests. They teach you what you don't know."
05-31-2002, 12:40 PM
siriusss

Compare the US to other countries, use me as an example if u want, i get like 95% right on an american test i pass evry year (TASS) yet in france i only get 12/20, barely enough to scrape through, (I speak both languages fluently so it is as easy for me to take a test in french or english (or spanish))
-Sirius(15)
05-31-2002, 12:42 PM
killabry

Quote:

Originally posted by gurdas

Quote:

Originally posted by jamble7000
I hate exams, they're not a reflection on how well you know your subject but rather how well you can do in a one off sitting. Coursework that is done over the length of your subject is much better.

im quite opposite, i hate coursework and much prefer the exams.:)

I'm like that too.