NationStates Jolt Archive

Please have your UN delegates look through the proposals in waiting. In particular, have a look at the Abolishment of Standardized Testing. Listen to the voices of your teachers! None of you were standard students therefore should NOT be tested against each other in order to receive funding for your schools. If it keeps up, you will lose arts, athletics, and extra-curriculars quickly!

Thank you for your support in this matter.

Prime Minister/Interim UN Delegate of the Region of Selstadia

its usually polite to post a copy of the proposal as well or at least a link to it. :)

Being the nice guy...

Outlaw Standardized Testing
A resolution to promote funding and the development of education and the arts.


Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Educational
Proposed by: New Pattonia

Description: Given, UN members with compulsory public education and national, regional, and/or state testing of educational standards.

Whereas, the current state of education in the world is reduced to student ability to master standardized tests.

Whereas, standardized testing is based soley on biased, unresearched material...

Whereas, art, music, athletics, and other co-curricular programs continually lose funding in favor of increased standardized testing...

Whereas, there currently exists no criteria to define a "standardized student"...

Whereas, testing is used to increase funding for high-scoring public school divisions/districts, while those in need of funding receive less and less based upon poor test scores...

Resolved, these UNITED NATIONS hereby and heretofore ABOLISH COMPULSORY STANDARDIZED TESTING OF ALL STUDENTS ATTENDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN ALL MEMBER NATIONS, effectively ending competitive-based funding and a worldwide pandemic of "teaching to the test."

Approvals: 2 (New Pattonia, Elciervos)

Status: Lacking Support (requires 119 more approvals)

Voting Ends: Fri Sep 15 2006

This sounds like a national problem, not an international one.

"This is one of the rare occasions where I'll have to agree. Though I dislike the concept of standardized testing, I just don't think this is something the UN should mess with."

*snip*Take your teacher-union propaganda to General, dearheart. This is not a matter for the NSUN.

Interesting to see whether this is ruled illegal for contradiction of UN Educational Aid Act.

Anyway:
Given, UN members with compulsory public education and national, regional, and/or state testing of educational standards.
Yes? Given what, or given this what?

I always like it when proposals telling us how to teach our children start with such poor grammar.

Whereas, the current state of education in the world is reduced to student ability to master standardized tests.
No, not really. We don't even have standardized tests in Gruenberg, nor know what they mean. For now, we'll proceed on the assumption they equate to the various tests that are compulsory within our education system.

Whereas, standardized testing is based soley on biased, unresearched material...
Oh, is it? Pray, tell me what are Gruenberg's tests based on?

(The clue's actually in the question...knowledge of ritual prayer features heavily.)

Seems to me this proposal lacks research. And is biased. So...

Whereas, art, music, athletics, and other co-curricular programs continually lose funding in favor of increased standardized testing...
Gruenberg's mandatory test elements feature musical requirements to the age of 12. You're right about art though...but we're glad not to fund that, as it only encourages free thinking and nudity.

Whereas, there currently exists no criteria to define a "standardized student"...
Of course there are! They are:
1. That they are loyal and obedient to the state.
2. That they know and fear the terrible glory of Holy Mother Wena.
3. That they respect and cherish their family.
4. That they loathe Gurglestanis.
5. That they are proficient with a basic range of automatic weaponry.

Reading skills are more optional.

Whereas, testing is used to increase funding for high-scoring public school divisions/districts, while those in need of funding receive less and less based upon poor test scores...
What a silly way to allocate funds you must have in your nation. In ours, we base it on factors like the racial composition of the student body, the fervour of the school's celebration of state and religious holidays, and the severity of corporal punishment they employ...and occasionally how good the school actually is.

Hence, we must oppose this. We think you should concentrate on reforming your own education system, before you start meddling with ours: start with abolishing it and letting families teach what's right and proper.

~Lori Jiffjeff
Legal Aide
Minister of Sandy Vaginas
Chair, "Mothers Against Weird Stuff"

Interesting to see whether this is ruled illegal for contradiction of UN Educational Aid Act.Well, I don't really even need to read that far...

"A resolution to promote funding and the development of education and the arts."

I'm not really seeing how banning a test (since that's all this does) is going to translate to increased funding.

And, yeah, Kenny's right. This reads as little more than a General Forum-esque rant.

You're right about art though...but we're glad not to fund that, as it only encourages free thinking and nudity.We support all three!

Yet, strangely, we still voted for Gruenberg's latest proposal. Go figure.

Seriously, though, not everyone uses standardized exams, and yet for some things, standardized exams are called for (first aid classes, for instance). That's why we see this as a national issue.

We support all three!

Yet, strangely, we still voted for Gruenberg's latest proposal. Go figure.

Seriously, though, not everyone uses standardized exams, and yet for some things, standardized exams are called for (first aid classes, for instance). That's why we see this as a national issue.

I am very much in agreement with the representative from Community Property that this is quite outside of the appropriate scope of this body, and would oppose any interference in national educational systems, given that there is already a wonderful resolution by the fine representatives from Gruenberg addressing education.

Hellar Gray

There is absolutely nothing wrong with standardized testing. If properly developed, it can be a valuable tool for measuring educational quality. If the results of the testing are misused, that's a completely different issue. It's also an issue that can and should be addressed by nations, not the NSUN.

Hurlbot Barfanger
Ambassador to the United Nations.

Standardized testing is frequently abused. The problem is, everyone involved games the system. You never end up testing what you mean to test. If the standarized tests are given any importance, then teachers inevitably end up teaching to the test. If that trend continues then the tests end up creating a sort of dogma, as to what should be taught and what shouldn't.

We greatly prefer tenured professors be given freedom to teach what they see fit. (We like to make sure they only get tenured if it's felt they did a reasonably good job as a teacher, but we error on the side of granting tenure. Can't have too many teachers. )

We also prefer professors provide clear course descriptions in advance of teaching a class. Even if that description reads "Whatever I feel like teaching when I wake up hung over the next day." The important thing is that students can make an informed decision when they choose classes.

I'm falling off topic though, we just want to make sure the UN doesn't start dictating in the class room. They have interfered enough with the content of our text books.

UN Res needs YOUR backing!

This needs a hell of a lot more than my backing. It also needs a justification. Funny how that's missing.

HotRodian UN Representative
Accelerus Dioce