> SOUTHERN INDIANA — It’s not only a test

  Summer has arrived, and students are now enjoying a much needed break and time to recover from testing fatigue. Many school systems can now document that more than 100 of their 180 day yearly calendars are in some way altered due to mandates and policies imposed by the Statehouse with regard to testing.

Most of the public is aware of the ISTEP test, but students must submit to being assessed through other such test as Acuity, Star Reader, Star Math, beginning, middle and end-of-the-year Oral Reading Fluency, Writing Prompts and so on. This is just the testing and doesn’t include the daily/weekly preparation, homework, remediation and retesting.

This is not a comprehensive list, but only what comes to mind for fourth-graders, and surely the list could be added to in other school corporations and at other grade levels.

As you might imagine, all the assessments have a tendency to lead to a good deal of testing fatigue, because all of the above mentioned test occur in addition to regular instruction of concepts and standards and traditional formal assessments. Likewise, once fatigue has set in, an attitude of ambivalence toward the test is difficult to prevent.

Finally, it seems as though it is time to ask, is all the testing necessary and in the best interest of our students? Do students learn best by taking test ad nauseum? Are we testing to better serve students, or is the relentless pursuit of data our top priority?

And maybe we should ask, what value is that data if students are worn out, burned out and don’t really give a hoot because tomorrow they will get to take another test?

Thankfully, kids now have a few weeks to begin recovery from the current overdose prescription mandated by the Statehouse before they start churning out data again in August.

Hopefully, a few of the script writers in Indianapolis will begin to objectively discuss some of the above mentioned questions while our students take a breather.

— Julian Smith, Hope



Jeff resident doesn’t dig canal idea



Jeffersonville residents, have you gotten over the shock of your last sewage bills yet? You ain’t seen nothing yet.

There will be a meeting at 6 p.m. in room 101 at City Hall off 10th Street, detailing progress of the canal project.

The media has consistently linked the canal with combined sewage-storm water overflow (CFOs) and its costs, but at an earlier meeting it was disclosed the two are separate.

This insanely expensive project can be stopped, but only if everyone who opposes prohibitively expensive sewage bills expresses their opposition by attending this meeting. See you there.

— John Van Binsbergen, Jeffersonville





Reader: Crime shouldn’t lead to education



So ... let me get this straight, two thugs lay in wait for a pizza guy, stab him multiple times, leave him for dead, steal his car, are convicted of the horrible crime and, now, they may get out because they are “model” prisoners and got their GEDs and went to college on my dime? Are you serious?

Unbelievable! Since when did prison become a reward? I thought it was supposed to be punishment.

They should rot in jail. They were old enough to plan and commit the crime, they are old enough to serve all of the sentence. What about the victim? Did he get his college paid for? His medical bills?

There should be a law that criminals have to find they’re own way to pay for college while in jail. Any politicians want to sponsor a bill like that?

— Chris Smith, Jeffersonville