Re:Standard-ized, the Rise (in the fall): "You ready for this?!"

Rising and Falling: While the recent and anticipated rise in interest rates (by "The Feds"😔😕😟) has gotten, occupied the attention of many 'day traders' and contributed to the decline in "The Dow"...and while fall, "Autumnal Equinox" will not technically arrive around these parts of these United States of America for several hours yet, children of (compulsory) school age who have returned, met their new teacher(s), some of whom have already exposed, subjected their students to tests -- some of which, based on the students' report to the parents upon "pick-up" or returning home otherwise, been designed and arranged by the teachers themselves, sampling their acquired, especially their "retained" knowledge in areas instrumental to academic success, since the almost three month hiatus, still known around here as "summer vacation", more formally referred to by some educators as "summer recess" ("re:cess" itself being a subject for an upcoming post). Whereas other tests some students, based on the design and the way in which the tests were administered (including those that are "computer assisted/adapted") are more of the "standardized" variety...the kind that are given to each student the same way, according to some detailed set of standardization procedures, and the scores derived (sometimes simultaneously, at least only after a very brief delay, enough for the computer to compute) are interpreted according to some standards as well -- standards that allow teachers and parents alike to know if the student (as well as teacher, parent, school district) is making "progress" at such a rate that is deemed "proficient", "acceptable"...even "exceptional". Scores that can be understood and used to "inform" educators and their "partners" (parents), scores that can even be interpreted accurately by a trained, if not "certified" educator who might have to step in at the last minute...

Sub-Standards: Yep, there's even standards by which "subs" as in "substitute teachers" (where there has been an increase, rise in demand nation-wide lately, spawning several private educational contracting agencies, offering even some educators who have taken "buy-outs" to come back, at least part-time, after a specified time away) are rated. The substitute teacher has already learned, which is why I held them up in my undergraduate and graduate classes in "Educational Psychology" -- especially under the subject of "Classroom Management" -- as those who are going to going to be 'tested' the most ("Hey, did you hear we're having a sub today, let's see what we can get away with; let's see if we can chase this one off even quicker than the one last week..."). While most of us didn't and won't experience such an intense, 'target rich' environment, crucible for which we are to be judged, deemed either "ready", "proficient" "passing"...versus "sub-standard", we have all, assuming we attended school until we graduated, took and were judged, compared with some aspirations set for up for us, other groups of students, and even ourselves...all this thought up, created in our behalf, with permission by our parents, by some who are far removed from our school. Depending on when you went to school, especially if you are a recent "grad" you experienced an increase in the frequency by which some specific tests are administered to see not only "what" you knew but "if" you knew, what "they" (the educational experts that design curriculum, decide what teachers are going to teach US) deemed "proficient"...those that US who took the tests and even the ones administering the tests (teachers in most cased, sometimes referred to as "proctors")...increasingly referred to as...

"The Outsiders" meet "Stand and Deliver" - coming soon.