<html>
<body>
<font size=3>Gregory Palast has reported New York children are being
requires to sit a test to determine whether they can proceed beyond Third
Grade. Culture-rich (or culture-poor if you feel US
culture is poor) questions are inserted which seem to insert a class
basis (and along with it a colour basis) to the test. There
are alternatives if you don't make it. You can seek transfer to
another school (which is not funded to take you, and just under 3% of
applicants get in, fewer in other States). And there's always the
army . . .<br><br>
"When de-coding politicians' babble to get to the real agenda, don't
read their lips, read their budgets", Palast advises <br><br>
That's in America. Anyone on the list know how Australia with its
growth of pressure for national testing stacks up? Are the tests
culture-neutral? What are the opportunities for students who show
up as deficient? Is there funding?<br><br>
Gregory Palast's article can be read at
<a href="http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=476&row=0" eudora="autourl">
http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=476&row=0</a> .<br><br>
Dion Giles<br><br>
</font></body>
</html>