How'd you do this time? Isn't this a better indicator of how high up the food chain you can climb? Can you imagine how pumped a student would feel when they find out that they actually qualify for, say, a career as a C-17 Loadmaster? Or how about a position as a helmsman (helmsperson) on a spaceship-like nuclear submarine? Or how about a job as a corpsman (corpsperson) saving lives in the medical field? How's that for a student starting out a long and promising life as an honorable, decent, and intelligent human being?
By mandating the ASVAB as a NHSEE, we get to accomplish three things:
- Determine for prospective employers whether a student can authentically claim the title of high school graduate
- Assesses the strengths and weaknesses of students in ten different S.T.E.M.- and non-S.T.E.M.-related fields that are essential for survival in the real world
- If military service is to be an option, then the tests have already been completed
We also think that that these tests can give a better indicator of where students are in their learning. Here's how: if the tests are administered starting in the 8th grade, and students take the tests at the end of every school year, then we get a five-year learning-growth chart.
Conclusion
Of course, the for-profit testing industry will be lobbying as all hell against the ideas presented in this article. Which begs a very interesting question: Why lobby in the first place against using a universally accepted, world-class standardized test that is already paid for by the taxpayer, which does not take money away from schools, and is a better indicator of a student's aptitude and growth? Is this really about the children, or i$ thi$ really about $omething el$e, hmm?
And as far as teacher accountability goes, we would rather they be held accountable to students being able to pass the ASVAB than for any and all other for-profit standardized tests out there. If it's good enough for the armed services, then it's good enough. Period.
The ASVAB. It's not just for our military any more.
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