News Cut: October 17, 2007 Archive

High school test standards: How hard can this be?

Posted at 11:23 AM on October 17, 2007 by Bob Collins

Granted, Minnesota kids are supposed to be above average. But one would expect even more of kids from Cambridge, in the shadow of Harvard, right?

That's what Phillip Greenspun thinks. A school in his fair city achieved the distinction of the lowest grade on that state's high school biology standards test; lower, he notes, than the immigrant-laden Brockton and Lawrence. All for $23,000 in school spending per student.

Here's a sample of the test:

1) If scientists search other planets for possible life, they are likely to focus on the presence of molecules containing which of the following elements?
A. carbon
B. iron
C. potassium
D. sodium

2) A hurricane sweeps across a small Caribbean island, killing 50 percent of the herbivore species on the island. Which of the following is the most immediate result?
A. a reduction in biodiversity
B. an acceleration of the carbon cycle
C. an increase in predator populations
D. a decline in decomposer populations

3) In a mouse population inhabiting a grassland area, a mutation occurs that results in a new coat color allele. Which of the following factors has the greatest effect on whether the new coat color will become more common in the mouse population?
A. whether abundant food is available in the grassland
B. whether the new coat color allele is dominant or recessive
C. whether the rate of reproduction in the mouse population is stable
D. whether the new coat color allele increases the survival of mice in their environment

A,A, D, in case you didn't know. Which, of course, BNG didn't.

How about Minnesota kids? This state doesn't -- at least up to now -- test kids on science; the emphasis in the state has been on math and reading.

That's changing. This year, for the first time, kids will be tested on science.

Because BNG is a member of an older generation, he is inclined to chortle about the knowledge level of today's kids. "Bring it on," he is alleged to have declared, in advance of seeing a sample of the test.

Lucky shot. Give him another!

Ummmmm....

BNG went 0 for 6, if you include the ones not answered. Take that, Cambridge!

But what does this have to do with your kid?

Posted at 11:50 AM on October 17, 2007 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

MPR reporter Lorna Benson profiles Dr. Grace Buwule today ("Uganda doctor takes home diabetes strategies honed in Minnesota"). Buwule takes what he learns in Minnesota, with the hope of making a difference in combating the disease in Uganda.

University of Minnesota diabetes doctor Toni Moran knows first hand the challenges Buwule faces. Moran spent a couple weeks at Buwule's clinic this summer.

"The situation was so desperate that I couldn't help thinking of all the ways that just little, little things could help make a difference," says Moran.

What does this have to do with Minnesota? Listen To Kayci Rush, whose 8-year-old was one of Dr. Moran's patients, and who sponsors a program to provide insulin and testing supplies for kids.

But remember, lack of access is not just a 3rd world problem. Here in Minneapolis, working poor and immigrant families who have diabetes struggle to control their disease. Free clinics, like the ones run by the Sisters of Carondelet, can only provide limited testing supplies and insulin to a very limited number of patients.

In the U.S. the supplies for Kayci Rush's son would cost the family $500 a month.

Diabetes is the sixth-leading cause of death in Minnesota. The rate among adults has nearly doubled in the last ten years, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. With obesity rates soaring, the problem is sure to get worse. Dr. Kevin Peterson of Minneapolis, suggests an aggressive approach to fat kids before they develop diabetes, by the way. He suggests tactics learned from tobacco and alcohol treatment. For parents, that also means limiting TV and computer time to 2 hours a day, which sounds like blaming technology. He's not. He's blaming parents. The ones who have to spend $500 a month.

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