Public schools slipping?

The first problem with the article Standards tests boost accountability (April 17) is that such tests only pick standardized people like those, I imagine, in the Fraser Institute. Yet diversity is known to be an advantage in nature and also for humanity. Knowing this, the government in its wisdom abolished most of these limited testing instruments in Manitoba.

A second problem with standardized tests is that they don't select the most productive people in society. A number of universities in the U.S. are lowering the priority of Scholastic Aptitude Tests as part of their selection criteria since they are finding that those with the highest scores are not the wisest. Rather, criteria like community service are a better selection mechanism.

A third problem with standardized tests is that the so-called accountability they predict is narrow. Good grades are but one measure of accountability. Even when helpful, such measures miss the many other capabilities manifest by those non-standard people who know how to take care of themselves and their families without benefit of education credentials.

Finally, private schools often score better on standards tests than do public schools. Public schools accept all students while some private schools have selection criteria and economic barriers to enrolment.

The multiple problems in our society today show that standard people are not what we need.

BARRY M. HAMMOND

Winnipeg