Teachers group pulls student survey rapped for questions on God
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008
An Arkansas teachers organization agreed Monday to remove an Internet questionnaire for middle-school students to assess their attitudes after a parent objected to eight questions that she said were religious in nature.
Sharla Hartzell, the president-elect for the Arkansas Career Orientation Teachers Association, said teachers will rewrite the 100-question survey and place it back on the Internet for teachers across the state to use at a later date.
“I’m very disappointed,” Hartzell said. “But we’ve agreed to revise it and repost it.” The questionnaire drew the ire of Lisa Lee, a Bull Shoals parent of two Flippin Middle School eighth-grade boys Thursday.
Lee said one of her sons did not finish the survey in class and took it home to complete.
“He filled it out at home while I was cooking Thursday night,” she said. “I looked at it, and I got furious.” Lee objects to eight questions that ask whether students believe in God, whether they pray about problems, whether they say grace before meals, whether they regularly read the Bible and other spiritual questions.
“That’s a hell of a taboo,” she said of the questions.
“That’s religious profiling. It’s geared toward Christianity; students will score higher if they believe in Christianity.
“ What if you’re a Buddhist ? What if you’re an atheist ? Does that mean you’re not going to be as successful ?” she asked. “The whole thing was ludicrous.” The test also asked students whether they made friends easily, whether they organize their work, whether they enjoy visiting museums and reading poetry, whether they like being “in charge” when with friends and other personality-based questions.
Hartzell said the test was designed to let eighth-grade students assess their own attitudes. Students answer questions on a semantic scale and then tally the scores after completing it.
A score of 400 or above indicates the student has a “very positive outlook” and could be “very successful with everything you do,” the survey instructions read. If a student scored 200 or lower, it “means you don’t have a very good perspective of the world around you... and you need an attitude adjustment for your own good well-being,” the instructions read.
The test, developed by teachers in the career-orientation association, has been in use for at least three years, Hartzell said.
This is the first time a parent has complained about its content.
“The purpose of the test was misunderstood,” Hartzell said. “Students use it to assess their attitude. It’s not graded, and teachers don’t record their answers. It’s a self-assessment.” In a brief statement issued Monday afternoon, John Davidson, Arkansas Department of Workforce Education deputy director for Career and Technical Education, urged the teachers association to remove the questionnaire from its Web site.
“We feel this survey is inappropriate...” Davidson said in the statement. “We were unaware the document existed until it was brought to our attention.” Davidson said in the statement that his department refers teachers to the Arkansas Career Orientation Teachers Association Web site, www. arcota. org.
The site was temporarily unavailable Monday night, and a note said revisions were being made.
“We are currently reviewing that practice,” he said. “We are currently reviewing all information on the [association’s ] Web site.” Flippin School District Superintendent Dale Query met with Lee on Monday morning and agreed to discontinue use of the test in his school.
“She felt the questions were offensive,” he said.
The questionnaires were to be completed by Monday, he said, but they were not to be graded.
“It’s unfortunate,” Hartzell said. “I think it’s been taken out of context. The way students believe does affect their futures.
“ We will put a revised version on our Web site and if people want to continue using it, they can,” she said.
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