John Oliver features the Pineapple on his takedown of standardized testing

Check out last night's hilarious take-down of the insanity of standardized testing in this country by John Oliver; including the infamous
"Hare and the Pineapple" passage, which was  part of the NY 8th grade ELA exam in 2012.  This passage was exposed first on this blog the day after the exam was given and quickly went viral.  

But the real scandal is that before that, this  absurd passage and its associated ridiculous questions had been used by Pearson in their standardized exams in Florida, Illinois, Delaware, New Mexico, Arkansas, Alabama and other states for at least seven years before the New York media picked up on the story. Every time, students had been confused, teachers and parents complained, and yet Pearson kept recycling the questions, over and over again.


Below is the video from last night's how; to the right is a screenshot of our blog.

Pineapplegate and the media storm that has ensued

Credit: Bramhall Cartoons, Daily News

Here is a rather breathless account of what is now being called Pineapplegate.  I had no idea what a media storm would erupt as a result of Thursday’s blog post.  Please also be sure to fill out this short parent survey about the testing regime in NY State.  If you are a teacher, fill this one out, and if a principal fill this one.  These surveys were developed by the NYS principals who wrote the protest letter to the Commissioner, opposing the new teacher evaluation system.

On Thursday morning, on the train to Washington DC, I posted my piece revealing the absurd Pineapple reading passage and questions on the 8^th grade ELA exam. By the time I returned to NYC Friday night, NYS Education Commissioner John King had already released the full passage and its associated questions, and put out a statement, saying the section would not be scored because of their ambiguous nature of the questions.

Ever since, I haven’t had time to catch my breath about the plethora of articles being published about what is now being called Pineapplegate.   There are nearly seventy stories about the issue listed on Google News. 

The first media outlets to jump on the scandal late Thursday night were the Daily News (which credited this blog) and NY1.  By Friday afternoon, the Washington Post and Time magazine had blogged about it, and the Wall St. Journal interviewed Daniel Pinkwater, author of the original story from which the passage on the exam was based.

The NY Times reported on the story on Saturday, and though the reporter credited the Daily News rather than our blog with breaking the story, at least she had the good sense to quote Diane Ravitch and Debbie Meier.  Also on Saturday, the highly conservative Daily News ran an editorial blasting Commissioner King and Regent Merryl Tisch:

Allowing nonsense like “The Pineapple and the Hare” to be placed before New York students, many of whom found it absurd, gave testing foes powerful ammunition to argue that standardized exams cannot be trusted.

Tisch and King must a) get their acts together, b) recognize that they have no margin for error, c) build a consensus that their testing program is excellent, d) all of the above. The right answer is unambiguous and obvious.

The Fordham Institute, right wing home of many of the worst corporate reform ideas, carried a strong critique of the carelessness of NYS and the testing companies for including these indefensible questions, and strengthening the arguments of “anti-testing” advocates like me:

But the real outrage among those of us who care deeply about accountability is why these problems aren’t being caught earlier. For too long we have been focusing our attention on expanding the use of tests to more grades and more subject areas and increasing the consequences tied to the results of these tests without taking a hard look at the uneven quality of the tests themselves….’m sure this story will only add fuel to the anti-testing fire, and frankly, it would be very hard to argue that it shouldn’t. After all, how can we possibly hold students accountable to such poorly written questions aligned to such poorly written prose?

The NY Post reporter chimed in, adding new revelations about complaints rolling in about other passages on other ELA exams this year, including from teachers of deaf kids.

On Sunday, Daniel Pinkwater, the author of the original story, had an oped in the Daily News, calling these world’s dumbest test questions, and saying he got “dirty money” from “sleazy people” in return for allowing them use his story in their tests.

A teacher/blogger put out a clever parody, called The Fruitcake and the Big Banana, about Race to the Top and the damaging policies of the Obama administration.

Newsday reported that because the exams were so long and grueling this year, many students had trouble completing them, and some were so tired that they began to fill in answer sheets at random, a phenomenon known as “bubbling.”

About the only organization not to speak out is Pearson itself, which created these tests, using the same confusing reading passage about the Pineapple and the Hare, and ridiculous, unanswerable questions in at least six other states over SEVEN long years.  And to whose benefit, the NY State Education Department has decided to refuse to disclose their exams, even after students have taken them.

But never fear.  Pearson was paid $32 million for these tests, and the company’s pre-tax profits surged last year by 72%, totaling nearly $1.8 billion.  Meanwhile our school budgets are cut to the bone, class sizes are increasing each year, and our children are subjected to baffling high-stakes and expensive exams, with NO oversight and NO quality control.   Pearson is also spending more on lobbying to further expand their market and ensure that the government encourages even more absurd and unreliable high-stakes tests for years to come.

Oh, and the trip to DC?  I was with a group of Parents Across America representatives from throughout the country, who attended a parent meeting at t the US Department of Education. We also met with Congressional staffers.  Nearly all of these inside-the-beltway officials were absolutely clueless about how outraged parents have become about the expansion of high-stakes testing in their children’s schools, and the hugely negative effect it has had.

Clearly, a revolution is brewing, but whether the corporate reformers will have the sense to realize and step back before it is too late is still uncertain.  Perhaps only the Pineapple knows for sure, and he’s not talking.  As one teacher tweeted over the weekend, Pearson has moved it to an undisclosed location.

See also video from WABC news below.  And don’t forget to take these parent and teacher surveys!

Survey For Parents, Survey for Teachers; Survey for Principals.

The Pineapple and the Hare: Pearson's absurd, nonsensical ELA exam, recycled endlessly throughout country

There was a ridiculous passage on Tuesday’s 8^th grade NY State ELA exam about a Pineapple and a Hare, along with some equally absurd questions.  Here is a comment about the passage from a student:

I had this same story for my 8th grade ELA New York state test! Everybody was talking about it afterward & how it didn't make any sense. I read the story at least 5 times over because i was so confused and the story made no sense to me! Also, the questions that came after it was confusing!

Apparently, the same reading passage and associated questions have been recycled by Pearson for standardized exams in Florida, Illinois, Delaware, New Mexico, Arkansas, Alabama, and perhaps other states, causing huge confusion among students for at least the last seven years. 

If you would like to read the nonsensical story, by Daniel Pinkwater, it is online. 

There is even a Facebook page about this absurd reading passage and the ridiculous questions that students have been asked about it since 2006; as well as commentary and discussion since 2007 on this blog: In the Break Room: Pineapples Don't Have Sleeves.

Here is the original post of an Illinois parent, named Bryan, in 2007: “Who picks the stories for the ISAT [Ilinois Standardized Achievement Test]? was someone all alone in a dark room, petulantly muttering "I'll show 'em!" 

As another student wrote in 2008 , “The pineapple story is... astounding. How could this even make it past the school board?! Who thought, "Hey! This story makes TOTAL sense?”

In 2009, a different student wrote: “We had this on our eighth grade SATs. It was completely pointless, and none of the answer choices were straightforward. It was insane. “

Another wrote, the same year, “I had that story on my testing today (in Arkansas) i thought it was so stupid, me and my friends couldn't keep ourselves from laughing. seriously, the moral of the story is that pineapples don't have sleeves? That’s nice."

In 2010, a student wrote, “We had the same question on the Delaware Student Testing Program, Delaware’s state test! I was so confused!

And another the same year, “It's on the Alabama test too! When I read it, I just put down random answers since I had no clue.  I'm still confused about the WHOLE thing. “

And an Arkansas student the same year, “I had to read this story recently for the Arkansas SAT9 test. I am in the eighth grade and it took every ounce of will power i had to not either a) bust out laughing, or b) yell out "what is this???" in the middle of the test... This was one of the stupidest stories I have ever had to read for a standardized test... though it was definitely the talk of the school after we took the test and everyone got different answers to the questions because, lets face it, there were no good answers... “

And on and on and on. 

Here is the author’s response after being asked about this “random and pointless” story in 2006:

March 22nd, 2006
From: Aaron Smith

Mr. Pinkwater,

This past week we have been taking the ISAT tests (Illinois Standards Achievement Test) and on the reading portion they published on of your stories. That story was "The Pineapple and the Hare." I personally enjoyed it because I like random, pointless stories. Unfortunately, we are not legally allowed to copy any part of the test book. What I am asking from you, is if it would be possible to send me an email with that story, or if possible, a signed copy to my home address.

Daniel replies:

I don't have a copy--don't even remember writing it. Evidently I knocked it out for money from whoever makes up those tests. The good news is that all of my stories are random and pointless.

Here, again, is the story if you’d like to read it.

From various reports, these appear to be two of the questions:  

Why did the animals eat the pineapple?
a. they were annoyed
b. they were amused
c. they were hungry
d. they wanted to

            Who was the wisest animal?

a.    the hare

b.    the moose

c.     The crow

d.    The owl

The ONLY right answer is Pearson; for getting paid $32 million from NY State for these recycled, annoying and pointless exams, which the NY Times said they had promised to be "less tricky"! Not to mention the millions of dollars the company is reaping from selling the associated test prep materials in our state.  [See also comments from teachers and principals about how confusing and ambiguous the ELA exams  were in other grades this year.]

 As a NYS student wrote on Tuesday:

I also took the test today, and it also baffled me. ….Unfortunately, this was an atrocious question. All the options have substantial evidence that can bolster them. With any luck, this portion of the examination was a field test and did not count.

But why put a reading passage with questions so nonsensical on a state standardized exam, either as a “field test” question or for any other purpose? Especially given the high-stakes nature of these exams, which will be used in NYC to decide which students to hold back, the school's grade on the progress reports, and in the near future, as in integral part of the new statewide teacher evaluation system.

A story that makes no sense and with questions that apparently have no right answer could wreck the confidence of any student on the first day of a strenuous three day ELA exam –was this what it was designed to do so?

 As another  NY student wrote two days ago:

 i also had this for nys ela test and the only thing anyone could talk about today was Who was the wisest? even some of the teachers got into the debate! i choose the moose bc he seemed the wisest but i still dont get it and no1 else does, not even my ela teacher! It seems like it was written by a 4th grader i thought it was a joke when i first read it. oh well looks like everyones gonna b in ais [Academic Intervention Services] English next year....