Not to be confused with texting and driving.

So my daughter is doing her 8th grade testing stuff and we just learned that if she, or any student, fails the reading for 8th grade, they can not get a license until they are 18 vs getting at 16 or whatever it was. SInce when has this been law..?

The state Dept of Education says their website has an alternative that those students can do/take to make up for it… but I just looked at their site… I couldn't make WTF with that site, too busy and confusing and can't find a damn thing.

So how long has this crap been law and does anyone know what or if there is an alternative to speed up the process of her getting a license, in the off chance she failed the test. Its crap because if fucks over all those kids that are great in class but suck at tests.

I am a teacher. Allow me to help.

Yes every 8th grader in the state of Oklahoma has to take and pass a reading test during their 8th grade year. If they pass it is not an issue and they can get their permits and later their drivers license. Now, on the odd chance that a student does not pass the reading test they will be denied the paperwork that is necessary to take the permit written portion of the test and consequently they will not be allowed to take the drivers test to get their license. NOW, having said that..... The district MUST provide remediation to any student that does not pass the test, AND they must also allow the student to retest. The student may take the exam as many times as they need to in order to pass. Once they have passed they may proceed with their associated driver test. Simple....

I have had students that have had to take the exam as many as 6 times before passing it and most hAd their license by their late sophomore or early junior year. Please remember that I am a Science teacher not a reading or grammar teacher.

Cheers

Well thanks for that enlightenment, what I've been reading and what my daughter has been told apparently is that if a student fails the 8th grade reading test, they will not be able to retest and thus not get a license or permit till they turn 18. Guess thats bum scoop.

ETA: How long has this been a law? I can't recall that being a requirement when I was in 8th grade, nor can Household 6

You know it seems Like this has been in effect since Oklahoma adopted no child left behind. The teachers at your daughters school are idiots! You NEVER, EVER send kids into a test with a threat, or scare tactic like that. If teachers are uptight about a test, the kids will be the same. Tell her that all her teachers are trying to do is scare the kids into taking the test seriously. They know better than pull that shit on a kid! BAD FORM! VERY BAD FORM!

The bottom line is that they know they will have to provide remediation, and they also know they are  obligated; with parent urging, to arrange for the kids that don't pass to be able to retest.

Shame on them!

Thats what we figured. It seemed rather stupid for a kid to fail and not be remediated and retested. Her school got an A on the report card too.

Hell I was in HS about the time No child left behind was in affect I think.

I'm not sure exactly how long it's been law but it was sometime in the late 90's when it went into effect.  I have worked in the Admin office of a school for over 20 years and I've been handing out reading test forms for a long, long time.  The graduated drivers license is something fairly new.  Just in the last three or four years.  Might want to read up on that.  There are quite a few more restrictions on a 16 year old than there used to be.

Sorry Friend, but I can remember as far back as 2004 that kids couldn't take the test if they failed.

i got my drivers license in 96 and there was no requirement for passing a reading test.  I do believe this may have gone into effect when the graduated licenses were instated

It was around 2000 + or - a year or two.  I know it was before 2004 because we annexed another school district that year and I was handing out proof of 8th grade reading test before then.

Does the reading test consist of two questions?
Do you have $50?
Do you have it on you?
You have to answer yes to both of them to pass!

I was in 8th grade during the 2001-02 school year and I had to pass the reading test to get my license at 16.

Neither of my 3 children were asked to provide proof of passing the test when they went for their license. How does the license testing agencies know if a teenager passed the test or not?

I don't know when your kids took the test, but now they have a signed form from the school. I haven't seen the document itself but I do know they can't take the written test without it.

I think it was about 8-9 years ago this started.

How would a home schooled child get such a "signed form from the school"?

Say she is an illegal immigrant of course.

2000-01 school year, my younger brother missed it and he graduated in 2000.  At the HS I am at, the paper certifying that the student passed is notarized and has the school seal--in a sealed envelope.  As to the home schooled kids, there is a way to pass it in driving school or on the OK EDU web site.  The idea of passing a test is like holding a carrot in front of a mule, and the diploma vs a certificate of attendance for those who don't pas 4 of 7 EOI tests---just a way to put more pressure of testing on the kids.

The home school kid would arrange to take the test through the local school system, or to take the test through state agencies. They then would then get the notarized form from the appropriate authority: the school district OR their certified testing facility.

Oklahoma has been churning graduates out like crazy that can't even read and barely write their own name.  Seems like forcing schools to actually educate students might be a start.  At my school there were quite a few folks that graduated who spent their entire high school years in the "Learning Disability" class who should have came out knowing how to read and write far beyond what they could.  The "LD" class was used as a place to house students who didn't want to try and learn.  They just stamped them "LD" and they sat in there all day playing games and having a grand time.  I knew several personally and they loved that they got to graduate without doing anything difficult.  It's always been Oklahoma's dirty little secret and it still goes on today.  Forcing students to pass a reading test to get a drivers license is one way but I suspect, just like diploma's, many students are "helped along" so they get their letter for a DL.