Backwards Georgia

To be clear, I am not a native Georgian. This is certainly evident by my regular use of sentences with subject verb agreement, my use of the helping verb “have” with its appropriate main verb to make the perfect tense, and my lack of Appalachian twang. Until last night, I thought Georgians' lack of command of the English language was due to some genetic predisposition or the mountain air.

I have children in grade school who are required by the State of Georgia to complete the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) annually. Allegedly, this grade specific test is used to assess students’ grasp of standardized curricula and the quality of Georgia education. Well Georgia, you deserve a D-. From October through April, each teacher in Georgia, instead of teaching fundamental concepts (which I thought was the purpose of educational institutions), teach methods of getting passing scores on the CRCT because school funding and teacher assignment may be significantly based upon the results. So each week, my children receive worksheets designed with questions which are likely to be on the CRCT. Imagine my sheer disappointment and outright anger when one of my children’s worksheet packets had five egregious errors. These were not printing errors, rather grammatical errors. Might one please explain to me how an instructional device is fundamentally flawed in its purpose and execution—comprised of errors pertaining to the very concepts and topics of instruction? Here are the egregious errors:

EX 1

That is the funniest movie I ever ______.

A. saw

B. seed

C. seen

In the above example there is no option which provides for completing the sentence with the verb having the appropriate tense. The sentence should be changed to read, “That was the funniest movie I ever_____” or the choice C should be changed to have seen.

There is another question which appears to be either an algebraic equation or a simple addition problem. However, there are no instructions even though each of the prior and subsequent problems have specific directions.

EX 2

87 + 42=

F. 129 – 42

G. 42+87

H. 42-87

I. 87+129

I’m guessing the purpose of this question is to demonstrate that number arrangement in addition is of no consequence to the sum?? This is a guess, nonetheless, something I should have to do before I even begin to work the problem.

Finally, each of the three fraction questions was structured with subject verb disagreement. I’ll provide you with one example.

EX 3

What fraction of the balloons are shaded?

Even as I type this, MS Word recognizes the error. Perhaps the authors and editors of the worksheet use typewriters. This is a really simple concept. Fraction is the singular subject and therefore takes a singular verb which in this case should have been is. The phrase, “of the balloons” is the prepositional phrase and it does not change the number of the subject or the verb.

I shared this with my mother who replied, “Wow, so do they teach the same way they speak in Georgia?”

Apparently so.