Thread: Throwing in the Towel

Haven't some states told the Dept. of Ed what to do with their federal money? I haven't kept up with this stuff. Would the Feds cut off school lunches if they were told where to stick NCLB? What did we do before Jimmy Carter invented the DOE? Since I attended Catholic schools, I have no idea (my parents sacrificed a lot to put 8 kids through 12 years of Catholic school).

One of the interesting ironies is that some bright San Antonio kids have refused to take the State Test. They may not get to walk across the stage, but they have already been accepted by the college of their choice. Someone should tell the high school students that they can get into a community college without the State Test. Granted, they may have to take another test, but it's a placement test. About half the students entering community college have to take remedial courses anyway.

I can most certainly identify and understand.

We just finished with our annual round of academic child abuse (testing), three mornings of 140 minutes each of standardized testing.

There have been days this year when I wish I could hang it up too.

Originally Posted by Roy/SATX

About half the students entering community college have to take remedial courses anyway.

I continue to wonder why this happens. Oh yes, I have some idea, but cannot be sure.

Regardless, this phenom is one of the reasons NCLB was invented or so its authors say. Annual testing is supposed to be a way to be sure students are learning. The cruel irony is that with all the time, money and hysteria this testamania kicks up, it takes away many of the resources needed to serve our students.

Millions are spent on the tests themselves, much to the delight of the test manufacturing companies. :twisted:

Instructional time is gobbled up with prepping for and then taking these tests. My current school district requires us to give "quarter" tests that cost us several hours of classtime every 9 weeks.

Our curriculum coordinator and guidance counselors find themselves sometimes too busy to do their jobs because they are saddled with the responsibility of coordinating these tests.

Who is really benefitting from all of this?

I cannot believe it is our students.

Yesterday I had an interview for a high school math position. This school was just getting out of hot water vis-a-vis NCLB. I was asked one question about math, and several about "testing". What was termed "Enrichment Teacher" is secret code for "get these freshmen ready for the Test". Actually, I think that has a fair amount of freedom to it, since one question was "how would you deal with a lack of sequence and scope", which means "we have no idea how to cobble a course together". I probably won't get an offer, but that's OK. However, I'm also looking at other possibilities in academia besides teaching. I am beginning to wonder if there is really a shortage of high school math teachers.

Here's an interesting article from a business point of view.
[url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/columnists/dhendricks/stories/MYSA.052408.1C.hendricks.30de1ae.html]Accountability hurts students, businesses.[/url]

I have no problem with accountability. It is a valuable lesson. My issue is with the emphasis purely on passing a test, not learning the material. There is a frantic rush through the school year and so much time is spent stressing over state tests. I think there are other ways to teach accountability.

IMO the state test is a test of the teacher, not necessarily the students. Just like in every profession there is good and bad. Unfortunately, everyone is punished b/c some are too weak to fire the poor teachers. If teachers are teaching then they can be responsible for assessment and that should be enough. As it stands the state tests completely disrupt the learning environment. There isn't enough time to cover everything properly.

I'm not making sense, apologies. I can understand the perceived value in standardized testing. It seems to be the best way to assess teachers and students. However, we are testing teenagers. Many do not take the tests seriously and it is the teachers that suffer.

I believe that the problem with this state standardized testing is that there has been no concept validity attempted. In other words, a student score reflects, to a large extent, the life experience of the student up to that point in time. This means teachers, but it means family and environment as well. We call it confounding in statistics. You can't take one measurement and claim to be able to apportion it to various factors. In particular, assigning too much accountability to the current teacher for student scores does not compute. It is illogical.

Originally Posted by Roy/SATX

...In particular, assigning too much accountability to the current teacher for student scores does not compute. It is illogical.

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!