Our daughter goes to an "exemplary" school- you'd think that would be great, but in Texas, "exemplary" means that 95% of the kids made at least a C- on their high stakes standardized tests, not what my English teachers taught me that "exemplary" means!
We have turned our public schools into glorified training institutions. The kids are trained on how to take tests- they're taught "strategies" on how to take tests, not strategies on how to learn, but on how to take the damn tests.
IF we really want to know how they're doing, then let's stop the multiple guess tests, take away the extremely high stakes pressure on the testing, and let the districts develop tests that cover what the kids have learned. Let's use them as assessments, and give them in the fall, so that the teachers know what they need to work on to bring all students up to higher grades, not to a C- status.
If you've not looked at a test recently, I encourage you to go to your local school and ask to see one. The answers will usually have 2 that are clearly wrong, then 2 that are very close, so that they sometimes trick the kids. Instead of these, let's go to tests where the kids show their work, and get some credit for doing the skills. Let's let THEM give the answers, not some person who is being paid to make sure that testing continues so their bottom line stays lovely. Let's turn public schools back into educational facilities, not worker bee training facilities.
I do not fault teachers for this- they do their best in a system that is all about punishing them at every chance. It is no wonder that more and more families are homeschooling when you see what is going on in our public schools.
I help in our daughter's school each week and although I love her teachers, I'm often appalled at the lack of depth of their texts and, frankly, the textbook writing, which is often poor, and appears to be written by another 5th grader. It is all due to the teaching to the test.
Parents hate the test, teachers hate it, administrators hate it, only (some) legislators, the test companies and real estate agents like them. Real estate agents like them because then they can exploit the "exemplary" schools for sales. I wonder how many folks would be willing to move into expensive areas with "exemplary" schools if they understood:
1. "Exemplary" means C-
2. Schools with those ratings more often than not teach to the test, to the exclusion (for most students) of much, if any, enlightening, exciting actual teaching and education.
I know I've heard from other parents in our school who moved here who where shocked to see how much is "taught to the test"-they thought "exemplary" meant that the school's curriculum was, well, "exemplary"- in the old meaning! Our administrators insist they dont' "teach to the test", but they will also tell you that no new programs will be introduced unless they somehow help the testing grades.
The new STARR tests start a week from today. There are parents around the country who are keeping their children home on those days, as they believe that these tests are harmful. h Some of the folks on some of the lists are pretty far right, but there are also a lot of liberals- it boils down to this- we want the best education for our children. We don’t want their education to be about “test-taking strategies”, but about learning to learn, and understanding that education is a journey, not a destination.
I can tell you that when I picked up our daughter a few weeks ago, after a CBA, which is basically a training test for the STARR, she came up to me, with a distraught face, laid her head on my car door, and wailed, "I'm dumb, I can't do it" and then told me she failed the math CBA. This is a child who routinely makes strong A's and B's in class. Her teacher is no slouch; he works with the kids to be sure they can do the skills in class. I know she knows the material, but the tests just defeat her, time and again. How is that productive? How does it help a child who is eager to learn to come to me, wailing that she is "dumb" and "can't do it?" How does this help our education system? We are debating keeping our daughter at home next week, but worry about several things:
1. Does this make her feel that we don’t think she can do it, or will she understand that we believe the tests are not there to help, but, rather to hurt public schools & the kids in them?
2. If enough people hold their kids out, does it do enough long term good to justify the short term harm (the school could lose even more funding if enough of us hold our kids out, they’ll lose the daily funding anyway, but if more than 5% don’t take the test, then they could lose additional funding from the state)
3. Will there be enough people keeping their children home to make a noticeable difference? If it is just a few, we’ll be looked at as “extremists”- however, as was pointed out recently in a TED Talk, it just takes folks joining the group to move something from a “lone nut" to a movement. Are we ready for a movement? Want to join?
