Grave Consequences
Wednesday, August 20th, 2003OK, I have to divert…..
CNN’s article, “No Time to Study Timely Events” is more than upsetting to me.
But as much as most teachers and many students want to discuss what’s making headlines, they say there’s less and less time in the school day to do so.
Mounting pressure to meet state- and nationally mandated curriculum requirements and assessment tests means current events rarely get discussed thoroughly, according to many U.S. educators.
During my entire career as a classroom teacher I always looked forward to getting test results. They were a gage for me to look at and see how my students were doing and also to note sections where I might need to improve. Obviously, if numerous students did not do well on one item, I needed to take a look at that item and adjust my teaching. I could also study each student’s test results and plan individualized instruction or whatever was needed. Many times the results would be an affirmation of my teaching, and it would make me want to do even better. As a school, we could look at the overall results and plan together. But that was just one of many ways we assessed our teaching and the students’ learning.I always felt though that I had time to talk, discuss, reflect, and plan together with my students. I had time to make connections to the news, discuss the news, and even had time to allow the discussions to divert for those rich moments in time when students were asking questions about things they really cared about. Then they could make connections to what they were learning, have time to think about what they were learning, and learn the joy of learning!
I find it incredible that schools are ranked against one another on the basis of ONE test. Since classroom teachers are being judged on the basis of one test, this can only result in a shallow, narrow curriculum being delivered to our students. I call it a “skill a day” and “let’s move on”! The consequences for students are grave. The consequences for teachers are grave.
Read teacher, Ellen Berg’s reflections after testing.
With the focus on test scores and reading levels these days it is too easy to focus only on those kids who do not get it, but what happens to the kids who do? Don’t they have the right to expect to be challenged and pushed to their potential as well? It is easy to push them to the side knowing they will be okay on their own, but it just is not right.
I think this is happening more than we think. Ellen asks this question: Why are my lowest kids growing and my highest kids staying the same or regressing?
And then I read this,
Budgets Cut Student Experiences. Let’s cut art, music, science, social studies, technology, whatever. Just teach those basic skills!!!I have a reading specialist background. I have always maintained that there is not just ONE way to teach reading. I feel just as strongly that there is not just ONE way to test!
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