High Stakes are for Tomatoes
There is a lot of great information on the The National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest) web site.
Garfield High School
The teachers at Garfield High School in Seattle have put their jobs on the line and decided to "do no harm" by refusing to participate in the high stakes testing of their students. I hope it's "catching!"
“Our teachers have come together and agree that the MAP test is not good for our students, nor is it an appropriate or useful tool in measuring progress,” says Kris McBride, who serves as Academic Dean and Testing Coordinator at Garfield. “Additionally, students don’t take it seriously. It produces specious results, and wreaks havoc on limited school resources during the weeks and weeks the test is administered.”
There's more to education than reading and math. There's more to education that passing a test. We need to train our children for citizenship. Testing should take second place to learning.
We Still Need Public Schools
If we privatize public schools now, then the public oversight will be lost and our descendents will have a hard time recovering it. Public schools don't belong to the parents of children attending them today. They belong to us all...everyone who has ever attended...everyone who has ever paid taxes...everyone who has ever been a part of the community.
A Child is More Than a Test Score
School is more than just reading and math. Education is more than knowledge. A standardized test can't measure everything. It won't tell you about a child's big picture thinking, civic mindedness, compassion, courage, creativity, curiosity, effort, empathy, enthusiasm, faith, generosity, gratitude, humility, humor, imagination, integrity, kindness, leadership, motivation, patience, persistence, politeness, relationships, reliability, resilience, resourcefulness, respect, responsibility, self-awareness, self-discipline, sense of beauty, sense of wonder, spontaneity and understanding. Add your own below...
Prayer was Never Banned in Public Schools...
...just State-Sponsored prayer. Students can pray whenever they want in school...as long as they don't disrupt the education of themselves or others. As the old saying goes, "as long as there are algebra tests, there will be prayer in public school."
Those who can, Teach.
The legislatures around the country are filled with politicians who think that, because they attended school, they understand what it's like to teach.
Arne Duncan never worked in...never even attended...a public school. Being basketball buddies with the president doesn't give him the knowledge necessary to lead America's public schools.
Public Schools should be led by the public, not corporate boards of directors.
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Stop the Testing Insanity!
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