Arne says parents to blame for test stress. Threatens fed intervention if Opt Outs continue.

[americannightmare]

29. How many times does it have to be said?

Tests are nowhere! They are about memorization, regurgitation and jumping through hoops. Anyone who has prepared for and taken the GRE or SAT should know this. Even the test prep books say it's more about understanding HOW to take the test than the actual content (the science of eliminating obviously wrong answers, etc.)

Someone posed the question: Should we assess teachers? Well, you can't do that if you don't allow them to teach, instead of teaching to a test. Studies show that writing in longhand on paper is the best method for retention and conceptualization. Every one of us learns differently. Teachers have the most difficult task there is, coming up with a way to grab the interest of at least 20 different students and their different ways of learning. And since we know that writing is the best way to gain and retain knowledge, essays and papers and close readings should be the way of learning, and tests should be abolished. If I were an education czar, as it were, one of the concepts I would try to implement is having students transcribe portions of what they are learning. It's amazing how much of the information and the concepts jump out at you when you do this. Reading, writing and reflection is how we learn best, along with incorporating visualization for those who learn better that way. This is more in line with what Finland is doing, and they are number one in the world in education. And of course, they pay their teachers at least as well as administrators, if not better. We are so brainwashed with measuring everything! It has to stop - unless of course you subscribe to what George Carlin was telling us the corporate overlords want - "workers just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork"

This article sums the dilemma up nicely, I think...

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/14820-why-johnny-cant-read-or-win-wars