With incessant testing, our students are falling behind

[proud2BlibKansan]

To life's absolutes, death and taxes, can now be added one more certainty: testing. Even as thousands of teachers are laid off, programs and academics are slashed and school buildings are shuttered, the State of Texas can come up with nearly $500 million over the next five years to roll out the new STAAR test for all public school students.

Such an investment ought to guarantee us the next Steve Jobs, a couple of Nobels or at least a Pulitzer. But the reality of the return on that investment is disturbing. After more than 20 years of high-stakes testing and a decade of No Child Left Behind, here is where we stand:

The United States ranks 24th in math and 17th in science among 34 industrialized nations.

Texas students will spend at least one out of every five school days this year practicing test-taking skills and drilling for the test.

more . . . http://www.statesman.com/opinion/1939604.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Some bureaucrat saw how much Japan was testing its students and decided

it would be a good educational measurement and part of the curriculum here. What's missing in this equation is that these tests depress Japanese students due to the anxiety of getting less than stellar grades and the lack of critical thinking that is lost due to the rote learning and test preparation.

[JCMach1]

2. not to mention a homogenous population that emphasizes conformity...

Our 'experts' failed to see the difference.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Very good point.

[eridani]

17. Dave Barry once said that--

--it would be easier to get everyone in Tokyo to agree to wear the same outfit than to get a typical American bowling team to agree on pizza toppings.

[Exilednight]

16. You're absolutely right. We should be following the Finnish model. n/t

[JCMach1]

3. Have been saying this for years... NCLB one of the worst pieces of legislation

Ted Kennedy ever did...

[coalition_unwilling]

8. The ideal behind it was beautiful, i.e., no child should be

left behind. The implementation of NCLB, shall we say, leaves something to be desired. (We really need a sardonic button, akin to sarcasm.)

[JCMach1]

13. The testing concept was flawed from top to bottom... from beginning to hopefully an end

[Starry Messenger]

5. k&r

[yella_dawg]

6. The whole story in one phrase...

"State of Texas can come up with nearly $500 million over the next five years"


It's the money. Privatize everything so all tax receipts end up on Wall Street.

[coalition_unwilling]

7. Have you read Charles Dickens' "Hard Times"? It seems all the

more a propos these days, particularly its juxtapositon of the aptly-named Thomas Gradgrind ("Facts! Now what I want are facts!") against circus-girl, dreamer and visionary Cissy Jupe. And there's a parallel sub-plot of oppressed laborers fighting exploitation that also seems quite fitting in today's world.

Highly recommend you read it if you have not already done so.

[roody]

9. Now we have benchmark tests, made or bought by the school

district, which test every kid, starting at K, three or four times a year. That is besides the end of year week or two statewide test, fall testing of every English language learner, as well as the actually useful tests that teachers use to authentically assess the student. Once in a while, teachers have time for instruction.

Edited to add that they find time between fire drills, photograph day and make up photos, spring photos (a new money-maker,) parent-teacher conferences, required in-service days which require making sub plans, and much more.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Yep. We have those too.

[callous taoboy]

12. Do you know whether those are state mandated? We have them too.

I have finally decided to stick my neck out and challenge the district, via a school board member I admire, on those district benchmark tests. I don't know about yours, but ours are absolutely the worst, are poorly designed and are a hindrance to what I do in the classroom.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Ours are not state mandated

They're district mandated and are supposedly predicting how the kids will do on the state test.

[bhikkhu]

11. Hopefully Obama's rule for opting out of NCLB will help

Congress has shown no sign of doing anything about the problems NCLB has heaped up, so there's this from the president:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20110710-503544.html

Hopefully before too long some good alternatives will come of it. 27 states, including my own, are fairly certain to opt out, and most others are in the "weighing options" stage.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Actually the testing won't go away under Obama's plan

He's said he wants to get rid of the 100% proficient mandate but we need to keep testing.