Entry # 34:
High Stakes Testing:
Time to Get Motivated
Our District is being reorganized -- again.
Our Cluster structure is being collapsed into eight academic areas with
roughly 25,000 students per area. (We used to have eight regions before
I was a teacher. The regions were discarded in favor of the Clusters. I
wonder why they think regions will work better this time...?)
Rumors are the rule, as opposed to the exception, and nothing is clear except
that children will still be in our schools, and they will still need teachers.
I don't know where I'll be or what I'll be doing. My job as a Cluster Teaching
& Learning Coordinator has been cut.
All this uncertainty isn't helping my morale, but my efforts in support
of our kids need to continue. Easier said than done. Last week more than
a few folks assumed that meetings with Cluster personnel were cancelled
or should be, as if this new reorganization plan meant we had nothing left
to say or do about instruction.
I don't get it. I can understand people having questions about whether we'll
be around to follow through on any initiatives we might propose, but I can't
understand acting as if this organizational move on the District's part
cancels the validity of all we've said or done to date.
Corridors or cul-de-sacs?
I guess I never saw the Clusters as an obstacle or an albatross when I was
in the classroom. I always liked the idea of decentralization and the possibilities
for greater empowerment of schools and families. In fact, I spoke at City
Council about six years ago in support of Clusters as "corridors of
learning from grades K-12."
Did the "corridors of learning" materialize? At best the Clusters
were uneven in their rate of success. Why wasn't this structure more successful?
Who's to blame? Does the primary responsibility lie with the Clusters or
the teachers and administrators in the schools?
Is any structure that's imposed from above doomed to limited results or
abject failure? When structures or mandates come from on high, what should
our response be? Should we dig in our heels and ride it out knowing that
"this too shall pass"? Should we try to use the new structures
to help kids?
I always tried to see how I could use whatever was in place to push forward
an agenda that respected me as a teacher and my students and their families
as my/our respected clientele. I'm not a pushover, and I have always voiced
my opinions, but obstinate opposition is not my style.
When did the general rule of thumb become "who's gonna make me?"
instead of "what's best for children?" Teachers like to talk about
student motivation and parental support, how about some focus on our own
motivation?
We should push back
I'm not interested in teacher bashing. I'm proud to call myself a teacher,
and I don't view my job as something someone makes me do. A little self-empowerment
goes a long way. If we don't see ourselves as helpless victims, perhaps
we'll become more pro-active in our instructional practices.
I don't do helpless well. I'm more inclined to push back even when it looks
like that big boulder of bureaucracy is going to roll back over on top of
me. Better still, I'm convinced that if enough of us join together we can
push the rock back over in the other direction.
My dilemma is, and has been for quite some time, how do you get others organized
to push back? Take high stakes testing, for example. I read in yesterday's
NY Times that parents in Scarsdale, Michigan and Massachusetts are pushing
back. How'd they get started?
Why aren't parents here calling for an end to the testing craze? I wonder
if most of the parents who are protesting feel able to do so because they
have money and are well educated. I could see how a parent might feel empowered
to protest because they know their kids can do well, but think that all
these tests are just a colossal waste or misuse of their time.
Most of our students' families have been beaten over the head with the poor
test results of their children. An effort to mobilize support for STOP (State
Testing Opposed by Parents) by parents of struggling students would probably
be challenged as a purely defensive move.
Why aren't teachers doing more?
So why aren't teachers actively challenging the testing? Teachers complain
about the tests to anyone who will listen, but no public meetings or campaigns
are in place that I'm aware of in Philadelphia. What's the Union doing?
Why aren't they bringing in speakers like Linda Darling-Hammond and Alfie
Kohn to highlight the damaging effects of high stakes testing?
Are we too busy licking our wounds to see the bigger picture? Are we defensive
because we believe our childrens' scores reflect badly upon us? Maybe we
don't really believe the tests are set up to fail most of our students...
Maybe we don't really believe our kids can measure up in ways that really
matter. Ouch!
Why haven't I done more? While I have been busy pushing for a tone of decency
in our schools, I've neglected one of the biggest assaults faced by our
children. While I have spoken out about inequities in terms of discipline,
funding and resources, I haven't really challenged the testing campaign
that runs contrary to all my educational principles.
I'm going to make some phone calls to see what, if anything, is happening
here around the use of standardized tests to label and sort our society
and our children. I'm reading a book Standardized
Minds" by Peter Sacks. In the book, Mr. Sacks says that "77%
of teachers feel the tests are bad and not worth the time and money spent
on them."
Sacks' research agrees with all the conversations that I've participated
in at schools and conferences and on the web. If the overwhelming majority
of us think this testing is wrong, why are we constantly trying measure
up to what Sacks calls the "crooked yardstick of our meritocracy"?
I just got an email from a colleague about a "Call to Action"
in opposition to high-stakes testing and in support of alternative assessments
that give a more accurate view of our children and their true capabilities.
You can read about the "call" at The
Alliance for Childhood.
Stay tuned!
[Editor's note: Deb is co-moderator of the
MiddleWeb listserve.]
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