Day Three… And I already wasted a whole weekend without posting. D’oh. Marion Brady to the rescue.
I know listservs are so 1998, but as I have said here several times before, you should still be subscribed to at least one: MiddleL.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept of a listserv (or e-mail list), go to Wikipedia and read up. My regulars probably probably remember me beating this drum before, but I’ma gonna do it again. Go join up. People with problems/questions like our MrM’s get answers all the time from people with a lot more letters after their names than I have. You can sign up here.
As I have also said before (here’s the first time), my fave contributor on MiddleL is Marion Brady, who has some revolutionary (these days) ideas about education. We all know that things like NCLB and “Race to the Top” and the testing associated with them are doing more harm than good. The tests are mostly about memorized knowledge and not about the skills need in a future world. Which, by the way, probably can’t be tested for. But there’s a lot of money to be made in the testing bidness, and everyone thinks they know what’s best for schools since everyone’s been through several schools. Plus the conversation about education has been hijacked by business interests, and the above-mentioned testing companies. Marion Brady expresses all of this much better than I do all the time. And he’s just one of many excellent people who are Middle L regulars. Go join up now.
His latest post is quite a teach. He challenged his friend, who is on the school board of one of the largest districts in the country, to take his state’s 10th grade tests.
Hahahaha.
I think everyone who wants to have a say in how our kids are educated or what they should learn or how it should be taught or tested, should have to take and pass any test they want to foist on the kids. I say bring it.
Here’s the Washington Post article:
“When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids“
“I think everyone who wants to have a say in how our kids are educated or what they should learn or how it should be taught or tested, should have to take and pass any test they want to foist on the kids. I say bring it.” I couldn’t agree more! I get the accountability factor that this legislation has brought, but standardized tests as the “be all end all” aren’t it. The pressure the states/districts put on because of them has taken some of the fun out of teaching for me.
A kindy teacher friend in Maryland is loving teaching again since they’ve implemented Common Core standards. For her the standards have allowed her to have fun in her class again. I’m not that hopeful, but haven’t given up all hope either.
Amen!
I’ve been subscribed to MiddleL for a while thanks to you, and totally appreciate the revolutionary views on our profession and on education in general. This article in particular I found especially interesting for its content, but even more for the comments that readers left on it. I was FLOORED to see how many of them asked what was wrong with the man taking the test because he couldn’t pass it! Have we really become so institutionalized to testing that we don’t question the problem with the test, but instead the problem with the taker?!?! Heaven help us!