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 Breaking cycles 
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Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 6:32 pm
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Location: Kernersville Middle School
On page 132 just below the middle of the page, Kozel screams that it is the teacher who must break the testing cycle and speak up for the children. I would imagine this applies to principals and parents, too.

I can imagine a peaceful non-compliance of not giving the test. or not taking the test..but it doesn't have a happy ending! Because this testing has made it to LAW, I would suppose the law can change by a grassroots voice of the people ( as in the Boston Tea Party) or by an avalanche of mail from our education lobby groups.

I can't say that I'm against tests. I see that sloppy teaching has made testing a requirement as a tool of assessment. Leandro wouldn't be such a contention if all would be as it should be.

Isn't it some consolation that as tests have increased, teacher salary has too? Isn't it good to know that schools and classes are being accountable? I would like to know if schools that are making the grade are fussing.


Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:00 pm
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But isn't using tests to ensure that great teaching occurs a little like "taking a sledgehammer to kill a Gnat?" There are many other ways of making sure quality teaching happens, observations are one of many. I sometimes think testing is the most politically expedient way. After all it isn't newsworthy to post in the newspapers something like: Principal John Robinson observed three teachers today and declared that learning was taking place. No, I think it looks better politically to declare our school system to be a "System of Distinction."

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Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:57 pm
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I used to believe that of all the teacher tricks of the trade that we were taught, that I would use my favorites to teach what I was supposed to teach. Then as I begin to teach to a whole repertoire of students coming from so many different paths, I then started to use all the tricks I could and began to invent some of my own.

I use informal and formal, oral and written, group and individual, with notes and without notes, drill and kill as well as brainstorm. If I could think of more, I'd use that too. But when it comes time to prove that I taught what I was hired to teach, I play up test day as Celebration Day to strut your stuff. "Test Day" is the day to beat. Beat the Test! is our mantra.

Despite all the rhetoric, nothing beats that 1:1 teacher to student rapport. When you have that, so much good can happen.

On your side, in our reading on the web for database decision-making, I see the Princeton Review is now teaching students to take tests at the middle and elementary level. This is more than I want to see.

Thanks for the comment. I enjoy talking with you.


Sun Jan 21, 2007 12:13 am
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Kathryn,
My school is making the grade(85%) but my teachers are still fussing. They do a tremendous job in the classroom by adjusting their teaching to student needs and by teaching the SCS the state says to teach. Their frustration is still high because they want to do more of the things they know enrich the curriculum, but the time taken from class to give the tests as well as review for the tests keeps them from teaching the fun parts that are not tested. The new practice of embedding field test items in the regular test might help the state by making students answer the question more seriously since they don't know which questions are field questions and which are real questions. However, it was a serious problem which caused an outrage at our school when testing went on for five or six hours for some.

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Sun Jan 21, 2007 12:55 pm
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Perhaps when testing starts in April and finishes in June someone will see how ridiculous it all is.

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Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:16 pm
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