It is becoming more obvious to me that we as Educators seem to be internally motivated to do what is best for our students in every way possible.

Assuming that this is true, why is it that the state takes time away from us by giving standardized tests so we can "prove" that we do our job?

And

Is there any way to show though objective assessment that our students are growing and developing as individuals as well as in content-based knowledge?

I understand the necessity of standardized tests as a protective measure for students. Tests motivate teachers who may lack internal motivation, especially “teachers by accident.â€

In my opinion sthe standardized testing, at least in NC, is a joke. EOG's???I mean what are they really accomplishing...ok i understand we have to test the students on their content knowledge of the curriculum, and that testing is our way of measuring success and failure in the teachers case and in the students. Honestly though i dont know how many of you come from nc schools but my memories of highschool and middle school are those of being force fed old facts and answers to tests from a teacher who was less than enthusiastic about the information they were teaching. The teachers hated it as much as we did and i honestly did not learn as best i could from the material being taught and the way it was taught. With this being said i dont have a solution so boo on me but i think we could all discuss multiple ideas. Indeed there needs to be a new way of testing which allows the teachers to not just stick to one standardized set of teachings and find there own unique ways of getting the information across and even if the teachers had to teach a set in stone scheduled day by day lesson plan they could at least break it down into less material but focus more time on it and make it fun for the students so they remember it for a life time and not just for next fridays test. I dont know maybe im just rambling but these are my thoughts....