Test Protest

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Thank you, thank you. The citizens of this country must wake up! Education is the future and yet we do not seem to value it. The government and the public need to treat educators with the respect they deserve instead of with incredible distrust. We have been trained to teach, we know what we are doing yet we are not consulted about important issues such as this. Continue the good work.

During my daughters open house at school her teachers discussed what they would be studing...math that is not in the books provided so they are just winging it with worksheets and a notebook, history starting with anciet egypt thru WWII. All so they can pass state exams in February.... just over halfway through the school year. My daughter has all A's except in Math so she does not qualify for advanced placement in our district and is bored to disruption so teachers can make sure NO CHILD IS LEFT BEHIND... In reality not all children learn at the same pace or to the same level. In concept this is a fantastic idea but it obviously not working...instead of producing a healthy range of abilities to the workforce, we have carbon copy mediocre graduates.

Thank you Mr Wasserman for speaking up for all the children

It is fine to disagree with the NCLB and I personally do. What I don't like is the lack of discussion around possible and probable options to the NCLB. NCLB came about because students were getting DRASTICALLY different educations from different school districts - many of which correlated with their community and socio-econmic level. We need a system that guarentees a similar education from EVERY school in every state. Where is the complaint and/or better solution for the students receiving a lower education due to poverty?

My son is a prime example of everything that's wrong with high stakes tests. As a freshman in a Texas high school last year, he earned 15 A's and 1 B. This year, he currently has 7 A's and 1 B. His only B is in Advanced Placement Chemistry.

When his senior year comes to a close, his class ranking will most likely be somewhere in the top 20%. It is not unreasonable to believe that he may score Commended on his Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts exit exams.

However, he sustained a brain injury from a fall when he was 2 years old, resulting in a learning disability in Math. Because of this, it is quite likely that he will not be able to pass the Math exit exam. If this happens, he will be denied a high school diploma.

There is something very wrong with this picture. A student who earns 90% A's and the rest B's should never be denied a diploma because they can't pass one measure of competency. Every other measure of his skills will prove that he has the competency needed to be a high school graduate and that he should be allowed to further his education in areas of strength, creative writing, journalism, social studies.

We need to fix this problem now before more children are hurt.

The problem is not testing but the form of test that is being administered. Research has shown repeatedly that the types of tests that are being proctored do no test students on what is really important, their ability to critically think. Rather it tests student's ability to regurgitate the facts, and why do they test this way? Because it is the easiest form of test to evaluate. But really what good is a population who knos the facts but does not have the skills or ability to do anything with them? I can and will support testing when it tests the right skills, until then I will take my teaching license elsewhere.

Good for him for standing for what he believes. I always did great in class but was horrible at test. I am now a college graduate but probably would not have made it out of High School if I was going to school with the no child left behind law. I believe we are not teaching the kids important things such as mortgages, taxes, stock market, how to budget, how to start a business. I have so many problems with the school systems today and hope to see changes in my lifetime. Maybe I will be the one to fight for the changes.

I agree completely that these tests are poorly written, overly time consuming and inaccurate at best for determining the quality of the education our students are getting.
But I think perhaps a bigger problem is how the results are tallied and acted upon.
I don't disagree that schools should be held accountable for the quality of the job their doing. This gives them motivation to do their job the best it can be done.
But it's ridiculous to arrive at a score based on right or wrong answers on 400 tests and then judge the entire school by it without taking a look at possible contributing factors to the individual scores - ie, a higher ratio of non-english speaking students at the school. True fact: whether the child can even READ the test he or she is instructed to mark an answer sheet. Am I the only person on the planet who finds that CRAZY!??
What about schools who happen to have a large number of developmentally challenged students, who are unable to complete the tests on their "grade level" to the same degree as their classmates. These things should be factored in and a new score determined based on these key pieces of the schools make up.
Not every school in the country has the same across-the-board average IQ student body. Just like human beings every school is different.
I'd certainly never stack up to a college professor if required to take the same test as she/he. Would it make sense to require a secretary in the office to take a professors exam and pass or fail will determine whether they keep or lose their job? Ridiculous! Buts is a comparable scenario if you ask me.
Shools in all cities are different from neighborhood to neighborhood and it's time for the parents of the children in those schools to voice the objections that we are discussing with each other at the dinner table and at parent/teacher conferences and at playgrounds while our children scamper around and in these posts!
I haven't met ONE school staff member who supports the law as it currently stands.
This is America people! Let our voice be heard! Write to every person in government whose email and/or snail mail address you can get. Whether they affect this laws writing or not, they surely know someone who does and they'll be talking about it over their lunches if we make enough noise. But we have to do it together!
{{{stepping down from the soap box now}}} Thank you.

Public schools are becoming a communism. Grades are based on attendance rather than performance. Dividing children based on age rather than ability is too restrictive to some and too hard for others.

"No Child Left Behind" is a dysfunctional program. I agree, children who are below grade level should be helped to meet benchmarks, however I propose a method can target these kids without placing restrictions on all students, teachers and schools.

I dropped out of school to homeschool because public school felt like a waste of my time and abliities. My sister, on the otherhand, was getting left behind in public school. The school could not provide her the alternative schooling methods she needed; now that she is homeschooling, she is above her grade level in most subjects!

We need options - not more standards, restrictions and finger-pointing!

I do not like the NCLB tests. I believe they take away from the teachers ability to teach and prepare kids for the future. I never felt these kind of tests really test a child's knowledge or ability. For some time I have been thinking about keeping my children home when these test are administered.
Just as a note all four of my children are honor roll students and I have a doctorate in chemistry. Education is highly valued in our home.

As proud parent of 4 kids, 3 which are in school at this time, I totaly support this teacher and protest. The politians need to stop thinking what is good for our kids and let the real educators do their job and educate the way they know how. We need to make this a major issue especially now that it is election time. The goverment is the one really leaving our kids behind with this standarized test. Give the power back to our teachers and leave politics out of it.

As a former elementary and junior high teacher, I got out after nine years for the simple reason that I got frustrated with all the NCLB paperwork that had priority over actual teaching. I spent more time documenting all the accomodations for tests and notes than I did teaching and I taught Physical Education.

Mr. Wasserman should be applauded for his courageous stand against the discriminatory educational policies of this country. Its too bad that more of the American public are not aware and informed enough to see the truth for themselves.

I have to agree with this educator in Wis....I got 4 kids and 3 in school at this moment....I see it in them that this "NO KIDS..." is not working....I got 3 sister-in-laws that are educators and they all feel the same way....We need to buckle down these politicians do to something different or better yet, let the teachers teacher and they can just get out of the way. One thing is for sure, I trust my kids education more to their teachers then these politicians.

I am a middle school Special Education teacher and I just want to say THANK YOU. As someone who deals with kids that do not fit the norm, it is very frustrating to know that at the end of the year I have to watch my children struggle with a test that does not show whether or not they learned anything that year. To make matters worse, I am held accountable to that score. Accountability is very important and necessary, but determining whether or not I did my job based on a test that many of my students can't even read well is insane. How does it make sense to judge my teaching skills based on a score that a student received on an 8th grade test when that's student's skills are on a 3rd or 4th grade level? Perhaps some of th people determining how we evaluate progress should talk to people in the classroom. Hey, maybe even try spending some time in those classrooms.