Test Protest

I agree that the NCLB law is crap, but it is not the schools job to teach a child everything. If you want more children to thrive as students, and into adulthood, the parents need to step their game up. Lower class and minority children usually have parents who come home and sit in front of the television watching the lastest on what Britney Spears is doing, or Simpson re-runs. Turn off the television and read a book to your child. Have them write a paragraph about their day at school. Play a board game. Skip the 30 minute sitcom with 12 minutes of commercials and spend it with your child(ren).

I applaud your integrity and find it morally reprehensible that you would have to proctor the exams in order to keep your job. I signed a petition over a year ago asking to abolish this frightening policy. No two children learn the same way . . . why should they be tested as if they do? My children do not test well, but are highly intelligent and creative. But the stigma of bad test scores will follow them throughout their educational career. Thanks, G.W., for a policy that in no way determines the intelligence of children and forces teachers to not be able to even teach the basics anymore, as they have to "teach to the test."

The No Child Left Behind law is not what is sounds like. It's actually a way to leave minority and poor schools behind. When a school does poorly on the tests they are punished instead of given help. Things are taken away from them and given to schools that are already doing well. It's a very backward law that does what the United States is so used to doing...it gives to those who already have and takes away from those who don't have. The NCLB law is a discriminating law to keep the poor and minority children down and to continue to give more and more to the privledged.

Thank goodness all of us grown-ups out there don't need to sit down and take a test once a year to prove we know how to do our jobs. For the majority of us, we prove we know what we need to know by DOING something... tests like this cannot ever give an accurate picture of what students really know. And when you look at each state, tests are all over the place as far as how tough they are for kids to pass. What I do see is a huge, growing industry of corporations coming in and leaching onto the educational systems, selling them software and math/reading programs "guaranteed to raise test scores" when really all they are doing is profiting off the "failures" created by NCLB. It's offensive.

No Child Left Behind is leaving the children behind that need to be taught and not tested. I believe that if a teacher knows his/her students and has their education at heart. He/she will teach and test the students accordingly and we will have students that graduate that can function in the real woorld. I believe that the teachers need to be allowed to teach and instruct our children acadimicaly and not spend 2/3 of the school year teaching them to take a test that is a one size fits all assessment.

No Child Left Behind was designed by individuals who have not taken into account the different variables that are important to student achievement and the stages fo development children go through. The waste of time and money is incrediable.

No Child Left Behind is a joke. Schools don't even know how they arrive to the AYP. We joke about the fact they don't know either.The test is biased and inadequate. We spend so mcuh time on insignificant assessments that it really cuts down on our teaching time. With all the different variables we know affect learning, it is really unfortunate we are testing our children at levels that they are not developmentally ready to handle.

Annual standardized tests are wrong. They are wrong because they are useless. They are useless because they are meaningless. No business would tolerate being judged on its success with non-sales efforts in a single day. No student should be judged by their artificially measured efforts in a single day. The success of a student is the total accomplishments achieved by a student during high school. A well-written well-researched paper is not going to happen in a single day. The preparation needed to successfully debate an issue does not happen in a single day. A well-written, well-reasoned, and well-delivered speech does not happen in a day. Well-organized, well-conducted, and well-analyzed science and math projects do not happen in a single day. All annual standardized tests should be banned.

For 4 years I was taught that teaching to a test is wrong. I consider all of the trial runs, class study time and teaching how to take the test to the students is wrong on every level. I got out after my first year. I loved working with the students (high school), but the "everybody pass" mentality of the bureaucracy was too much. I just wanted to pass on what I know and in return learn from the students. The test is just a way for funds to be disbursed to the districts. Those that are exemplary get more funds that those that are not. So if the school does not reach that goal it becomes the teacher's fault.

There are too many moral and ethical issues that are being placed on the school system which involves teaching the students (i.e., teen pregnancy, drugs, violence, and issues that need to be dealt with at home. I would like to know what the parents are doing to prepare their own children these days? I think more teachers need to take a stand against these standardized tests and perhaps students will be taught skills needed to move to their next level.

Bravo, Mr. Wasserman. Bravo

Thank you Mr. Wasserman!! I am a parent of a gifted dyslexic child. NCLB is legalized discrimination. In no way does a standardized test or a child's grade reading level measure a child's ability to learn. In no way does any standardized test measure the intelligence of a child. This country is failing a large percentage of students who struggle to attain literacy. If this country spent half of the money on teaching techniques that are proven more effective as they do on retaining a child and on NCLB, our education system would be far better off. The old cookie cutter ways of teaching are not the best ways for all children to learn. NCLB, in fact leaves all children behind. My child is not learning disabled, she is teaching disabled.

I applaud this teacher!!!! I have a special needs child that does not do well on stadardized tests. He needs adaptations just to take any test. He is a very intelligent child. But no one would know it just by looking at his state wide assessment scores. I do not allow my child to see the scores on the tests. I don't feel he needs to see them. I wish the powers who enacted this law could see the disservice that is being done to our students. Teachers have known for a long time that everyone learns in different ways. Sadly, many leaders in our country do not realize this.

Finally, a professional educator has stood up to oppose this "sham" called NCLB. When legislators tend to get involved in tellling the professional educators how they should be teaching, then it's time to stand up and tell them to do what they have been entrusted to do...and let educators and school boards do what they have been trained or chosen to do. We as educators have been told that we are "sheep" and tend to follow. If we don't stand up and tell the people that teaching is much more than pounding in facts so our students can show higher test scores, then we, as educators, are failing to teach...critical reading, critical thinking, problem-solving, applied math, and decision-making based on facts...not on just taking tests better. Dr. Jonathan Kozol began a fast to draw attention to the inequities of NCLB. David Wasserman, too, must be considered a leader in drawing attention to the inequities in NCLB. There are some good aspects of NCLB but overall it is a disaster in it's current state. My children were in New York when I discovered that for a full 3 months each spring teachers "taught" for achievement tests. Now we have NCLB which is forcing educators to teach for tests or be penalized. As an educator since 1960, this trend is leading our school down the "primrose path", with our children unable to be creative thinkers and problem-solver. Now is the time to stand up and say NO to No Child Left Behind. Cudos to David Wasserman and Dr. Jonathan Kozol.
Dr. John N. Hatfield

We live in NC. Last year my 8th grader graduated by taking the End of Grades test (the gateway test to go to highschool). They give you 3 tries to pass this test. If you don't pass the test, you stay back. It took him to all 3 tries to finally pass. This whole process irked me quite a bit because he failed every single marking period during the school year. In no way, shape or form, should he have passed 8th grade. Whereas a classmate of his, whom had A's and B's every marking period, failed that gateway test and had to retake 8th grade this year. I don't think that's fair for him to pass and she didn't. (That friend of his is now taking this up with the Board of Education.)
Now he's in highschool and still failing the normal classes (based on his report card we just got last week). It seems as if the school system is just moving him along. Oh, and even though he just got two F's on his report card, he was still able to try out for basketball (why... because he is 6'3" and only 14....he is still growing and the coaches see that). We won't let him play, even though he did get on the team, until we know his grades are going to get better. I thought the school had rules with athletes needing passing grades to play. Obviously not. We don't want a tall dummy that only gets into college becuase he was the best player on his team, but can't do simple math.

Thankfully both of my children have graduated. We found that No Child Left Behind was great for the kid who was in the bottom half of the class but not so good for the child in the top half. The resources and time all went to bringing up the bottom to the middle so that the school district would look good. It takes away from the achiever, the one who would benefit from harder work, more labs, and more university preparation. The only way these kids get any assistance is by taking AP classes. That means that the academically gifted child gets his entire grade based on one final exam. If he is sick that day or just not feeling quite so well, his entire year is a waste of time. My children were in the group that was not labeled gifted but still quite able to get into most universities. This is the most neglected group of all. There are no funds or resources set aside for them because "they don't need it" and yet they have to carry the weight of the class averages. This does not work. The teachers spend so much time bringing the bottom up to the middle that they have no time for those who are already above the middle and need a little more challenge.

As a fellow educator, I am impressed at this teacher's willingness to take a stand on the issue. Far too often, we opt to conform without criticism to an assessment system that totally ignores differences in children. I agree with the basis for NCLB, without question...making sure that ALL children are given better than average educational opportunities...and ensuring that all teachers are held accountable for reaching all students. I have worked in the field of education in two states, both of which are trying to make improvements to the systems in place. The hardship that is far too often unseen, is the toll these constant changes and program implementations are placing on already-underpaid teachers. I see talented educators leaving the field due to high levels of frustration, a lack of adequate training to deal with the ever-changing demographics with whom they work, and the overburdening levels of paperwork. At some point, teaching ceases to be real teaching...and for real teachers...that is enough to cause burnout and true frustration.

Student needs are changing...but I really don't think the current system we have in place is equipped to deal with those changes. More funding is necessary to provide talented educators with training, equipment and curricular aids. FAR more funding is necessary to reduce class sizes. How can one person adequately meet the needs of 35 students in an Algebra I class, when sometimes one half to two thirds of the students come without basic skills necessary to complete even the most basic mathematical functions? Teachers find themselves blaming the teachers in lower grade levels...but regardless of where the blame lies...the need is still there. And it is great. And the only way it is going to be met, is to reduce class sizes to a more manageable number. Teachers should never have to decide who gets their one-on-one attention...and in a class of 35, there always comes a time when that choice has to be made. Working within a 45-50 minute time frame, how can that teacher deeply reach all students? It is a problem that plagues schools across the country and it definitely deserves far more attention than it has.

I encourage everyone who reads this to become well-versed in NCLB...and become active in local education systems. Parents, teachers, community members, and administrators like myself are going to have to unite and demand that education be given the resources it needs so desperately. It is honestly the only hope our children have in becoming truly competitive in the global economy we live in today.

While I see both sides of this equation, I am a forced to ask an obvious question. If our system was so superior before these standards, how did we manage to promote, and even in many cases graduate children who are at best marginally literate? We are fooling ourselves if we believe today's internet based generation is capable of competing on the world stage. If a child can't prosper with a written test, they wont prosper in the work force.

While I am no fan of the federal government, it is high time someone point out that the influence of organized labor on our children is obviously a negative one. We need a universal standard of literacy that can be judged impartially so we can identify both the teachers and schools who are failing our children. Any attempt to fine tune this process is reasonable, but the "feel good" culture of just letting teachers teach as they see fit is dragging this country toward third world status. I am all ears to any proposals, but spare me the tears, if you can't teach, get out of the classroom.

NCLB is a failure of a law that has stifled teacher creativity and school educational practices throughout this country. This is not accountability but "labelbility". Schools are labeled especially those within the inner city. Resources within suburban schools and city schools are not equal and due to this, students within the inner cities do not have access to the same resources as suburban students. The law has not improved schools when in so many cases, there are thousands and thousands of high school dropouts within big and small inner city school districts. Testing is not the answer, research is. An example is the fact that there is educational research that indicates students who study the arts perform better on tests. and in school (graduate) Instead of NCLB results looking at this and establishing sites and programs that encourage and motivate, school districts are told that the school is failing and that principals and teachers must be fired or transferred if conditions do not change within several years. Concluding, one last research which is explained in a simplistic manner so all can review. Schools that include the Arts as an intrical part of the school curriculum and environment have higher test scores and close to 100% graduation rate. Many of the arts based magnet schools throughout inner city school districts are amongst the highest performing schools in the districts year end and year out. (Test results, college bound, and graduation rates). The reason is simple....The arts create an atmosphere of self discipline, achievement, creativity, learning for learning's sake, working alone and with others, mastery, relating the arts with the basics, working the physical with the mental (the whole mind-body concept), feeling accomplishment, public display of accomplishments, and most of all learning to utilize the whole brain (left brain-right brain). Students need this type of well rounded education to be successful, not the stagnant all day teaching of reading math and englsh skills taught in isolation without real meaning for students in everyday life.

I support the protest of the No Child Left Behind legislation. Teaching is an art, and NCLB stifles creativity for us teachers, and nearly snuffs it out in our learners.