A Few Thoughts...

I am a teacher, yet I am losing hope in public education. Not because of the teachers or even administrators. It is the policy makers that are ruining education. Maybe that isn't even correct.... ruining implies we started out with a good educational system. Maybe the correct term is destroying...


There are a few things that really get me going concerning education. One of them is high-stakes testing; I could go on and on about the negative consequences of this policy, but have yet to find any positives. Another thing is how money is spent in education. We know that class size and teacher quality have the most impact in the classroom, so why do we throw money at these various programs that have minimal (if any) positive effects? Instead, we could lower class sizes, ensure that teachers receive (and continue to receive) a good education themselves, and we could even save some money. Finally, I have a big problem with politicians making critical decisions about education, when they are not educators themselves. (Really, when I think about it, I think all of the problems with education stem from this one idea). Anyway, here a just a few thoughts on the LEAP, considering it will start in just a few weeks.






I detest the thought of high-stakes testing, especially with 10-year-olds! How is it okay that we are punishing kids for something beyond their control?! Furthermore, has any policymaker looked at the research regarding students held back? It is not pretty... students who are held back are more likely to drop out later in school (I will post links to research later).


Furthermore, I am constantly at a cross-roads as a 4th grade teacher. I know how to teach and what to teach, but I also know that I must prepare my students for the LEAP. So, many times, I ignore the angel on my shoulder and listen to the devil instead.... and we take out our LEAP preparation materials. I can't tell you how boring it is to prepare a bunch of 4th graders for a high-stakes test. In my school, this consists of actual lessons in workbooks (ELA and Math) and a computer program to go with it. Yes, I use these materials because I am expected to. Yes, I assign some pages as homework. But, I hate that precious instructional time is spent on "teaching to the test". I would much rather learn about poetry by really studying poetry, but this is one of the concepts I don't really teach, because I am instead preparing for the LEAP.


One more thought before bed... I have an AMAZING group of kids this year. Like, amazing enough that I am scared about what I will get next year and amazing enough that I want to ask to loop with them. Anyway, these kids have the biggest hearts you can imagine. When one child lost his grandfather, the kids made cards on their own because they "hated seeing him sad". Knowing that some kids don't have a lot of money, many kids in my class gave money to buy class t-shirts for their classmates. My kids rush to help one another out; not for treats or prizes, but because they love helping. They have "adopted" a severe/profound class of 3 students and beg to give them extra treats for birthdays or holidays because they love to see these children smile and laugh. I could go on and on... Anyway, what standardized test measures this? Does anybody care that my kids are growing up to be selfless, caring individuals? And, yes, I get that this is public education that  we are talking about, but I wish that somebody would realize that we are teaching kids, not robots. I cannot take the humanness out of them every day, nor would I want to. I think we need to remember that the whole child comes to school every day and we need to celebrate all of the great things that whole child does, not just "mastering basic skills" on a test-and-punish test.