Standardized Testing & the Failures of Our Public School Systems
This morning I sent my very nervous 11 year old son off to school with a note to his teacher ensuring she has all the correct contact numbers should he have to stay after school in order to complete his test. Last night I reassured him as he vollied back and forth between anger & tears while complaining that he would be sent to the "learning lab" all day today in order to "avoid distractions" during testing.
Yes, boys & girls, it's that time again... standardized testing in the state of Texas... TAKS tests... you either pass them or you fail the entire grade regardless of how well you've performed in class all year long! While the kids take these tests every single year, certain years weigh very heavily on them & a failing score will mean they will be held back in that grade another year. For my son, this is the 3rd year he's had to face the tests even though he's in 5th grade this year. He was fortunate enough to start school while we lived in Portland, OR, where they only administer benchmark tests & the scores have no bearing whatsoever on the child's overall grade level. They are simply used as a tool to measure how well each school is doing at teaching the curriculum required of them.
So, S (my 11 yr old) entered into Texas schools & took his first standardized test in 3rd grade... the first grade that actually bases each child's promotion to the following grade on how well they perform on the test. I think I was more stressed for him than he was! They put SO much pressure on these kids. 3rd grade was all about the test & the test was all they taught all year long! My son scored 100% on his Reading (the one we were worried about that year due to his late start at reading due to mild dyslexia) & received a "commendable" score in Math.
Now he's in 5th grade & his ability to be promoted to grade 6 hinges entirely on this test today. He's already passed the Reading portion & will also take a Science portion, but it's not weighed for promotion in this grade. The only part holding him back now is Math... & this year Math is his difficult subject! And this year his principal & counselor have decided to go against the wishes of both myself & his teacher & relocate him to the "learning lab" during testing.
The "learning lab" sounds innocent enough doesn't it? Like a study hall or something, right? WRONG! I learned this the hard way last year when I gave my permission for his 4th grade teacher to send him there on occasion to get extra "help" with assignments he was struggling with. The "learning lab", as it turns out, is just a new PC name for the special education room!!! Yeah. My son is not getting any extra help in this room. In fact, the teachers are so busy with the needs of the special ed kids that they really cannot even provide S with direction on assignments. Add to that the distractions that come with being in a room full of special needs kids & his embarrassment & anger over the teasing he receives from classmates because he's sent there... do you think this is helping him? No. It's not. Yet for some reason his principal has declared that he must test there this year... even after I put my foot down & said he would not be going there this year!
So... here we have my kid... a kid who is already worried to death that he will not do well enough on this test to pass... now shouldered with the thought that he will have to be sent off to "the retard room" (he's really not that hateful... he was just angry) when it's time to start the test. The tests are no longer timed like they were when I was a kid; they have all day (8:30 - 2:45) to finish the 52 question test. This factor is probably the only positive of it all! Some kids take longer than this & parents are called to pick them up late. S is convinced that this year he will be one of those kids... & this only upsets him more.
Would someone please tell me why it's so damn necessary to put my poor kid through this living hell year after year? Have these policy makers ever heard of test anxiety? It's been a popular topic for many many years now... do they not realize the impact these tests have on these poor kids? Or is it that they just don't care?
No child left behind, my ass!
More TAKS information:
Amarillo Mom Forms TAKS Opposition Group
Pitches
Ok... that bitch kinda rambles a bit & is not as well thought out as I'd like it to be... but you get the point, right? I'm just too pissed & worried about my kiddo to be articulate right now!
pitched by : MandyStroyer
sounds like you care about your son!!and that you are a great Mom doing the best for her son. gotta run, but, be back to reas this more closely
pitched by : :::that b!tch:::
For me personally, I have found that parent involvment in the public school system is the best way to get the most out of it. It's the idea of, if you can't beat them join them. We have a little one (7 year old) in first grade and my wife volunteers in the classrooom once a week, is part of the site council commity, and goes to PTA meetings when she can. I am the schools first grade soccer coach. So between my wife and I we are at the school several days a week so we know what's being taught, and moreso what's not being taught so we can suppliment the education at home.
As a parent I help my kids with homework, I read to them everyday for 20-30 minutes, and I am involved in their physical activity.
My daughters teachers have talked about something similar to a 'learning lab' (called something else though) becuase she gets easily distracted. My first question was to see the room in question. Turns out it's the office detention room. So my thoughts to the teacher were, if she is not doing her work and needs to stay in during recess that is fine. But unless she does something to warrent going to detention hall I don't expect her to go there. Althought I do think she would benefit from some quiet time to do her work.
pitched by : cjgraphix
I agree totally... It was so crazy. When I heard my third grade daughter passed the almighty taks test I was jumping around the office like I had just won the 80,000,000 dollar lottery...Really just relieved of the pressure... We now live in colorado and there is absolutly no pressure............
pitched by : byrddoggiedog
bitched by MandyStroyer
8 Months, 4 Weeks, 1 Day, 9 Hours, 14 Minutes ago
- or -
right on bitch: 7
this bitch is crazy: 0
total votes: 7
beginning betties
