I think the vast array of comments (many in line with your
predicted theme of confusion and frustration) goes a long way in
demonstrating how not only how university students, but also current
educators feel about standardized testing. Somebody wrote when asked
what they felt most surprised about, ” I don’t think its a safe
assumption to say that the teacher has the power in a situation. I was
surprised to hear this. I feel pretty powerless as a teacher.” I could
not agree more. The more I learned last week about standardized testing,
district script teaching and the other “square block in square hole”
methods being employed by today’s teachers, the more I begun to realize
that teachers’ abilities to teach towards the needs of the individual
student and not just to the class as a hole has been vastly diminished.
The term “teaching to the test” gives me shivers, as it is the exact
opposite of how we should be approaching education in this country, yet
teachers are being forced into utilizing this method in order to ensure
their classroom budget does not get decreased, their certifications
remain in tact, and most importantly in order to ensure that they have a
job the next school year. It is almost as if educators are “teaching in
fear”, and if this is the case, is there any way for us to expect the
end result to be as beneficial to the kids as it might be should these
restrictions and road blocks not be put in place?
Another student stated, ““I’m not so much confused as I am frustrated about teacher evaluation. I think Charlotte Danielson explained it beautifully. What counts as evidence? How attribute to teachers?” This also resonates strongly with me. I would assume from the comment that this individual is already out in the field teaching a class, and her frustrations at teacher evaluations are justified. Now I certainly think there needs to be some method by which we ensure teachers are doing their jobs, reaching the children and ensuring they are leaving the class having mastered as much as they can master, and grow as much as they can grow, but the current assessment methods in place do not seem to take into consideration a) that children are unique, b) that children learn and therefore demonstrate their learning differently and c) that it is not always accurately measurable to designate any type of “score” to a student’s success. This truly is a quandary. How do we weed out the bad apples from the teaching core (and there certainly are bad apples) without getting good, well meaning, effective teachers caught up in that net as well? This is such a complicated issue and I don’t see a clear cut answer.
Lastly, a student said ““As an educator, I am embarrassed to say that I really didn’t realize the history of our educational system. The video was eye-opening and something I may actually use in my classroom or at a PLC with other teachers in my school.” Personally, I didn’t find that video one bit surprising. We all know the history of racism, sexism and classism which has (and to some extent) still exists in the United States. It’s common knowledge that in the 1960s, The federal government was forced to send in arms troops in order to force local school districts to allow little black children to enter the classroom – why then should we be supervised that other methods of racism in education, such as labeling and streamlining minority children into vocational programs rather than mainstream programs should have been occurring as well? As I stated in class, Rome was not built in a day, and although we still have a long way to go in terms of eliminating race from the decision making process in every day decisions, I think that as a whole we have done a good job of eliminating it from our educational system. Granted, Low income / minority schools still struggle terribly compared to schools based in middle class neighborhoods, but I believe this has more to do a) with the property tax / school funding relationship which (I believe) still exists and b) cultural differences which need to be tackled from inside those communities and not necessary from the outside in. – Jordan
Another student stated, ““I’m not so much confused as I am frustrated about teacher evaluation. I think Charlotte Danielson explained it beautifully. What counts as evidence? How attribute to teachers?” This also resonates strongly with me. I would assume from the comment that this individual is already out in the field teaching a class, and her frustrations at teacher evaluations are justified. Now I certainly think there needs to be some method by which we ensure teachers are doing their jobs, reaching the children and ensuring they are leaving the class having mastered as much as they can master, and grow as much as they can grow, but the current assessment methods in place do not seem to take into consideration a) that children are unique, b) that children learn and therefore demonstrate their learning differently and c) that it is not always accurately measurable to designate any type of “score” to a student’s success. This truly is a quandary. How do we weed out the bad apples from the teaching core (and there certainly are bad apples) without getting good, well meaning, effective teachers caught up in that net as well? This is such a complicated issue and I don’t see a clear cut answer.
Lastly, a student said ““As an educator, I am embarrassed to say that I really didn’t realize the history of our educational system. The video was eye-opening and something I may actually use in my classroom or at a PLC with other teachers in my school.” Personally, I didn’t find that video one bit surprising. We all know the history of racism, sexism and classism which has (and to some extent) still exists in the United States. It’s common knowledge that in the 1960s, The federal government was forced to send in arms troops in order to force local school districts to allow little black children to enter the classroom – why then should we be supervised that other methods of racism in education, such as labeling and streamlining minority children into vocational programs rather than mainstream programs should have been occurring as well? As I stated in class, Rome was not built in a day, and although we still have a long way to go in terms of eliminating race from the decision making process in every day decisions, I think that as a whole we have done a good job of eliminating it from our educational system. Granted, Low income / minority schools still struggle terribly compared to schools based in middle class neighborhoods, but I believe this has more to do a) with the property tax / school funding relationship which (I believe) still exists and b) cultural differences which need to be tackled from inside those communities and not necessary from the outside in. – Jordan
I agree with your perspective on standardized testing. As a future special education teacher, it angers me that I may have to teach based on the information that might be on standardized testing rather than on content that my future students my actually benefit from, such as real life skills. Also, the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) also angers me because students with severe disabilities may not even be counted in standardized testing because they are unable to respond to standardized testing questions by filling in the multiple choice bubble. Students with severe physical disabilities deserve to be counted in standardized testing because they are students as well.
ReplyDeleteI am also with you 100% on the prejudice issue. However, I believe it is the teachers responsibility to provide a warm, friendly and welcoming environment in their classrooms. Through the use of discussion and projects among all students, equality will be of the utmost importance in the classroom. It does surprise me that prejudices are still strong in this day and age; however, teachers can be a helping hand in assisting students to accept one another for their unique qualities and NOT casting them out because they do not look exactly like them, their friends, or their community in which they live. Teachers are one motivating factor in helping to decrease prejudice.