My second son goes to the local PS for speech therapy once a week. It's actually interesting to walk through the school on a weekly basis and see what the kids are up to.
Friday, we had a special visit for A to have a speech evaluation. Apparently it is already time to start pushing that State testing. The CRCT posters are up at every turn. The poor kids can't go anywhere without being reminded that the CRCT is coming soon. Because as we all know, the fate of the free world relies how well the school scores on a state test. Poor kids. They face months of testing stress at every turn.
Some of these posters are to me, borderline offensive. Rosa Parks says, "I will not move until you learn your multiplication facts." Martin Luther King, Jr. says, "I have a dream that all students will learn the parts of speech."
seriously.
I guess I am the only parent that thinks that the great stand that Mrs. Parks made shouldn't be used to get kids to score well on a silly state test. I also don't remember any thing about parts of speech in the I Have A Dream speech. It seems cheapening and it doesn't teach these children anything about the Civil Rights Era, math, or grammar.
Instead of pushing this test on every flat surface in the school, maybe the school should start pushing the information students should learn instead. Take down the posters about the high stress, up-coming, every-so-important test. And put up posters ON the parts of speech and multiplication facts. Homeschoolers do this. We do it.
Why not list the states and capitals on the wall for the lunch line. If state symbols are that important to know...put them on the lunch tables. Instead of just putting a calendar up of class parties, testing schedules, and field trips...make a "this day in history" calendar. Education is not just something spoon fed to you by a teacher. Kids can pick up all kinds of things by just being repeatedly exposed to it. If you read that list of capitals enough times...you can't help but learn a few.
Use those flat surfaces to educate students instead of scaring their wits out of them.
Oh...and when an art class does an exhibition on athropromorphic art, if would be more educational if you'd include an explanation and maybe a history lesson for the kids NOT in that particular art class. That way they get something out of the display.
That would be a lot better than the felt posters reminding students that about "The Keys to CRCT success."
1 comment:
Oh, Sheila, you would be eaten alive for suggesting such heresy if you actually worked for the schools. LOL!
I've always felt that since the tests are testing what you've learned, why not teach the material and then at the end, oh, I dunno, have a test. And perhaps design the test to cover the material that has been taught. But no. That's why (well, one of the myriad reasons why) we homeschool. Children should not be afraid of filling in bubbles b/c their sweet teacher may not get her COLA raise if they pick the wrong bubbles. It's not their job to cover her pay. And it's not her job to hold them responsible for that.
Not that I have an opinion on this sort of thing...
*sigh*
Dy
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