As time wears on, and I have more time to think about testing this past week in New York State, I get more and more sad, confused, and outraged.
The Commissioner and the Governor both said "they heard the parents."
But I'm not sure what they heard the parents say.
The parents (and, in case it matters to anyone, the teachers,) said the tests were too long.
The response? Keep them three days long, remove a handful of questions, and un-time them?
The result? Most of two weeks in a "prime teaching/learning time" of year taken up by testing and disrupted schedules.
The result? Mostly the same length tests (as evidenced by the State's own "estimated time" for tests.)
The result? Some students sat for 2, 3, 4, hours and sometimes more.
Children as young as 9 years old, "voluntarily" choosing to sit with a test, in order to do as they were told!
And the missing page? Don't get me started on that one again! (See previous posts for why it matters and why the test scores have been invalidated.)
This is nothing short of State-sanctioned child abuse, and teachers have been co-opted into being complicit.
This is a moment in time when we all need to speak out.
This is that moment in time when we need to stop following orders and question the sanity and logic of what we're being told to do.
And if you haven't read the book already, I once again highly recommend Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You're Told To Do Is Wrong.
This groundbreaking book will give you all the reasons you need to just-say-no.
(And let me know when you finish reading the book. We can set up a chat here on the blog to share stories, ideas, and encouragement.)
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