Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f7GDT1f29118; Thu, 16 Aug 2001 09:29:01 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 09:29:01 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <3B7BC9CF.9735AF32@georgetown.edu> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Albert Wat <ayw@georgetown.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:189] Re: Back-to-School Tour, Publication, & Website X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.74 [en] (Win95; U) Status: O Content-Length: 3689 Lines: 83 Hi all, I couldn't agree more with the message below. I'm all for schools and teachers being accountable to kids and families, but this seems to me to be an overly simplistic, not to mention detrimental, way of dealing with the issue. I also agree with Betsy that this policy could have an unproportionately harmful effect on students from low-income, urban communities. In my previous position in Michigan, we worked with schools both in Ann Arbor (a relatively well-resourced suburban town) and Detroit. When it came to testing time, the difference in the two districts' approach to the tests was striking. Detroit schools had signs posted everywhere, announcements were made about how important it is to do well and get rest, students talked about them all the time... some of teachers in the younger grades even had their students make little "favors" to encourage the older kids. Meanwhile, you can barely notice the presence of testing in Ann Arbor schools. All this led me to think how much more pressure the urban schools must feel to do well (since dollars are often tied to these tests) and as a result, how much real instructional time is taken away from the kids in urban schools vs. those in suburban schools. It's funny... the politicians like to talk about how schools need to be accountable to the families, but we never talk about how they (or us taxpayers) need to be accountable to schools and teachers... -- Albert Wat Program Coordinator, DC Schools Project Office of Volunteer and Public Service Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service Georgetown University B-01 St. Mary's Hall Washington, DC 20057 (202)687-8834 Fax: (202)687-8980 http://www.georgetown.edu/outreach/vps/service/dcschools/index.htm BRmidwest@aol.com wrote: > In response to the press release: > > Sorry to be so direct here, but, in response to Mr. Paige and Mr. Bush's > references to "accountability," I have to raise the urgent concern of how > much schools, teachers, families, and *children* will be harmed by the > emphasis on frequent standardized testing. > > How many teachers are quitting because they feel they are being forced to > teach to tests rather than really teach? > > How many kids are put under untenable pressure because of this testing? How > many principals and teachers are so affected by this same pressure that they > can no longer focus on what it really means to teach and to learn? > > How many schools that are doing their absolute best--and as well as any > school possibly could--with the resources and population they have will be > closed because the test scores aren't high enough? What will happen to those > kids enrolled in those schools? > > How many individual kids will be punished by their parents for not getting a > high enough NUMBER on these tests on which everything seems to rest? How many > kids will feel they have caused their own schools to fail because they--the > kids--did not get high enough scores? > > I have yet to hear a TEACHER embrace the value of this annual testing. Many > parents across the country are expressing their own outrage about what they > feel is a misguided and detrimental focus on testing. > > I myself believe that annual testing will ultimately result in an actual > lowering of students' ability to learn or to develop a broad or deep > intellect. It will also affect how children feel about school and learning. > It may in fact harm schools that serve children low-income communities. > > I realize I have expressed my own opinion very bluntly. I would be very > interested in hearing from others on the listserv on this subject. > > Thank you. > > Betsy Rubin > Chicago, IL
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