class 4 readings

1.       I  don’t know many principals and teachers who believe that the repeated measuring of children’s skills by standardized exams has had a positive effect upon the processes of education; I know many more who feels it has the opposite result. (Kozol, Ch. 5, pg 110)

There is always going to be educators who are pro standardized test and anti standardized tests. The repeated measurements of these tests take away from the actual learning that the teachers are there to provide for the students. Ok, I think we all agree that having standardized tests are good for the children, but there are so many tests out there now that the process is getting repetitive and a bit ridiculous. Children are being tested from the ages of 4 to 18 during their educational process, but are it really necessary to be this extreme with these standardized tests? I know I never really had to deal with all these tests because I went to private school since the age of 8, but feeling the pressure of regular classroom tests overwhelmed at a young age, I could only imagine all the pressure these children are feeling when it comes to an overload of state testing. This state testing is not allowing teachers and principals to do things their way, it is forcing them to do everything the states way.

2.       “If the road does not lead to Rome, we don’t want it followed.” (Kozol, Ch.5, pg. 111)

This quote really bothers me because I cannot fathom how a teacher can say this about education and learning. What I am gathering from this quote is that students need to perform a certain way in order to be successful. Once again this brings up the topic of students being molded into the “perfect” students. This educator says there is only one road to lead to success. Who is this person to say that Rome is the ultimate goal of a student? And to be honest there is always more than one way to get to a destination; therefore students can take many different roads in order reach Rome. This quote goes against everything an educator is about, saying students cannot be creative or use self expression to find their way. Has state testing brainwashed our schools system so bad, that educator have resorted to saying this type of crap. This is the type of pressure that standardized testing has put on our students, if they do not perform well on these tests; teachers are not going to waste their time on them. What kind of message does this send to students that are not great test takers?

3.       “Our entire 90-minute literacy block was knocked out all last week in second, third, and fourth grades.” (Kozol, ch 5, pg 112)

So trying to mold students into the states standardized norms, teachers are made to give up their class periods. Well, instead of a literacy block, why doesn’t the state make classes that are only dedicated to the state testing?  It seems to me the education is more focused on testing the children than teaching the children. Cutting ninety minutes of teaching time is ridiculous to me, especially at the grades of second, third, and fourth. These kids are so young, and many students at this age enjoy waking up and going to school five days a week, but implementing these standardized tests into class time is going to turn students away, and make them hate school.  If standardized testing takes a hold of the education, children will not want to attend school because of the pressure they are feeling. What happens to students that do not attend school in the urban setting? I think that means they end up on the streets, either homeless, selling drugs, or becoming a gang member. School is supposed to be something that children enjoy, not despise and I am afraid that students are leaning in the opposite direction of enjoyment.

4.       Kindergarten is not like it used to be. (Kozol, ch 5, pg 115)

This quote is pretty self-explanatory, kindergarten and elementary school is not the way it used to be. Starting children at such a young age with standardized testing is not healthy for education, parents, and the children. These tests are putting way too much pressure on these young students. These students are not adults, their kids; 4, 5, and 6 years of age. I remember when I was in kindergarten, it was fun and I loved going to school every day. I didn’t think it would change so dramatically for the worse seventeen years later. Everyone is so concentrated on doing what is best for their children, but do not realize what they are doing is hurting them. They are in kindergarten, let them be kids and enjoy school. Do not put all this pressure on them, at this age they shouldn’t even feel pressure or even know what it is. Just because a kindergartener does not have the scores he/she should have at that age, does not mean he/she will not succeed or get smarter. They’re children and they have a lot more developing to do, so instead of jumping to conclusions and forcing pressure upon them, let them be in the moment and enjoy their childhood.

5.       “We are intent on improving academic performance, you don’t do that by hanging on the monkey bars.” (Kozol, ch 5, pg 120)

This quote correlates with the quote one above. I cannot understand how schools could cut recess out of the academic day. Yes, recess has nothing to do with academics, but I cannot stress this point enough, these are children the teachers are dealing with. They need to have their free time while at school. You cannot have students this young cooped up in a school for 7-8 hours a day and expect them to participate and perform to their fullest, it’s not going to happen. I agree teachers need to start improving academic performance at a young age, but schools can achieve this goal by using the class time. Teachers need to use their classroom time wisely. This means teaching everything that is on the lesson plan, not worrying about testing the children and their results. Their performance has nothing to do with the 30 minute recess they get every day, it has to do with using correct time management and teaching the students what they actually need to be taught.

6.       But I walked into the office of the school one day in mid-July and found the principal in tears. There were her test scores in The New York Daily News! (Kozol, ch 5, pg 123)

This absolutely blew my mind when I read this. Not only does standardized testing put pressure on the students taking them, but the principal of the school has to worry about the media making them public. Why does the public have the right to see these scores? Maybe this is a reason teachers and principals put a huge amount of pressure on the students. I guess the principals are trying to save their own ass, so by doing that they overload their students with standardized testing. Great idea. I do not agree with a newspaper having the scores for the public to see, but maybe it is some type of karma, so the school systems go about the whole testing thing a different way. It still boggles my mind to think that state test scores are all that people care about. Just because someone does not perform well on state tests does not mean they are a bad student or dumb. I remember all throughout middle school and high school I was diagnosed with test anxiety, and I barely performed well on standardized testing. I like to think I have done pretty well for myself. Our school systems have to limit the state testing, it is only making education worse, taking away from class time and putting a numerous amount of unneeded pressure on students.