standardized crap

the most pressing issue in the world of texas teaching right now: the dreaded TAKS test. well, at least it is in everyone else's classrooms apparently. i knew when i was hired at my school that standardized testing was a big focus for us largely because our scores are so low. much of our school's performance is simply inherent to rural, low-income schools. i could go into catalogs of reasons for poor performance: low levels of parental education, low english proficiency, overinflated emphasis on sports, an utter lack of student motivations, the simple and sad cycle of life/poverty in small towns. but whatever the reason, our kids just aren't passing the test. at the same time, public school, and in turn teacher, performance is being increasingly tied to standardized testing.

i loathe the TAKS test. to me it represents a complete disruption of the education system. because things like school funding and essentially teacher's jobs are dependent on school's scores, teachers abandon teaching content and begin to "teach the test." i discovered last week that every other teacher in my department has been focusing solely on the TAKS test since we came back from the break (i.e. administering practice tests and teaching the "tricks" of the test). i've also been told that after my kids finish the test, they'll think that my class is over.

perhaps i am naive or simply an idiot, but i refuse to center my school year around a state mandated test. my plan for the year is based on introducing my kids to meaningful literature and film while trying to deepen their understanding of our language. i do not believe that a multiple choice assessment with a personal narrative attached to the end measures their comprehension of materials. it most certainly does not accurately appraise the quality of my teaching. something i was told in a grad school, and that i firmly believe, is that there is no causal relationship between teaching and learning. there may be a correlation, but there will always be some kids who flat out refuse to learn, even from the best teacher.

so what AM i doing to prepare my kids for the inevitable? i plan on giving a little pep talk about how the test is one of those unavoidable evils in life for them. whether we like it or not, they have to pass to graduate so they might as well just suck it up and give it their best.

as for myself, i will never judge my school year based on how many kids passed the TAKS. what i believe to be infinitely more important are the moments when i listened to a girl cry, or talked kids out of a fight, or showed my students they can trust me as an authority figure. after all, they won't remember how i taught them adverbs or literary devices, but they will remember my devotion to them.

plan for the week: having finished dante's inferno, we're watching "life is beautiful" and giving the finger to the man. i love it.