Teacher Stockholm Syndrome

I was in a argument this morning about the upcoming mandated testing.

Not with just anyone - a fellow teacher.

And the teacher argued that the tests were necessary.

The teacher's arguments come right out of Elia's mouth.

First: We need to show student progress. And how do these tests do that? No one has any proof. And yes, the tests are bad but we don't have anything else that we can use to show progress, so the students should take the tests. 

Ever heart of Portfolio Presentations?  I know there's no money in them. They do show all a student is capable of.  And growth. 

Never mind the fact that Texas – the state where the exams came from – used the exams to drive low achieving students out of the schools and into GED Programs. (That'll drive up your test scores.)

BTW: These low achieving students are the ones that this teacher has to work with.

I'm still holding out for peer reviewed studies that show that they work in improving instruction and student achievement. I have found exactly no studies yet.

The formula that NYC uses (and other areas use a modified form of it) to rate teachers has a statistical variance of + or – of 40%. That means that it is statistically unreliable to show that a teacher is a good teacher or not. But it's what we have, so we need to use it. (OK I know I used the wrong term there, but you know what I mean.)

Second: Students should sit through the tests because they are good practice for the Regents exams. Great. Another exam that proves that a student can read a Barron's test review booklet and pass.

No lie – I have students that don't trust their US History (actually propaganda and lies) teacher. Not one bit. The homework assignments are useless for review purposes and the easy way to a passing grade in the class is to mouth back to him his (the teacher's) opinions. (That's proof of learning. Memorize and regurgitate, The most basal and banal form of learning. It's what dictators rely upon.)

They pass the exam by going on-line, downloading exams from previous years, and working through them. Those that can spare a few bucks go to the local book stores and buy a Barron's Regents Review book for US History and work through it.

Do they know US History? According to their test scores? Yes. According to sitting down with them and discussing events in US History? No. They have no clue. And they could care less.

Math and the Sciences are more involved, but even so, there comes a time when all they do are Regents Exams for homework. One math teacher makes up their own homework packets from …. previous Regents Exams.

It's drill and kill.

Drill the information into the students' heads and kill any hope they have for a future.

And these exams are going to show that they have made “progress.”

And the low achieving students that this teacher has to work with are not test takers.

They are “other intelligent.”

I have friends that stunk at taking tests. One is reviewing my house for a construction bid. He's not going to write me an essay on his bid and how he came to it. And I wouldn't read. 

Another friend is other intelligent. She can't read or write a flowery essay if she needed to. She was accepted into college based on her dancing skills and musical ability. Something these tests aren't going to look at.

I have a friend that is a whiz at fixing electronics. You know that hand mixer that died that is headed for the dump? I've seen him get them working again – I have no idea how. He has boxes of spare parts. If it's electronic, he can figure it out and fix it. There's no state test for that.

The tests are designed to test specific types of intelligences – not the ones that 95% of the population exhibit either. It's 2 types of intelligences that take exams well. The other 14 are not so good at it. And just because you can take a test well does not mean you know the content. See the US History story above. Read on below.

I killed the GRE for admission to Graduate School. 650 on the Math and English. 690 on the Logic. I went to my local public library and borrowed the GRE Exam books. I knew how tot take the exams. Don't ask me to do any of the math now. I think remember how to do the logic. I read quite a bit, so the English scores should be OK.

We have to get the students ready to take exams. More like teach them how to take the exams so we look good.

And the number of colleges that are dropping the SAT and ACT because they are unreliable and you can fake the scores with test prep books? They want portfolios of the student's work for the program that they are applying to. That is scaring some of the students that I work with because they have nothing to show.

I have a friend that counsels military recruits ( I won't say his branch & yes we argue foreign policy a ton) on their MOS (Military Occupational Specialty.) He asks them – did you use an ASVAB test book? If yes, he tells them that picking an MOS based on actual talent and natural ability will be like finding a needle in a haystack. If they took the exam several times, he looks only at the first exam. He wants raw data because that tells him the most about a person and their abilities.

Hey, you can fake an IQ quiz.

And the exams are telling us what?

Like a voice crying out in the wilderness.

More like students crying at their desks.

If not out loud, at least in their heads.

Teach me something other than a test.

More importantly – Teach me who I am.

No test can do that.