Am I the only one? - Where am I going with this? - mimi's Blog - Tehachapi News

Dec 22, 2006 at 08:12 AM : This might seem a...

This might seem a little bit off topic but I do have a point. I went to school here in Tehachapi from Kindergarten to 12th grade. My third grade teacher was Mrs. Howitz. When I found out I would have Mrs. Howitz I cried the entire day. I heard how strict she was and I was scared. As it turns out she was incredibly strict, but she was also one of the best teachers I ever had, and not just for her homework policy. She told my dad once that she didn't believe in giving homework to eight year old kids. She said that kids should be aloud to be kids. Giving children a bunch of homework to do takes away from their childhood. I learned more that year than in any one year since.

I think teaching kids just to pass a test is the wrong way to go about educating. That is like us, as adults going to work just to get a paycheck. Granted that is what most of us end up doing. Ideally there should be a love of or a passion for what we do in life. I know we don't live in an ideal world, but shouldn't we strive for that for our children.

I am appalled at the amount of homework my 1st grader gets. My husband and I have to fight with her daily to get her to do it. The homework isn't hard, she knows how to do it, but there is just so much of it. I wonder how much she will be bringing home once she gets to Junior High or High School.

Dec 22, 2006 at 12:12 PM : Letters to the school...

Letters to the school board will not do any good. You must remember this is state mandated education. Teaching to the test is as miserable for the teachers forced to teach this way as well as the kids who have to learn in this sterlie unimaginative way. I believe the reason this whole thing started was to make the teachers accountable. I don't think this is working for our children but I wouldn't begin to point fingers on an issue this complex.

Dec 22, 2006 at 04:12 PM : Ah, I...

Ah, I see. Sadly I do not have any children so I know very little about the school system. SO, I did some research. it's seems many approve of this testing. Mostly Republicans, but some Democrats as well. Thus I do not see an end to this anytime soon. Indeed it is a very complex issue. WHEW!!! I read many articles of people complaining of their elementary school children doing 2 hours of homework every day. The stress is unbearable for some.. I researched the reason for excessive homework.....This is what I got so far.

Gov. Pete Wilson decided it was important to test students immediately, with a test that would show how each student compared to national and state averages. New educational programs, such as class-size reduction, new reading methods, and the increased use of technology in the classroom, make it "vital to be able to assess how these things are working," says Kalustian. So during the 1997 state-budget negotiations, Wilson held out for a bill authorizing a new basic-skills exam for all second- through 11th-graders in California public schools. The state Board of Education chose STAR.

Congress adopts Bush’s plan for even more testing

The spring testing season produced widespread resistance by test-weary students, parents, and teachers even as President George W. Bush’s education plan, which requires doubling or tripling the required number of tests students take in many states, sailed through the U.S. House of Representatives with support on both sides of the aisle.

Two Congresspeople from states where resistance to high-stakes testing has been the strongest, Rep. Peter Hoeskstra (R-MI) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), offered an amendment to strike Bush’s testing plan from HR 1, a bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and which included much of Bush’s education agenda, excepting federally funded vouchers for students to attend private schools.

The Hoeskstra/Frank amendment was handily defeated and the House voted 384-45 for HR 1, including the cornerstone of Bush’s education plan, which requires states to test students in third through eighth grade every year in reading and math. According to the plan, schools whose students fall short of testing norms would at first receive extra funding and assistance. But if a school’s test scores continued to lag, it would be forced to take “corrective action,” such as replacing its entire staff or closing and reopening as a charter school. In addition, students at schools without adequate test scores would be able to transfer to other public schools. They could also use federal funds for private tutoring, through public or private religious organizations.

The Senate bill, S 1, which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, calls for a “system of high-quality, yearly student assessments,” but does not specify that tests be comparable across districts or grades within a state. Despite the fact that U.S. students are already tested at an unprecedented level, support of the massive testing program remains strong in Congress. Sen. Paul Wellstone, however, has reintroduced the Fairness and Accuracy in Student Testing Act, a bill that stipulates that for any state or local educational agency receiving federal money, a single standardized test “shall not be the sole determinant…of any decision about the retention, graduation, tracking, or within-class grouping of an individual student.”

It's a catch 22 for schools and their staff.