Copyrights reserved by the author. If you are in doubt, please click on 'Copyrights' and read the details.If you don't try, you'll never know By J. G. Fabiano I scratched a tic-tac-toe game on the black science desk where we were sitting. The curriculum co-ordinator was discussing different means of attaching what we taught on a mapping system that would align it to the state standards. These same standards would then be connected to competencies that were basically a duplication of our curriculum mapping. She was going through the alphabet soup of education that has become the primary means of how we educate our children. Everyone at the table, with the exception of the administrator, knew otherwise because it was clear no one knew what they were talking about because they were talking too much. I have been teaching for over a quarter of a century. I decided to take this pledge of poverty, chastity, and obedience because I wanted my life to mean something and I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. OK, this sounds a bit mushy but it is true. All you have to do is ask another teacher. But, today we are getting farther away from what we know we have to do. The many standardized tests have taken away our ability to do what we were trained to do. Programs promising to have our students test well have taken the place of the very subjects that will allow our students to succeed. As I was attempting to keep quiet during the meeting because anything I stated would be construed as not wanting to better my teaching, another teacher sitting in front of me took my chalk away and advised I had better be good. There was no question she was right because objecting to where public education is leading us would mean you were objecting to bettering our student's future. If you objected to the systems you know are doomed to fail you were considered a maverick or a non-team player. The concept of disagreeing with a program entitled, "No Child Left Behind", was something a teacher who wanted to continue to teach should never do. An analogy would be someone complaining about the Iraqi War during a time when any complaint was considered unpatriotic. Today, complaining about an education policy that is doomed to fail is also not popular even though teachers across the country know this to be true. After putting down the piece of chalk I found in my pocket and noticing the administrator in front of me becoming annoyed because I looked annoyed, I decided to listen to what was going on. The first thing she talked about was how we had to align everything we taught to state standards. These standards were based on what other people decided were important to teach. These standards are also the basis for the state tests all of our students will be condemned to take. In my career I tested my students after every section I taught. These tests were based on what I was taught was important to teach. These lessons were based on what universities wanted their incoming students to know so they could succeed in their classes. For years I thought I was doing the correct thing but with the new laws of NCLB I guess I've not been doing my job. I am not objecting to state testing for our children. I am objecting to the massive beaurocracy that has developed around this system. Our children are no longer being tested once during the school year during certain times of their education. They are now being tested multiple times during the year by different assessment companies. In fact, I now have students who will be tested three or four times during their school year. I understand data collection is important but so is having the students stay in their classrooms. Teachers across the country are beginning to complain about this same issue. Teachers by definition want their students to succeed. Every year they go to multiple conferences attempting to learn more about how to reach their students. Today's conferences are now filled with how we can have more of our students succeed in a test instead of succeeding in their education. This is a problem. I teach my students that with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is true of today's education policy fueled by the 'No Chile Left Behind' legislation. We are losing more veteran teachers every year because they can no longer put up with a policy that can't possibly work. In fact, they realize it is a policy that is hurting the very people we are trying to help. National test scores are not rising. In fact, SAT's, achievement tests, and AP scores show no appreciable increase. Drop-out rates across our nation are increasing because there are many talented students who do not have the capacity to take a paper test even though they are more than capable of producing wonderful work. However, the saddest outcome of this policy is more of our schools are doomed to fail. These are the same schools we all graduated from and have wonderful memories of. These are the same schools that are strapped for money in an attempt to have all of its students succeed. These are the same schools that give their students the ability to become. These are the same schools our government threatens to take money away from thus decreasing their capacity to succeed. I know I will get in trouble because I wrote this essay. I know of many teachers who want to complain but do not because they fear people will think they do not want to be accountable for their work. As teachers, the only accountability that means anything to any of us is how successful our students become. We clearly understand there is a major difference between a child and a test. I don't fear any problems this essay may create. I fear more for my students. Last year I saw a play in which the character fought against something she did not have a chance of changing. To paraphrase the quote I remember most was: "There are things that can't be changed. But, if you don't try you'll never know." The End.
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