by Stephen
A teacher draws a line in the sand.
April 25, 2008 in Current Affairs, Education by Stephen
While I have issues with the importance we put on standardized tests, refusing to administer them is a bit far to go to make a point. This teacher did just that, and was suspended.
When it’s time each spring for Carl Chew to give his Seattle sixth-graders the federally required standardized tests, he can feel their anxiety.
They complain about stomachaches, they get sick and some of them just start to cry. Even the straight-A students.
For both teachers and young children, the annual Washington Assessment of Student Learning test creates an atmosphere “rife with fear,” the science teacher at Nathan Eckstein Middle School told ABCNEWS.com.
“The WASL is presented in a secretive, cold and inhuman fashion,” he said. “The teacher is not allowed to read the questions, or help, and the kids have to maintain silence for hours and hours. They are only allowed a bathroom break once in a while.”
But after agonizing about the detrimental effects of standardized testing for several years, Chew did something about it last week. He refused to administer the test, which is the key measure of academic progress under the federally mandated No Child Left Behind law.
The WASL is just one of numerous high-stakes tests that now dominate the curricula of elementary schools across the country. A growing number of teacher and parents are rejecting these kind of tests, which have increased in frequency and gravitas after No Child Left Behind.
They rebel at their own peril, however. Chew was suspended for nine days without pay by his principal. But today — sitting at home while a substitute teacher takes his place — he is a rock star among parents and teachers who have blamed the testing for stamping out the love of learning in children.