My kids all did the ACT standardized testing today. PASS is next week. Yay. I remember when I was young (not long ago, I swear) and we did these standardized tests too. They may have had different names, but the gist is the same. Here's the difference. I NEVER stressed about them. Ever. The teachers didn't have to teach to them. In all honesty, I don't really know how much funding was based on them, but they were never anything we were stressed about as children. The only thing my parents stressed about them was making sure we had breakfast and got to school on time. We all hated them then too, but we weren't WORRIED about them.
My kids are actually stressed about them. They spend class time and time at home studying for them. Their teachers are even more stressed. Their jobs and income could be at risk because of them. The way they teach has been altered because of them. The district is crazy stressed about it. Funding can depend on them. Funding that could benefit the kids and the teachers. And I for one have had enough.
If a school scores badly, maybe they need MORE funding, not less. Maybe they need more help and more resources to give the kids a fair shot. Maybe a one-day snapshot of a child's knowledge doesn't really show what they are really capable of. Maybe it's not really a true test of how well their teachers do at their job.
Maybe the special needs kids don't really need to be taking these tests as if their responses actually reflect the ability of the school to teach. I have been in a classroom where the kids were so mentally challenged that they actually chewed on themselves and drooled and grunted. Most were in wheelchairs and diapers. It was a good day if they smiled or fit the right piece into a block puzzle. Testing these kids is ludicrous. Not the rapper, actually ludicrous, as in ridiculous and stupid. Even a modified version of the test is unfair to them and to the people who spend all day caring for them.
Basing any part of the schools funding or staffing on any standardized test should be done to the BENEFIT of the school and the children, not the detriment. Give them MORE resources. More teachers. More options on how they learn and how they test. Learn what schools are doing right and share that info with other schools. Work on changing things that aren't working. So all our children have the best opportunity possible to succeed. That should be the only goal in any standard test.
My little girl was recently "invited" to participate in a 3 week summer school program for "remediation and enrichment". This child is an honor roll student. She studies, works hard (voluntarily refused to use any homework pass she ever got), volunteers, and is kind and generous. But according to PASS testing, she is not good enough. She is NOT a success. How does that make a kid feel? How does it benefit or motivate her to know that although she did more than enough to pass her grade, her results on a test given LAST SCHOOL YEAR have determined that she needs "remediation". (She doesn't. And she won't be attending.)
I do not blame her teachers, or even the school for that matter. They are doing the best they can. I blame the Department of Education for allowing such foolishness to take place. And it's so obviously geared toward these tests because that was her ONLY criteria for being "invited". Again, honor roll kid. And get this! It's free! Free school. Free transportation. Free breakfast and lunch. They don't offer free summer school to the kids who need it to pass their grade. As a matter of fact, they don't offer summer school at all for kids her age. If you fail, you fail. But if you don't do well on PASS, you get free, extra help. It still won't help you pass your grade. The letter was very clear about that. It is "not for advancement".
That is not to say that such a thing wouldn't be beneficial and perhaps even welcomed by some students. For me, it's the principle. Not the Principal. She's great. The principle. That you'd ask a kid who's excelled for years to give up a chunk of her summer so she can get better scores on a test, so the district can maybe get better funding. The schools are literally spending money (teachers, electricity, buses, etc.) to run these programs, so they won't lose any money from the government!!!
I admit, I am no expert, and yes, there should be some basic standards and some accountability for teaching them, but I am tired of seeing the schools, the teachers, and the children being held hostage to these testing practices. We don't stop cancer research funding just because they haven't cured it yet. Why should we handle school funding any differently? Didn't get the result you wanted? Maybe they need more. Education is one of the greatest things we can give our children. Let's remove the strings that are attached.