taking on the test

so, winter break has come and gone. it was really nice to have a full two weeks to regroup and get ready for the bulk of the year.

the monday we came back from school, we had a staff meeting at the end of the day. during the meeting, the testing schedule for the rest of the year came out.

what the fuck.

we have at least 2 full days of testing from february until the end of the year.

for the month of january, we have 4 test prep. sessions a week. for me, that means spending at least an hour each day. that may not sound like a lot, but that means 4 hours a week. i only have them for ela for 10 hours a week, and that is if we don't have music. now, that means that basically half of my time with them for the week is spent doing mindless practice tests.

i am also supposed to be teaching them different themes from the regular ed. english book, a book they can't read. teaching the themes isn't too difficult because i am able to use a couple other books that examine and present these themes. but then, this is the best part, they have to take the 5th grade test on the theme. despite the fact they might actually understand the theme (genre of writing or reading, grammar) they can't read the fucking question because they are not 5th grade level readers. but can't they just raise their hands and ask the teacher to read it, like they would normally during class? fuck no, that would make it too easy. i am not even allowed to read the question to them. despite this, sometimes i am able to get around that.

why don't i just break the rule and read it to them? because then, if they do well, they might get bumped out of special ed the next year. that wouldn't be helpful to them because then they would be in a setting where they aren't really going to be able to learn. but, it's ok that the special ed. kids don't do well on the test, right? it's not like the district would require us to give our special education students the same test as the regular education students and then use these scores to determine how well the teachers are teaching and the principals principaling. so when a school has more special ed. students, naturally, their scores might be a little lower. so instead of perhaps giving more funding or a few extra teachers or aides, they punish the principal and threaten their job. i am not making this shit up.

PRINCIPALS ARE TOLD HOW MANY SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS THEY ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE. IF THEY GO OVER, THE DISTRICT WILL COME IN AND QUESTION AND PENALIZE THE PRINCIPAL. STUDENTS THAT NEED SERVICES ARE NOT GETTING THEM BECAUSE THE DISTRICT, ESSENTIALLY, SEEMS THEM AS A LIABILITY.

anyway. i can't stand standardized tests, as you may see. it completely is ass-backwards of the way a good teacher would teach. it is completely ass-backwards of the way that the district and state expects us to teach. we get memos and attend workshops, expressing the benefits of hands-on learning, teaching to multiple intelligences, and alternative assessment. and yet each year, we subject the students to hours, literally, hours of the exact opposite.

i am not sure how i can begin to work for change, but it is something i am going to be a part of.