Grade Card Time

The school district report cards are out, for what they're worth.

I'll admit right up front that I have no idea the purpose of these reports. In looking at the reports for the five districts in Athens County, as well as "The Guide to Ohio's Accountability System", all I can garner is that these report cards are pretty much based on how well the kids in a given district can take those stupid proficiency tests. And if you don't yet realize that the teachers now have to 'teach to the test', you likely haven't been paying attention.

I like most teachers and they have a tough job at times. I don't know how well I'd put up with some kids and their parents. I suppose I would eventually learn how to be more tactful if I had to but some parents just need to hear the truth straight out about how their little Johnny is a royal pain in the rear in class. But what would be worse for me is having to deal with teaching so the kids could pass this goofy, color in the circle with a number 2 pencil, stress-inducing test that was developed by over-educated morons.

Are the high school graduates of today any smarter then previous generations because they know how to pass this test? My grandparents, who didn't go beyond the eighth grade, could do figures in their heads. I generally need to use paper and pencil. My kids, however, wouldn't understand the need to have either of those skills because you have a calculator on your phone, for cryin' out loud. But at least they can make change, unlike the college grad with the liberal arts degree who gives you a blank stare if the power blinks out at a most inoportune time. Would you like fries with that?

I would think teachers would be a bit ticked off with all this testing. After spending four or five years getting a degree to presumably learn how to teach, develop lesson plans, and evaluate the needs of students, they toss them in a classroom full of kids who aren't prepared because they're too busy texting their friends on their cell phones. Then they're told exactly what material must be covered because we have to get these kids to pass this test so we can get 'No Child Left Behind' money from the feds and so some administrators can have bragging rights. A teacher's job isn't so much teaching as it is creating little robots who have to learn to stay in the lines when they're coloring in the little bubbles. On top of that, they have to go back to college to get the next level degree so we can be sure they still know how to color within the lines themselves.

There are plenty of issues within our education system and these tests are only a part of the problem. I don't have a problem with testing kids to measure their progress as they make their way from grade to grade. Bean counters like to count beans, afterall. What I have a problem with is putting so much emphasis on them that they become the focus rather than a tool to measure. Couldn't we just look at the overall scores and determine where the strengths and weaknesses lie within a district and deal with it? Must so much emphasis be placed on testing that school districts learn how to circumvent the system in order to increase their own scoring?

It's been reported that more and more college freshmen are not ready for collge level classes and have to take remedial classes. We are either forcing kids into college who aren't college material or these tests are giving the kids the idea that once they pass the test to graduate, they're good to go and plenty smart enough. How can our schools be rated excellent yet the colleges are saying you aren't sending us even average students?

Kids are no longer being taught how to learn. They aren't taught how to problem solve. They're taught to identify the mostly likely correct answer on a multiple choice test and color. Which is why the kid behind the fast food counter can't make change without the aid of the cash register computer. “It wasn't on the test.”