TAKS Boycott Association
This website is the independent creation of graduate students at the University of Texas at San Antonio. We see the way Texas hurts students on a daily basis, through high-stakes testing, misuse of tests, unequal funding, cultural bias, uncontrolled experiments, and inaccurate evaluation. We call on all teachers to actively prevent TAKS administration.
This website is a work-in-progress. We welcome all advice and criticism. Please believe we are committed to better education by any means. We take an activist stance, that academics should engage and incite debate on these issues. That this may prompt others, perhaps those in powerful positions, to bring initiatives to the public (in addition to lecture halls and academic journals).
Education in Texas is malfunctioning. So we search for a solution. TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) is not a solution, but another problem. It ruins curriculum and deprives even expert students. We urge all teachers to boycott this corrupt testing system, and the corrupt corporations which abuse our students' minds. Students will learn more if teachers ignore the TAKS's narrow curriculum. The data show that TAKS does not measure, much less predict, college potential:
"high-stakes testing as a standalone assessment technique is destroying our students. SAT scores diminish as fast as the curriculum does, drop-out rates increase as fast as TAKS scores do. Today’s elementary students, if they survive, will enter college (Assuming their public education is still sufficient for admission) ill-prepared and undereducated. They will be experts in only rote memorization of the TAKS" (TAKS Boycott Association, 2005).
Teachers, stop participating in this injustice. Texas needs comprehensive assessment of real learning, not of memorization and bubble-filling. Protect our students' education. Join our TAKS Boycott for the 2005-2006 school year.
posted by TAKS Boycott Association @ 9:18 PM
37 comments
37 Comments:
We at Educators and Parents Against Testing Abuse,EPATA, support your efforts. We in California are also experiencing the insanity of testing. Feel free to visit our url at http://testingabuse.blogspot.com
In solidarity,
Rog Lucido
I'm not sure I understand your point. How do you propose teachers boycott? What would a teacher do? How will that action by a teacher increase what any student of the teacher learn the day of the boycott?
the details are in our manifesto, but briefly: teachers should NOT administer the test. teachers should destroy the answer sheets or simply not submit them to the administrators/ testing corporations. think along the lines of the lunch counter sit-ins of the civil rights movement, or the grape worker strikes of Cesar Chavez, and you get the idea. every teacher can actively prevent this invalid and biased test from even being graded.
what will the student learn? well, as is teachers complain that instead of subject matter they are forced to teach "test taking skills." some high schools do this for weeks at a time before a test. this means nothing (no subject information) is given. the result of the current situation is that students get better at taking TAKS, but worse at everything else: drop out rates are up, SAT scores are down, college admission for texas students is down.
so instead of test taking skills, a boycotting teacher can continue with a proper curriculum. according to those who designed this test, use of test training materials invalidates the results, anyway. norm-referenced tests nationwide now produce claims by school districts that 70% of our students are above average (Jones, Jones, & Hargrove, 2001; Sacks, 1999). this is because the districts meansure not intelligence or academic achievement, but rote-memorization of certain facts and psychometric techniques. hence the problem: higher test scores mean less education.
that is why all must boycott. it is immoral for a teacher to harm a student's mind.
Kip Austin Hinton
I have refused to teach to the test. I believe that curriculum is more important than test taking strategies, though my colleagues do not. Between the field testing and benchmark testing and other testing, there are few real days in the classroom as is. Our principal actually called the TAKS "The Rosebowl of high school," and gave us all a motivation speech about how to pump these kids up about this innane test.
I watch my students, and they will actually take a test without even reading a passage. They cross out answers right and left (you never have 3 Ds in a row...) and highlight portions that they haven't even read. I even had one student tell me that he couldn't find the definition within a passage we were reading, when the context clues were clear. We talked about the context clues and found a definition, but he said, "Ms, that's not a definition. Definitions are the words that come after the bolded word and the dash."
With the boycott, though, when one person in a school is the only anti-TAKS person, it is difficult to take a stand along the lines of the lunch counter sit-ins. What are the consequences of such a boycott? I admit. I haven't read your manifesto in entirety yet, so I guess I should do so now.
My name is Keisha Williams, I'm a teacher and a parent. We have organized a group of citizens against TAKS retention. We meet on the 24th of each month in Dallas @ the Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center. If you want to get involved please e-mail me @"kbolden@dallasisd.org". We have to fight for our children. Thanks for what you are doing.
my name is Steve Jackson and I think taks should be boycotted because it caused a lot of my fellow class mates 2 give up on school and the rate just continues so for all the years we spent in school is in vein because of 1 test that is increasing the difficulty level each year
Hi, came across this article that I think works well with your blog.
children with adhd
children with adhd
Children with ADHD
There is a perplexing state of affairs in today's society, there lies a strong correlation between the affluence of a society and the amount of disease that is present. There is also another correlation that troubles many a people and that is with affluence comes disease at an Earlier age.
Working with children and the parents of these children I often get asked the question, 'Why are Children with ADHD on the increase?'
The answer as you shall find is one that is both interesting and challenging.
Children of today are really no more different from the children of yesterday in terms of genetic makeup. However, if you examine the issue more closely you will tend to find that many children today have been given labels. For example, 'Oh, those are children with ADHD' or 'Those are the children who can't sit still.' Or 'That is the kid that always gets into trouble.'
These labels are not only destructive but also become a self fulfilling prophecy as it is repeated adnauseum.
So as a 21st century parent or a parent with a child with ADHD or a parent with children with ADHD, what knowledge framework do you need to equip yourself with to ensure your children live out their true potential?
Here is a quick reference list for thinking about ADHD
� ADHD is a source of great frustration because it is misunderstood
� ADHD medications are a great short term time buying device and should be avoided long term
� The above point goes for any sort of drug consumption. Think about it for a minute. Unless you have a biochemical deficiency in your body like Type 1 diabetes where your body fails to produce enough insulin or any at all, why would you take an external drug? A body that is in balance is totally healthy. It is only when the body is out of balance that dis-ease symptoms start to creep up.
� ADHD is a biochemical imbalance of the mind and body.
� The Head of Psychiatry in Harvard states that drugs for ADHD simply mask the effects of ADHD. It does not cure ADHD. This is an important point because a cure implies never to have to take the medication. This means that once you start on medication you will have to be on it for the rest of your life i.e. you have medically acquired a dependency for a biochemical imbalance. That is like stuffing all your rubbish (problematic behaviors) into a closet (medication) where no one can see it. But if you continue to stuff more rubbish into that closet, one day you will not have enough space and need to do one of two things. You either empty the rubbish (the natural conclusion) or you get a bigger closet (i.e. change to stronger medication to control the symptoms). The choice is obvious but sometimes when you don't have the necessary tools to deal with ADHD you tend to think the bigger closet is the only option.
� ADHD children are super sensitive to the emotions around them. Often they pick up emotional cues from their parents without realizing. Many parents come home frustrated or annoyed from work, the child with ADHD picks this up and starts to 'cause trouble' by becoming restless. Parents frustration increase because they just want some peace and quiet. They get angry which in turn is picked up by the child who then intensifies their activity. Things get way out of hand and some sort of punishment is handed down to the child who has no idea what just happened. The cycle repeats itself every so often.
� Our brains are wired emotionally. Positive praise is interpreted as an analytical/thinking exercise. Negative criticism including scolding, name calling, physical punishment all go directly to the emotional brain of children with ADHD. This means in order to ensure you get your message across in the most optimal way, you need to learn how to communicate with your ADHD children the way they like to be communicated with.
� Every negative comment requires 16 positive comments to neutralize the emotion. Save yourself the frustration and agitation by practicing positive communication.
The list is by no means complete. In dealing with children with ADHD there are a certain set of behavioural principles to follow. I will detail these steps in the coming weeks. I'll also build on the list as you continue to learn about what appears to be a mystical disorder known as 'Children with ADHD'
I am a retired teacher in ft. worth, texas and I have ALWAYS been AGAINST the taks TEST. I have always felt that it was racially motivated and I still do. the (retest) science that was given at crowley high school in ft. worth the other day was nothing but blacks, mexicans and asians. no whites. plus the caucasians are all gone to learning academies here in ft. worth where they give their OWN testing and of course their chances are greater for graduation. I could go on and on but you think things are BAD now, just wait until they have to answer ALL the questions correctly as I have been told. and each retesting test, there are MORE ADDITIONAL questions than when they previously took it. I WILL CONTINUE TO WRITE YOU AND WRITE and complain. when the drop out rates continue to climb, then we will not be safe in our homes and TAKS is to blame. please answer at madamepolk@yahoo.com
I don't care who knows how I am totally AGAINST IT.
...Boycott TAKS, i'm all for it.I have a daughter in the 12th grade and we found out today 5-5-06, that she can't graduate in May, she did not pass the Math and Science in TAKS,, she has been in school for 14 years, worked very hard, and is an A,B,C, student..and i had to tell her today that she can't graduate in May, however she will take the test for the 6th time in July, she won't give up,,,but there are kids out there that do,, and these test are hurting our kids, dropping out,giving up, thinking that they are smart enouh, so BOYCOTT all you won't, you have my vote,,what else can i do to help stop all this testing? Texas Mom...
The taks test is the most repulsive thing on the face of the planet earth, so here is a message to all who are reading this, especially superintendants, or principals.PLEASE, PLEASE,PLEASE!!!! Stop the taks test! it's crual! if a child can read, write, and do your basic math,THEY SHOULD PASS!
So the people that DO like the taks test can SHOVE IT! UP THeiR ***!!!(no offense, so don't form an angry mob!)
I'm a reporter in New York working on a news story about standardized testing. I'm trying to speak to someone who received erroneous or incorrect scores on the TAKS or other standardized tests. I can be reached at 212-732-9245, or at dglovin@bloomberg.net. Thanks.
--David Glovin
You are asking teachers to cut their own throats. The TAKS should be eliminated but this simple-minded approach will not work. Get in the system and do some work that will actually help.
The TAKS test causes stress to all or most of my fellow students all throughout the year, some more affected than others. All of my teachers oppose it as well. I mean, look at the morale of the students and teachers within Texas as a whole? It's dropped significantly ever since the TAKS test has been administered. I, and many others, believe that the educational system in Texas should NOT rely on yet ANOTHER "assessment of knowledge and skills".. We already have them. they're called FINAL EXAMS. in conclusion, the TAKS test is, in my opinion, a terrible waste of money by the Texas state government and all that fund it. It really should be done away with, for we already have final exams to judge what knowledge students have accumulated over the year, for each individual class.
Im an 8th grader. I can see many negative effects of the taks test, and not any positive. Thats why Im going to refuse to take it, but im going to make a stronger statement than that. Im going to get as many students as I can, and get them to join me. My school consists of 6th-8th grade, while that may not make as much of a satement as highschoolers, I still think its pretty strong. Best of all, there is no consequenc to any of our grades for not taking it. I doubt many will joiin me, but if atlest 20 do, I think it'll be enough. THank You for what you stand for, it lets me know I have something to fall back on for support.
While I think there should be some sort of assessment testing I don't think this particular testing should be the be all end all of testing. I think it is completely unfair to place a student who is doing well over all in a stressfull situation where they will most likely not perform as well as they normally do. Example, you have a student who is for the most part an "A" or "B" student give them the TAKS and they fail. Is it fair to hold back that student a year just because they failed to perform under the TAKS pressure yet pass every class they are taking for the school year? How can students learn what they should be learning in an environment that is condusive to learning? Instead they are constantly preparing for TAKS with 4-5 Benchmark tests a year. That is not learning that is training for a performance. Also, if a student should have a teacher that is NOT helping students prepare for the TAKS won't that student or others most likely fail? I could go on and on but I think it's pretty easy for most to see that this type of testing is corrupt on so many levels. There has to be a better way. My son went to a private school and took their assessment test...Iowa testing..and was in the top quarter amoung students in the nation. I think we should take a look at private schools and how they test..the kids that come out of there are usually 6 months to a year ahead of their peers and they don't have near the pressure that public school students do with assessment testing. Ok, well time for me to step off the soap box for awhile. Thank you for this website and for parents like me to vent.
i have a son who recently took the taks test, which i am totally against, he is only 9 yrs. old, and is in the 3rd grade he also suffers migraines, this is totaly fustrating for him. And if that's not bad enough, after the test was administerd, it took 2 weeks to find out that the tests of all 3rd graders and only that school had gone missing.
What should be done about this problem? i really don't think he should retest.
A successful boycott needs to start with parents' refusing to bring their children to school on the day of the tests. It cannot be the responsibility of teachers who are under contract and therefore have a legal obligation to proctor the test.
As much as I would love to support this kind of boycott of the TAKS test, I have to admit that it is not the answer. It is a childish response with no solution. Anyone who has not taught in a TAKS grade can not understand the gravity of the situation.
While shredding test documents may bring a great deal of satisfaction, I can gaurantee that many principals would fire you on the spot. You also run the risk of losing your certification. How can you touch the lives of children when you are banned from the classroom?
Encouraging others to break the law and put their career on the line when you have not been in the situation yourself will not bring changes. No one can truly understand all the factors involved until they have been in the situation. If you want to help these children step up and teach, mentor, or volunteer. They need love and individual attention whether there is a looming TAKS test or not.
I just noticed that Kip is an ESL teacher.
I have to ask...
You must have been around the TAKS test this year- did you destroy it?
Just curious if you have the courage to do what you ask all teachers to do.
i completly understand you wanting to boycott the TAKS. bacause of this fact: don't you think we are learning less by focusing on this test?
If we do boycott the TAKS, and not focus on one thing would'nt we learn a WHOLE lot more. In my opinion I belive we would actually learn 3 times as much as we would when focusing on sed: TAKS. surprisingly all of this is coming from a 13 yr old 8th grader. Anyway this is my opinion so hope you agree with me.
I agree with your comments about the TAKS test..BUT seggesting this type of boycott is unreal....I am a first year teacher and am getting demoted for my kids scoring low on benchmarks!!!!! can you imagine what would happen if we did what is being suggested? By the way yes, I am looking for legal assitance...This is a nightmare!!!!!!!
I think most of you are missing the point. I'm a 3rd grade teacher here in Texas and I do not like the TAKS test or all the stress that comes with it, for me and the students. But, we still need a common standard by which students can be measured. Maybe TAKS is not the solution to that problem, but boycotting or sobotaging the exam is not a real solution either. For those of you who think grades or final exams is a true measure of what students are capable of, you're living in a dreamworld. The fact is that grades are usually meaningless. Why? Because every teacher grades by very different criteria.
On the issue of final exams, these are not the same for every student across the state, so while students in Mr. A's class might have made an A due to an "easy" exam, students in Mr. B's class may have flunked do to the higher difficulty of his test. What is the solution then? I don't know, but it has to include some sort of standardization. Any ideas?
I totally agree that the TAKS is destroying public education in Texas! While standardized tests may be a necessary evil, they should be just that, a test, an ASSESSMENT TOOL, not a curriculum. I see my two elementary age children come home every week with a stack of papers that are exact replicas of the TAKS test. All good teachers know that you cannot use an assessment tool to teach. They are intended to assess what knowledge students have mastered. Yet most districts are shoving these TAKS worksheets down the throats of teachers and students. The real learning should take place amid a curriculum rich in hands on, creative lessons designed by teachers (not TAKS curriculum coordinators). Too many school districts have become consumed by the TAKS. The Administration, in it's attempt to be an "exemplary" district by TAKS standards, has become a sort of dictatorship where what they say goes. Teachers and parents don't have a voice. They are afraid to let teachers do what they were hired to do, TEACH!! The TAKS is meant to measure the minimum standards of education. Everything that students should be learning is laid out in the TEKS, and was intended to be carried out within a developmentally appropriate framework. The TAKS curriculum so many schools are attempting to impose has so many gaps that are not addressed by the test. I am wondering when they intend to fill in the gaps left by a purely "TAKS curriculum"?? In our school, my third grader went to science/social studies class (also intended to be a GT class) for the first six weeks. Since then she has not had any science or social studies instruction because our principal has decided that only TAKS material is important. Therefore they cover only math and reading. I was told they would resume science and social studies after the TAKS are over. That means a whole year worth of instruction in science and social studies must be crammed in the first six weeks and the last five weeks of school. Ironically, I see children in my son's fifth grade class being threatened because they cannot pass the science TAKS. Is it any wonder?? Where has common sense gone? The teachers are frustrated by this but feel helpless. What is even more apalling to me is that the administration doesn't even make the parents aware of their decision. They are giving students grades in science and social studies (100's in the case of the GT class) and many parents aren't even aware of the fact that these GT kids don't even have a classroom to go to during this time. They are shuffled around hallways and empty libraries to read books while their GT teacher and all the other teachers tutor kids at risk of failing the TAKS in math and reading. Our entire school's schedule is dictated by the TAKS. Students who are not at risk of failing the TAKS are now sent home an hour ealier than in years past so that there are smaller groups of at risk kids for the teachers to work with. The administration has even found a way to steal an additional hour every day from those students who apparently don't need any instructional time because they can pass the test with no problems. These children are taken out of the classrooms and sent to "enrichments" with art, music, and pe teachers. While I believe wholly in the importance of these areas and find these teachers to be wonderful, I find it hard to understand how my third grader is receiving no science, social studies, or GT instruction, but gets five hours a week in choir. Unbelievably those children who are identified by the practice TAKS as being commended or not at risk of failing are simply getting three hours less instruction time in the classroom daily than those who are at risk for failing. That adds up to fifteen hours less per week!! The equivalent of two entire school days!! This isn't a small portion of students being affected. All students, K-5 are identified and close to half of those are sent home an hour early. That is around 400 students at our campus. We have "enrichments" in grades 3-5 (TAKS grades) that takes around 250 students out of the classroom daily. It seems that we are only setting these kids up for future failures. Eventually these gaps will become gaping wholes in their education. Is this what we are waiting for? While most agree that the TAKS has gotten out of hand, many are afraid to act. That is the greatest power and perhaps the worst part of the TAKS. It is set up in a manner that is meant to oppress the teachers and students. If you speak out against it in many districts you are made to seem like you are speaking out against education. Teachers and even principals are threatened with their jobs. I think the first step is for people to realize they do have a voice. Parents, teachers and students need somewhere to speak up. I have tried all the things suggested by the third grade teacher who spoke out against the boycott. I volunteer at school regularly. I mentor regularly. This has only confirmed my feeling that something has to change. I encourage everyone, anyone who has had to suffer the TAKS to speak up, to write to every elected official they can think of about their experiences. Write to your local newspapers so that others don't feel alone and powerless. Encourage everyone who you speak with to do the same. Email anyone you can and encourage them to forward it. Isolationism is a powerful force of oppression. It can only be overcome by speaking out, one voice at a time. Together these voices will eventually be heard. I do like the idea of a parent/ student boycott and would like to know more about what negative consequences if any a district can impose on elementary students who don't take the TAKS??
It seems that those in charge have decided that passing the TAKS is mission #1. Our superintendent even has being an TAKS EXEMPLARY CAMPUS as his #1 goal on our district website. This may seem like a noble ambition if you didn't understand the great irony of the whole thing. It seems that in the race to be number one on the TAKS we are forgetting to address the wonderful journey that should be our children's education!! Childhood should never be this difficult or this stressful!! It is time we use our voice to take back our schools, to put parents, teachers, and students in charge of our schools again! Remember the lesson of A Bug's Life?There is power in numbers!!
The TAKS test is misused. It was designed to test the educational system, not the student. The student is just the conduit of the end product of public schooling...did the kid learn what the schools are supposed to be teaching, and what taxpayers' money is paying for.
The testing should be against the educational products given or sold to the schools, and the teachers and counsellors themselves. If the material does not work for the demographics of a school, or if the teachers lack the ability to control and direct a classromm, or competency in the courses taught, merely testing the kids is a waste of time. It might be better to make it illegal to teach the TAKS test, and then if the statistics find a school district with failing numbers of kids, then the entire staff and teacher base of the district should undergo rigorous competitency testing.
That will make the teachers and their unions made a hell, but that is where the leather hits the pavement in public education. If the teachers cannot teach, and if the administration cannot give them a reasonable environment in which to teach and appropriate quality of teaching materials and standards, then it is NOT the kids fault. The schools have been given the money, but the administrations are the one in BIG failure modes, and they spend all their time trying to game the statistics systems with coding to keep getting funding.
None of that is helping the kids...and NCLB is testing the wrong people.
My daughter is in the 8th grade. She just found out today that she failed her Math TAKS test by one question. She called me from the nurse's office sick at her stomach and crying.
Why do we continue to let these tests destroy our children's self esteem, confidence and I would even go as far as saying their health. My daughter stressed for two weeks about her Math TAKS. That is ridiculous.
My daughter has always struggled in math but she is an honor roll student in everything else. This year she has made the honor roll every six weeks except two and the only reason she didn't those two weeks was because she made a "c" in math. She never failed. So how can my child pass every six weeks but still have the threat of not passing onto the next grade because she missed ONE question.
This is damaging our children. It is hard enough being a teenager in this day and time without these added unneccessary pressures.
Since the first year my daughters were required to take the TAKS (I think they were in 3rd grade) I have been frustrated and angry at the system that requires their teachers to teach them how to take a test. They are not learning the curriculum, which should allow them to pass any good assessment test, but actually how to memorize and take a test. It is ridiculous and demoralizing for these students. They spend weeks on nothing but preparing for TAKS. They are stressed and angry. I cannot tell you how much it hurts to watch this process with your children and feel powerless to stop it. I do not have the resources to put my children in private school or I would. I want to know what the consequences would be if parents just refused to let their children take the TAKS test.
My daughter is a Junior in High School, she has numerous learning disabilities, including dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD and a math learning disability. For years, she has tried and tried to pass the math portion of the TAKS test and no matter how hard she tries, she fails it. She has become discouraged and has given up.
The TAKS test discriminates against students with learning disabilities and is JUST PLAIN TOO HARD!!
She had aspirations of going to college and now I don't know what she's going to do. My brother, who's retarded got a high school diploma in Ohio, but she may not get one here and it is TOTALLY NOT FAIR AT ALL!!!
She has worked and worked and worked, including tutors, tutorial sessions, studying, no matter how hard she tries, it's just plain not good enough and to fail again, while others who don't have to work as hard pass, is just too much to take.
If Perry hadn't been elected governor, there wouldn't even BE a TAKS test. It is NOT FAIR!!!
The TAKS test should be totally eliminated!!
Why can't the state of Texas realize that there are some people on this planet that just aren't meant to mess with numbers and leave it at that, rather than forcing them to pass a math TAKS test.
Any teacher who boycotts the TAKS would be fired for insubordination among other things. The insanity will never stop until the PARENTS protest and file suit. The state has already decicded that teachers don't know anything. Parents and the voting public are the key here. How many of our legislators could pass an Exit level TAKS? I am a texas teacher and the parent of a special education student who will probably never be able to pass the TAKS she is required to take. She is ready to quit.
As a graduate from Texan School, I do reallize our timing for preparation over the test, is much more than the one we are supposed to be learning new resources.
I think that that TAKs test is ridiculous! I'm a high school graduate, without a diploma because i havent passed the TAKS. This coming spring will be EIGHTH time taking the test and i personally think that after a few tries of trying to pass the TAKS us students should just be allowed to get our diploma instead of waiting on all fours to know test scores that i know aren't going to come out good. They should let all students who didnt pass the taks in high school take a remedial class in college. Because, me being an 18 year old who still hasnt started college sucks! I have to see all my friends do something that I want to do also but can't because of the TAKS. It always leaves me wondering if i should just get my GED because that's a easier way out! But i worked so hard to graduate with 2 extra credits that I dont want a GED, i want that high school diploma that i worked hard on for 4 years of my life.
this is going to be my 5th time taking it. i cant pass the math part. i want to be done with school already but this stupid test wont let me. i dont want to drop out but i cant seem to pass everytime i only miss it by like 1,2,or 3 questions =[
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If you desire to attend college and have not passed TAKS or received a diploma, please visit your local Jr. College. My son was not given credit for his 9th and 10th grade home school work, so after attending 11th grade public school, he went straight to Jr. College. No diploma. He took a placement test and was admitted. After accruing the required hours, you should be able to transfer to University. Do not give up your dream of College simply because you do not have a diploma, GED or other certificate that you think you need. Consult your local Jr. College and see how they can help you.
My name is Chelsea and I am an 8th grader in Texas. TAKS is the most wasteful use of money EVER! They spend all that time and waste all that paper for NO GOOD REASON.
Texas used to be a place where I could relaz and when i hit 3rd grade , my self esteem was totally lowered by the TAKS. My parents think its me not trying hard enough , but if they saw the TAKS and tried figuring it out , they'd finally understand the misery they put us school-aged kids in.
I FREAKING HATE YOU RICK PERRY! YOU SUCK! GO DIE IN A HOLE !
As a Texas principal, I know that if teachers were to rebel and shred the testing materials they would be terminated. Doing so could also harm the campus as a whole, as we could be labelled "unacceptable" by the state and receive a visit from TEA staff, wherein everything we do would be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. While I am not necessarily in favor of the TAKS test (changing to STAAR next year), I think it is better for kids to just ensure that my teachers do not spend all of their instructional time just teaching to the test, and encouraging kids to beat the test with the knowledge and skills they have learned during the year. While I want my students know that they have the right to voice their opinions in our society as free citizens, I also want us as educators and role models to teach them peaceable ways to do so-- ways that inflict less harm on the whole.
As a Texas principal, I know that if teachers were to rebel and shred the testing materials they would be terminated. Doing so could also harm the campus as a whole, as we could be labelled "unacceptable" by the state and receive a visit from TEA staff, wherein everything we do would be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. While I am not necessarily in favor of the TAKS test (changing to STAAR next year), I think it is better for kids to just ensure that my teachers do not spend all of their instructional time just teaching to the test, and encouraging kids to beat the test with the knowledge and skills they have learned during the year. While I want my students know that they have the right to voice their opinions in our society as free citizens, I also want us as educators and role models to teach them peaceable ways to do so-- ways that inflict less harm on the whole.
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