This year has been a fascinating year in my state. The Leggies (Legislator) decided to move the persuasive writing test to the from the 9th grade to the 8th grade. They also decided to have the tests graded by computer... on a program the teacher and students couldn't see, use, or try out before the actual day of the test.
That doesn't sound so bad, does it. But hold up! I'm not done yet. The State Core mandates that eighth grade students are to study and write narrative, and then in the ninth grade they have to study and write persuasive. So all of the sudden I am required by law to teach narrative, but the students won't be tested on narrative, they will be tested on persuasive, a curriculum they are supposed to learn the next year. Neato.
I wish I could have a face to face chat with a Leggie about this unique change:
Me (with notepad at the ready, looking for inspiration): So with this change, are you going to change the core to match the test?
Leggie (straightening hair and tie): Possibly in the future.
Me (pretending like I made a note of his previous comment): With this new change, are you telling me as a teacher to step away from core and teach narrative, lightly skim over both, or ignore the test because it ignores the previous and unchanged mandates of the State, and is therefore bogus?
Leggie (checking 142 new messages saved over the last 3 months): Yes
Me (switching to my teacher "Now your in trouble" voice): So after students take this test, are you going to announce to the community that the teacher are failures or the students?
Leggie: Yes.
Me (thinking life as a fugitive might not be so bad): If the students pass the test, are you going to announce to the community that teachers do a good job, or announce that teachers aren't covering the material they are supposed to.
Leggie: Yes.
Perhaps it is best I don't meet with the legislators. I think I'll just stick with letters and voice mails. They'll get to them sometime.
No comments:
Post a Comment