about the new accountability systems in place with the NCLB waiver.
The heavy-duty focus on "achievement" in the form of standardized test scores is NOT an improvement.
My school got the best scores in our district last year. Our teachers, though, are talking about how there is no more joy in learning. It's all high-stakes, high-stress, high-pressure test prep.
Just last week I was reminiscing with a colleague about all the fun projects we used to do; not standards-driven or standards-based, but something students looked forward to; wanted to come to school for; something that created memories that lasted a hell of a lot longer than the drilling and killing test prep. There's a reason why they call it drill and KILL.
We still try to find time for fun, as well. It isn't built into regular lessons, though, because we'll get dinged on our evaluations. We get comments like, "How did _____________ help further your students' progress with that standard?" Even though a lesson is all about the standard. Put something in to lighten the mood, to energize the students, to spark some curiosity or enthusiasm, and we're "wasting instructional time."
Yesterday, my neighbor down the hall was telling me about his wife's school. They just got a new principal. Who, in the very first staff meeting, told the staff that she was "old school" and expected that there would be straight lines and silence in halls...in high school...and that it was the staff's responsibility to create that environment, even when they aren't on duty in the halls. Then she told them that she didn't want any down time. There will be no stopping 3 minutes early so that students can put materials away, etc.. She expects whatever lesson they are doing to last to the bell, with no exceptions. She will be observing for just that.
My colleagues and I agree: learning happens best in a relaxed environment where it is safe to take risks, where students can actually look forward to learning in a positive way, not in an authoritarian, stress-filled, unpleasantly rigid and militaristic culture.
It's too bad the people mandating policy aren't teachers. We'd have a vibrant, thriving, healthy system.
Of course, we wouldn't be "grading" it on the wrong things, for the wrong purposes.
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