What is being taught in school

Salty, this link is a complaint about the high-stakes testing done in most of the states - not the weekly spelling, science, reading, and math tests.

Usually, in education articles that's what testing means. The standardized tests given in the spring.

High-stakes standardized testing is when a student can pass to the next grade only if he or she passes that confounded standardized test in April. It's not fair to the students to judge their academic performance for the year based on that one test.

What if a new 6th grade boy comes to a teacher in August performing at a 3rd grade level and this teacher working with the child and parent like gang-busters brings this child to a 5th grade level by April. Well, all that work is for nothing - to the state department. He will probably not make a good score on the 6th grade high-stakes test in April. That's all their care about - that one score on that one test.

He will more than likely fail it. The state department will deem his academic year a failure and deem the teacher an ineffective teacher.

This year, in my state, teacher jobs will be connected to that one score. Literally.

What if a mediocre teacher (Teacher A) has a really smart class or the honors class and she doesn't have to do much and her students don't have to do much work because they will more than likely pass the test merely because they are all bright. So Teacher A slacks off a lot because she is a mediocre teacher and her students do the same because they've learned it from her.

And what if a brilliant teacher (Teacher B) who is given the weak class and she and her students work like dogs all day everyday, yet STILL don't make as high of a score on that test as Teacher A's class by virtue of the fact that they have genuine weaknesses. They pass it - but barely.

This is what's going to happen. Teacher A will be promoted and her praises sung. Teacher B will be sent for remediation and labeled as not as effective as Teacher A.

See the insanity here?

Teachers have no complaints about testing in general. We hate placing a child's ability to pass to the next grade in the hands of one test score. And we despise being told that the one test score determines our effectiveness as teachers.

Too many people in ivory towers making decisions about students and teachers who have no experience in teaching and who are only elected officials trying out ridiculous plans that don't work.