tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412789791903506184.post3355577879676273602..comments2014-09-15T02:51:39.872-04:00Comments on This Side of the Table: High Stakes Tests: Stressed Students/ Demoralized TeachersSandra Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01141919608354852622noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412789791903506184.post-38231377412967792622012-05-22T13:27:18.542-04:002012-05-22T13:27:18.542-04:00Hannah, The catch-22 you describe must be addresse...Hannah, The catch-22 you describe must be addressed. I feel parents will be the solution if they choose to organize. While parents cannot opt-out of these tests, I wonder what would happen if parents boycotted the tests and kept students home? Maybe then the Board of Regents would take note. It is time for action. Please try to keep up your morale. When the committed teachers start to give up, we will really be in trouble. Thanks for writing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412789791903506184.post-26902573247812382192012-05-12T09:19:29.958-04:002012-05-12T09:19:29.958-04:00I'm in my 4th year teaching in an "urban&...I'm in my 4th year teaching in an "urban" school system where many of the children come from poverty. Being in a charter school, a teacher's potential earnings reflect how well their students performed on high stakes tests. Last week (when we had some of your testing results coming in), I found myself getting angry with one particular student who'd performed in the 99th percentile earlier in the year, but then completely botched 1 section of the test this time around, because he was behaving badly during the testing situation. I did NOT like who I was becoming when faced with this situation. It occurred to me how ridiculous it is for adult salaries to be determined on the moods of children (and mind you, our kids are OVERTESTED!!!). I'm very reflective as a teacher. I had to take a step back, and I realized just how demoralized I was becoming. When I started teaching, I was passionate about interacting with the children and developing relationships with them. Now, those relationships are in jeopardy because I have to be a task master in class instead of allowing them to grow at their own pace. It's a catch-22: if I allow them to grow at their own pace, their test scores won't be "good enough," and I'll be out of a job... if I push them as hard as I need to maintain high test scores, THEY become demoralized because they cannot be CHILDREN. THIS is a piece of what's killing our country. If we continue down this road, more and more of our kids will grow up to be smart psychopaths, because no one cared about their hearts, only their brains.Hannah13https://www.blogger.com/profile/17342866965252996458noreply@blogger.com