Teacher Suspended For Refusing To Administer Tests

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As a teacher, I totally agree with him. However, I suspect he'll just lose his job. :(
 
If this teacher didn't have so many good reasons to stage a boycott I would have labeled him a troublemaker.

I'm so glad he's drawing attention to these issues of mandatory, standardized testing.
 
“It is dishonest for me as a teacher to give my students a test which they cannot pass,” Ward wrote. “This test is not a valid test as it does not provide an opportunity for students to show whether they have made progress during the school year or not.”

Looks like he has soul searched his decision. looks like he cares about his students very, very much.
 
Hmm, I'll have to look into how they are testing my disabled dd. I know the school my other kids go to was rated lower because of the "special ed kids", or so I heard people grumbling that anyway.

I just think they should be kept out of the overall school ratings for the "typical" children. I think it's sad when schools lose money when their state test scores aren't up to par. Shouldn't they get MORE money for extra tutoring and other helpful programs and books? (While also taking the special ed kids test scores out of it.) It's not rocket science.

The following statement by the teacher bothered me because my dd is 8.5 yrs and is probably cognitively about 3 yrs, if that. It takes her about 3 yrs to develop cognitively 1 year!! :( I'll have to ask her teachers if what he indicated is true:

“They’re asking a teacher to develop that kid three years in a single year while they’re only asking for one year of progress for regular kids,” he said.​
 
Floh said:
“It is dishonest for me as a teacher to give my students a test which they cannot pass,” Ward wrote. “This test is not a valid test as it does not provide an opportunity for students to show whether they have made progress during the school year or not.”

Looks like he has soul searched his decision. looks like he cares about his students very, very much.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree with this more and I really hope he doesn't lose his job. He should be getting a raise and the teacher of the year award.
 
Pandora said:
As a teacher, I totally agree with him. However, I suspect he'll just lose his job. :(
Click to expand...

I'm afraid so. I think they will lose a good one if that happens.
 
golfmom said:
If this teacher didn't have so many good reasons to stage a boycott I would have labeled him a troublemaker.

I'm so glad he's drawing attention to these issues of mandatory, standardized testing.
Click to expand...

I hope he gets national attention. Changes need to be made.
 
Taximom, many years ago I worked in a classroom for the educably mentally retarded (that's the name they gave it so don't anyone get mad at me for not being PC...lol) and at that time they were required to take the same standardized test as everyone else. It was my job to go around and make sure the students didn't mark more than one answer for a question. They couldn't possibly read and understand the questions...they were not on their level at all. We had taught those students so much that year but the tests surely were no indicator of what they had learned.

It makes total sense not to include them in the standardized testing at all.
 
SewingDeb said:
Taximom, many years ago I worked in a classroom for the educably mentally retarded (that's the name they gave it so don't anyone get mad at me for not being PC...lol) and at that time they were required to take the same standardized test as everyone else. It was my job to go around and make sure the students didn't mark more than one answer for a question. They couldn't possibly read and understand the questions...they were not on their level at all. We had taught those students so much that year but the tests surely were no indicator of what they had learned.

It makes total sense not to include them in the standardized testing at all.
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I can only imagine that the kids either became extremely frustrated during testing or would just start randomly filling in little holes.

I'm sure the entire experience was confidence building and boost to their self-esteem. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
I guess I should be part of the "fix" instead of grumbling about these silly tests for my daughter. I just wouldn't know where to start.

As far as I'm concerned, her test results don't mean diddly-squat to me. I know what she's capable of, and what she isn't and so do her therapists and teachers. Every day we try to help her improve on those. There is not one test that is applicable to any child w/disabilities as they are all over the place in their strengths and weaknesses.

Those results should not affect a school district financially or by taking teachers (esp Spec. Ed!!!) away, or reducing their pay etc. Grrrrr..... hot topic for me.

I don't mind benchmark tests so that we can sort of figure out where a child stands, but again, those results should have nothing to do with school funding.

Setting decent IEP goals and making sure they are met should be how teachers are reviewed, IMO.
 
golfmom said:
I can only imagine that the kids either became extremely frustrated during testing or would just start randomly filling in little holes.

I'm sure the entire experience was confidence building and boost to their self-esteem. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
Click to expand...


Actually they were very nervous even though we told them not to worry. They wanted to do well but weren't sure what was required of them.
Definitely not anything that would boost their confidence or self esteem.

They had to sit through three days of testing. We could have been teaching them something during that time.
 
I agree with you Taximom. Setting realistic IEP goals for each individual child according to their needs and abilities and meeting those goals should be the way progress is noted and teachers reviewed.

There were 10 children in our class and they were all over the place with their abilities. By no means should their teachers lose their positions or schools lose money because they did not do well on the tests.
 
I have never believed in testing kids so good for this teacher.
 
I'm completely with the teacher on this one. It is sad when our schools lose great educators like this because of their own muddled rules. I too hope this man's voice gets heard by a national audience.
 
Taximom said:
Hmm, I'll have to look into how they are testing my disabled dd. I know the school my other kids go to was rated lower because of the "special ed kids", or so I heard people grumbling that anyway.

I just think they should be kept out of the overall school ratings for the "typical" children. I think it's sad when schools lose money when their state test scores aren't up to par. Shouldn't they get MORE money for extra tutoring and other helpful programs and books? (While also taking the special ed kids test scores out of it.) It's not rocket science.

The following statement by the teacher bothered me because my dd is 8.5 yrs and is probably cognitively about 3 yrs, if that. It takes her about 3 yrs to develop cognitively 1 year!! :( I'll have to ask her teachers if what he indicated is true:

“They’re asking a teacher to develop that kid three years in a single year while they’re only asking for one year of progress for regular kids,” he said.​
Click to expand...

Hi Taximom, I teach moderately disabled kids and that is true. I am supposed to bring my 8th graders functioning at a 2nd grade level up to the 8th grade level so they can pass the test. They don't care what strides that a kid made besides passing the test. No more alternate assessments. You are from Ohio though if I remember correctly and they are much more lenient. The school knows it is impossible, I know it is impossible (I do believe kids can make unbelievable strides but it is hard with a 1:18 ratio when I have to teach 8th grade things but they don't understand because they are missing the prereqs that they don't yet understand. Yep, I am teaching kids about cell division when they don't even know what an organ is. Ok, off my soapbox. PM me if you want to know more.
 
Hi, mywarmbluefleece! Thanks for the information. I will definitely keep you in mind if I have questions about this. Thank you!

That's quite a job you have there with those kids. :blowkiss: I'm thankful for all special ed teachers.
 
He made a very good point in that special ed kids get picked on enough already. There is intense pressure here in FL for the kids to do well on the FCAT and is driven into them how important it is to the school and to the district. These kids already have enough to deal with without being expected to jump three grade levels in a year's time.
 
I think it's abusive to put kids that have problems through so much stress and anxiety with these tests. To heck with the money or raises for the school in my opinion, because these kids think that they are going to fail a grade if they don't pass even though they may have done fairly well all year long. They need to do away with them and have some simple common sense about each child.
 
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