Teacher: 'Worst year in the classroom' in decades

[proud2BlibKansan]

This is just one of the many desperate emails and letters from teachers that education historian Diane Ravitch receives each day as she travels the country talking about the folly of the Obama administration’s $4 billion Race to the Top and overall education vision. It was written by Gary A. Groth, a National Board Certified Teacher and Middle Childhood Generalist at Mariposa Elementary School in Port St. Lucie, Florida, who gave me permission to publish it:

From Gary Groth:
"As a classroom teacher with 30+ years experience, I just completed the absolute worst year in the classroom I have ever endured (and it was NOT the fault of my students--they were great).

"This year I was told what to teach, when to teach, how to teach, how long to teach, who to teach, who not to teach, and how often to test. My students were assessed with easily more than 120 tests of one shape or another within the first 6 months of the school year.

"My ability to make decisions about what is best for my students was taken away by an overzealous attempt to impose 'consistency' within my grade group. My school hired an outside consultant who threatened us with our jobs, demanded that everyone comply, and required us to submit data on test results on a weekly basis. If your class didn’t do well, you were certainly going to be in trouble.

more . . . http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/teachers/teacher-worst-year-in-the-clas.html

[burnsei sensei]

1. If the authority of a teacher individually

means so little:

Quote:
"This year I was told what to teach, when to teach, how to teach, how long to teach, who to teach, who not to teach, and how often to test. My students were assessed with easily more than 120 tests of one shape or another within the first 6 months of the school year.
end quote.

Then I would suggest you find some high school graduates to teach school instead of teachers with education or other professional degrees.
If their own authority means nothing, and if all that is taught is dictated by the test, then what you need is a pliant bureaucrat, not a teacher.
I would suggest they start hiring would-be waitresses to teach school. That's what these test-obssessed admins and politicians seem to want.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. And that's exactly what they are doing

Teach for America is growing by leaps and bounds. And why do you need to have a background in education and an understanding of child development and pedagogy when your lessons are all scripted for you?

[daleanime]

2. I'll never understand....

what passes for intelligence with these folks, hire the best people you can get, give them the best support you can and do everything you can to involve the students families. It's not that hard to figure out, is it?

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. The best people cost money.

So does the support.

The solution has been to promote the meme that young inexperienced kids who did not even major in education are more gifted in the classroom than the seasoned veterans.

I had a conversation with one just yesterday. Blew me away. She was proud of the fact that she found a way around the seniority system to land the position she wanted in the school she wanted. She really believed she was a better teacher (because she was young and inexperienced) than anyone who had been teaching for a decade or more. I asked her if she knew what her union had done to get that seniority system in place and what it was like before we had it. All I got was a blank look.

These young teachers are being told by their college professors, by the school administrators and by the general public that they really are the answer to fixing our public schools. It's a mind blower, not to mention insulting, for us seasoned veterans. But then we are the expensive ones. :)

[no_hypocrisy]

12. In my grad program for elementary school education, I had a colleague BRAGGED about

not having stepped one foot in our 12-story university library.

I thought she should never be allowed near children.

[daleanime]

27. Mom always said....

you get what you paid for.O8)

[villager]

3. teachers will need to organize and collectively *refuse* to administer these tests

It will take courage of the "civil disobedience" type, but even a handful doing this can make a difference...

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. There have been several across the country who have done just that

The failure of their efforts is proven by the fact that most people don't know about them.

[villager]

7. Did they get any media exposure? Did their union back them up?

Where were they, and what happened?

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Sure they got stories in local media

Some were suspended, some just reprimanded. I would imagine a few were even fired.

But we still have the damn tests. Nothing short of a massive nationwide walkout would work at this point. And I don't see anyone encouraging that, especially considering the job climate for teachers this year.

[villager]

14. I would hope that teachers unions support such efforts, and make it a major plank

...in shaping the debate.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. I'm still hoping for that too

So far, lots of crickets.

[villager]

18. Then maybe teachers need to make this an issue in union elections?

:shrug:

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. And they are!

Chicago threw out their union leaders last week. I'm predicitng Detroit will be next. :)

[villager]

20. Fantastic! Let the groundswell begin!

:thumbsup:

[dkf]

6. What were the results?

Frankly most jobs are pretty crummy and have lousy rules. In the end though teaching is about the students and not about the teachers. So how did they do?

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Most scores for this year are not in yet

We won't have ours before August.

But over the last several years, there has been no significant change in achievement when these scripted programs are used.

Many states have lowered their standards to show improvement. We've had several threads here discussing that.

Here's one I posted just the other day:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=219x25795

[dkf]

13. Aren't they standardizing these tests or curriculum or something?

I read my state is going to be starting in that program and they think it will improve our standings because we have higher standards which lead to low scores.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. All the tests reported for NCLB are standardized

I don't see how that improves instruction however. It actually narrows the curriculum because you end up teaching to the test.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. The educational equivalent of doctors being told how to practice medicine by corporate

insurance carriers for their HMO programs.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. And the pharmaceutical companies are the textbook vendors.

Good analogy! :applause:

[YvonneCa]

21. This is why I was forced into retirement...

...a couple of years ago. My district was ahead of the game...we always were "on the cutting edge' as they used to say. :sarcasm:

[Riley18]

22. I teach in another part of Florida, and had the exact same experience.

Our students are tested in so many senseless ways that for the first time in my career it was difficult to really connect with the students. It felt somewhat unreal and unnatural to me because these are 7 and 8 year old kids who should not be subjected to this craziness. The only thing I am sure my students will remember is how to bubble in a test. Next year is going to be much worse than the one that just ended as the kids are going to be going from teacher to teacher for reading. They have a new idea called "walk to intervention" so that each kid will go to a room designated for their level or something. I am completely over this whole testing til they drop mentality.

We also have to do everything on the same schedule as everyone else. There is no option for a teachable moment because that would take us off schedule. It is strictly uniform and completely boring. Something tells me that the rich kids at the school where the Obama children go to are not being subjected to this sort of fake education.

[kwassa]

23. Florida seems to have the most anti-teacher political atmosphere.

The state legislation concerning teacher evaluation vetoed by Crist was outrageous. I'm glad he was there, and I hope it doesn't cost him everything.

[Orlandodem]

28. The GOP in Florida is so against the teachers it's not even funny. One journalist

called the relationship between between the GOP and the FL Education Assoc as a fight between two dogs named Cujo.

The ONLY way we can turn this around is if Alex Sink (D) is elected governor and if we vote YES on amendments 5 and 6 (end GOP gerrymandering) and NO on 7 (nullifies 5 and 6).

[Reader Rabbit]

24. Too many unions are going along with this insanity.

Just today, our union's monthly magazine arrived in the mail. There was a huge, laudatory article about teachers making "data driven" decisions and how cutting edge and beneficial it was. It included the requisite quotes by teachers(?) gushing about how delving through piles of test scores made them so much better at their jobs—because it helped them help students increase their test scores.

It made me want to vomit.

[izzybeans]

25. This teacher hasn't been teaching for the past 12 years if this is new to them.

bs.

Sniff sniff.

Welcome to the everyday world of teaching for the past few decades for fucks sake. This shit isn't new. No other profession has to live up to as high of standards. Some how Obama created this pressure. uh huh.

For the past 12 years my wife has told this story over and over again to me, tearful. Giving her all. Same story. Race to the Top funds haven't even been distributed yet. Fucking stupid ass. Not you proudlib, this wapost story. It's spin. Sure race to the top isn't what we want, but this is the equivalent of hanging Tarp on Obama.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. The problem is that Obama has put NCLB on steroids

Sure this isn't new. But for a Democratic administration to buy into this crap is just surreal.