"What did you do in school today?" "Nothing."
Ah….the generic response of children when confronted upon their parents arrival home from work. No need to press the issue. As a 15-year veteran public school teacher, I'll share the 411 from an insider's perspective -- with a well-deserved angle of candidness and transparency for parents and tax payers.
Your child is becoming highly proficient with filling in little circles on bubble sheets and is acquiring a wealth of knowledge on the questioning and structure of standardized tests.
Gym class now requires sitting. Due to new federal and state educational mandates, students are required to trade their gym clothes for pencils and paper while attending physical education class on a number of days during the school year.
Today's students are test-taking gurus, a direct result of being instructed via a curriculum driven by high-stakes standardized testing. A 4th grader in New York, for instance, will spend around five weeks in which they'll be subjected to some form of standardized assessments. This figure does not account for far more time which is allocated towards test preparation -- aka "teaching for the test". Live in NY and thinking about moving? Don't. Analogous situations exist in the other states.
Your child is being shortchanged of basic academic skills, life skills, crucial thinking, social interaction, and creativity as more time, effort, resources, and money are spent on standardized testing.
I want more »
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