I dont want to start a debate, but I have always used Facebook as a place to clear my mind. I have not made one post about today in regards to it being STAAR day. I have to get this out of my chest. Let me make one thing clear. I absolutely believe in accountability. I do believe we have to make teachers accountable to what they do in their classrooms, but there is something wrong with the way we operate now as a state. We have to come up with something more clever to measure learning, not by locking up our students for a four hour exam. Ive seen kids cry out of anxiety. Ive heard stories from both parents and students how they cant sleep at night because of the fear of the consequences that may come out of these scores. Today was the same. Its absolutely heartbreaking to see what the state has done to our public school system. Kids are now reduced to a number, and its all based on a four hour exam. In my opinion, despite what many believe, a good teacher is not solely based on data. A child is not a number. At some point, a teacher is a mentor, a parent, a guardian, an instructor, and a lecturer. Theres more to it than your STAAR test. The STAAR test does not tell me or my administrators how much of a good teacher I am. It tells the state where these kids are at within the confines of THEIR system. This test shows nothing about an achievement gap, rough upbringings, classroom behavior, etc.... At some point in the public school system, we have taken accountability away from the students and placed them solely on the teacher. At some point, we need to find a a balance to keeping both the students and our teachers accountable. When a student does not have accountability, it leads to entitlement. Its a privilege to be educated. Students have this belief that teachers need students. That goes back to the exam and their standards. If the data is not there, teachers are unemployed. The students know this. Anybody who is a quality instructor can tell you that a good classroom is never one sided. A teacher does not need the student, nor does a student need a teacher. They need each other. We need to change our philosophy or our way of thinking because ultimately we are not failing ourselves, but we our failing our future with these kids. I dont have a solution for this dilemma, but im just pointing out that this is a growing problem that needs to be addressed, and it starts with parents and your support. Tell TEA or Texas that you are not happy with the public school system. Tell them that if we must have standardized test, do so in a more a logical way. Voice your opinion. Tell them you want better teachers. Tell them you want to raise standards to what it takes to be hired as a teacher. Tell them you want better pay for your teachers. Tell them that a 4 hour test does not tell you everything you need to know about your child. Tell them that you want change.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 02:30:55 +0000