Today is the test! Today is the test! Said no one ever! As I visited the campuses in my district this morning, I noticed a few things. First of all, I saw adults posted in the halls every few feet and the silence was deafening. What struck me as funny is that we have specific bathroom monitors. Really? Do you think our students are going to the bathroom to Google answers on the standardized writing test? Their phones have already been taken up. Oh, I know the state requires us to do some pretty crazy things to accommodate, monitor and "protect" the testing environment...I just think we have gone overboard. When I was young (in the days of the dinosaurs), we were given a standardized test one day when we came to school. Here are your #2 pencils and do the best you can, we were told. There was no stress. I have had more than one student tell me they did not want to go to the next grade because of THE (fill in the blank TAKS, EOC, STAAR...) TEST! Seriously, I think our legislators and the state board of education should have to take the 4th grade STAAR, writing, and the 8th grade STAAR math, reading, science and social studies' tests. But before they take the tests, they should be warned, the date circled, notes and emails to remind them of the impending event, and make sure to tell them to get a good night's sleep before THE TEST. On top of that, they should be told that if they don't pass this test, they will lose their jobs-even if they have done a super job up to this point. Wow! No wonder our students and teachers have that glazed over look at the end of testing days. We probably need counseling, but our counselors are too busy making sure every pencil, answer document, test document, and scratch paper are checked in along with making sure the teacher initials the checking out and in of materials. WHEW! Do you see something wrong with this picture?
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