I have met so many teachers who are so wise about teaching, about students, and about what really needs to be done to make schools work better. One of them is Arthur Goldstein, an experienced English teacher in New York City. His students are mainly English language learners. As his longtime fans know, he teaches in a trailer, which is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. He has a blog called nyceducator.com. It is sharp, incisive,fearless, and often laugh-out-loud funny.
I got a comment from Arthur this morning to my earlier post. Arthur asks the right questions and shows how dumb current “reform” policies are.
The state has an underlying assumption that test scores are representative of quality of instruction. I would argue they do not. A role model, sorely needed by kids whose parents work 200-hour weeks, would and should do more than show a kid how to pass a standardized test. In fact, my experience with standardized tests suggests that I’m better able to write meaningful tests for my own students. Now I’m not bragging, because the quality of standardized tests I see ranges from abysmal to “meh.”
It’s preposterous for teachers to be lectured on differentiated instruction when the tests are all the same and the only thing that matters. As a teacher, I know when I’m at my best. I’m at my best when left alone to do whatever it takes to teach my kids what’s important, and I know very well what’s important to English language learners, as well as what they will need to avoid taking zero-credit remedial courses when they enter college. From all I’ve seen, the state and city governments haven’t got the remotest clue.
Teaching is an act of seduction. It’s about making kids love what you’re selling, which is education, their future. The obsession with testing is destroying that. The notion that a teacher can be judged on a test which is likely to be total crap is absurd, and it’s remarkable we even need to discuss it.
It is teachers like Arthur Goldstein who are the best answer to the dilettantes, foundation executives, hedge fund managers and corporate executives who love to decry and shred their garments over “teacher quality.” (Actually, I speak metaphorically, they don’t shred their garments, they just decry.) The difference between him and them is that he knows what he is talking about. It comes from experience. It is the wisdom of a teacher.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I taught elementary school for 38 years. As retirement drew near, the government began telling me to do things that I knew, from my experience with kids, were not in the best interest of my students. At first we were told that Indiana’s state standards were the minimum that was expected. Enrichment and diversity were encouraged. Suddenly this was no longer the case. Those standards were now the end all, be all. The stakes were high, so we had to pound away at activities that only addressed the standards. (I was tempted to buy some little hotel soaps and offer one, unwrapped, to any administrator or legislator who used the “s word.”) Excellence was replaced by mediocrity. It is my observation that our government is treating our children as raw materials to be turned into a mediocre product in factories called schools. The way they determined whether that has been achieved is through standardized testing.
The federal government demands that accommodations be made for students with learning disabilities. This can include extra time to complete assignments and having test materials read to them so that the actual course content and not reading ability are tested. However, lawmakers decided that these students are not allowed these adjustments during standardized testing. Does this have even a modicum of sense? Of course it doesn’t.
Thank you so much Diane. I am flattered beyond description.
In fairness, second sentence should have read “I would argue they ARE not.” This notwithstanding, I invite anyone not put off by that egregious error to follow me on Twitter @TeacherArthurG
Wonderful! I hope all will overlook any typo error from me; I type fast!!! I was in the Honors program in History and Reading – not Spelling. David Wicker is my kind of teacher! Let us hear from more………………….
You flattered the right teacher Diane. Somehow we need to get the media to listen to Arthur and not to those currently destroying public education.
Teaching should be listed under the “Performing Arts” category. It’s that and so much more! An act of seduction…priceless! Perfect analogy, Arthur. I’ll go one step further about the integrity of standardized tests and their worth…I DON’T USE THEM TO DIRECT MY TEACHING. There, I said it. I use my own evaluations to guide my teaching….every single day. It is a task of monitor and adjust, adjust and monitor. In fact, doing so is the heart of my work and what I love best about it. Seeing what a students needs and filling it is job satisfaction #1. Stopping to take those standardized tests are nothing more than an intrusion into my teaching time. Everyone knows this to be true, yet we teachers continue to just nod and go peacefully about our work. There will come a time when we decide enough is enough. By then, all this reformy nonsense will be long gone and replaced by another lame idea created by someone who is furthest away from the classroom. You watch. I’ve seen it happen numerous times over my 40 year career. This ain’t nothing new…it’s just something old trying to be new again. Only thing is, this time it’s far more egregiou$ and dangerous$ to the public schools in America. That is the tragedy. There’s so much fear mongering going on, who can blame parents and students for being afraid and believing the rhetoric coming from on high at the corporate level? Running scared and worried will get us nowhere. I wish teachers could stand up to it somehow. Maybe it starts here. Thanks for leading the way, Diane.
Any teacher worth anything knows that teaching is indeed an art! The art is in loving the profession, loving the students, and being prepared for anything. Along with this, one must have the energy to withstand a 14 hour day.
Good teachers treat the students the way they would liked to have been treated, or would want their own children treated. In my classroom, the students were treated like I would have wanted my own children treated. I had no control over them when they left, but I only hoped I helped them face whatever they had to face. Good teachers work with parents to try and determine the very best for each and every child. I discovered that parents with serious problems wanted the best for their children, and so do teachers.
Most of my own teachers , and my children’s teachers were outstanding. Occasionaly, we had to tolerate one that was not perfect, but I always told my children you have to learn to tolerate the good with the bad, so make the best of the situation. That is what I was told. That is life!
That is what I do with bad doctors, bad accountants, bad clerks, and you name it! Why do teachers have to be perfect? Life isn’t perfect! Everyone including children who have to take the worthless test have good days and bad day. On bad days they will not “perform” according to the corporate state legislature. To evalute teachers on student performance is unfair and poor education.