As the great testing machine begins to take over our children’s lives, parents are waking up to the damage done to their children, bordering on child abuse.
Some children are traumatized by the fear and high-stakes attached to the tests. They fear failure. They fear being held back a grade. They fear that they will cause their teacher to be fired or their school to be closed.
What evil minds concocted this sadistic situation?
In this article, Molly Rowan Leach describes the toll on children imposed by the current testing regime. She calls it an atrocity against children.
She writes that parents and teachers are fighting back, that they are mobilizing to protect the children.
I invite Molly to join the Network for Public Education, which is connecting parents, educators, and concerned citizens across the nation.
We have called for Congressional hearings on the misuse, overuse, and abuse of testing in our schools.
As she writes:
As the days pass, mobilization against the reforms increases, both as a protective measure and as a foundation for building an education system of which we can be proud. When I am fully present with my son, and when I join forces with his teachers and with the parents of his classmates, I can see what needs to be done. It’s our collective voice that will keep the school doors open for children to develop their freedom and imagination, their playfulness and sense of joy in art, and their love for themselves and other people.
We are not just fighting for our children, but for the liberation of our country.
The strange thing is that all this testing is focused on measuring the wrong things. It also results in locking down educational content across the nation and in creating a mad Alice- in- Wonderland race to beat the test scores of other nations. No one is focusing on what outcomes we really want for our children. So what if we have test scores that are better that the Koreans, Finns, Chinese, or whoever? If, in achieving that goal, we succeed in making our children fear or hate the learning process we have structured for them in our schools; or destroy their own curiosity and interest in learning, then we have done great damage to the future of our children and our country.
When will we stop calling it reform and call it what it is: child abuse.
You’re absolutely right: by using the language of our adversaries, we concede far too much.
Call it self-styled reform, so-called reform, deform, whatever you wish, but don’t give the privatizers the advantage of setting the boundaries of language and debate.
The Network for Public Education has called for congressional hearings into the overuse and abuse of tests in our schools.During the month of April, we are asking our Friends & Allies to print out and mail a copy of this letter to the offices of our friends at Campaign for America’s Future in Washington D.C.. We will deliver our letters to Congress. Keep an eye out for a date and press conference details!
WE ARE MANY. THERE IS POWER IN OUR NUMBERS. TOGETHER WE WILL SAVE OUR SCHOOLS.
NPE WRITE IN CAMPAIGN LETTER:
Click to access npe-call-mailing.pdf
SUMMARY:
http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/npe-call-for-congressional-hearings-summary/
Check out the plebiscite being conducted on the new tests on TestingTalk.org.
It’s almost unanimous.
The new tests are ridiculous and abusive.
Call them what they are: child abuse.
The Network for Public Education has called for congressional hearings into the overuse and abuse of tests in our schools.During the month of April, we are asking our Friends & Allies to print out and mail a copy of this letter to the offices of our friends at Campaign for America’s Future in Washington D.C.. We will deliver our letters to Congress. Keep an eye out for a date and press conference details!
WE ARE MANY. THERE IS POWER IN OUR NUMBERS. TOGETHER WE WILL SAVE OUR SCHOOLS.
NPE WRITE IN CAMPAIGN LETTER:
Click to access npe-call-mailing.pdf
SUMMARY:
http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2014/03/npe-call-for-congressional-hearings-summary/
I just left the first comment after Mary’s essay. Come on, people! Go show your appreciation.