Today I came across a letter from a Tennessee parent that went viral. The theme, quite simply, is: Parents know best.
In it, this parent explains why she is opting her child out of state testing. Please click on the link so that Alicia Maynard and other Tennessee parents know you support them in their determination to end the testing madness.
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“Where did we ever get the crazy idea that in order to make children do better, first we have to make them feel worse? Think of the last time you felt humiliated or treated unfairly. Did you feel like cooperating or doing better?” – Jane Nelsen, author of the Positive Discipline Series
“Dear Gov. Haslam,
“I am writing to let you know that my fourth-grader will not be taking the TCAP test. This is unfortunate for her school because she scores in the advanced range every time.
“Auria is in fourth grade at Northfield elementary in Murfreesboro, TN. This is our fourth year at this school, and between her and her sister, I have fallen in love with numerous teachers there. Murfreesboro has the best school system in the state (according to Google), and I have been highly impressed with the people and their level of care for my children.
“Third grade changed, though. My highly-intelligent, confident kid became a wreck – early in the year – over the pressure associated with the TCAP. I was confused, as I took the TCAP every year as a child and have nothing but fond memories of bubbling in the little circles. I started to notice the growing intensity leading up to the test, and I became a little disgusted. That was last year. This year it was worse. The teachers I have had the pleasure of working with are so wound up that I feel sorry for them. The teachers, the staff, the administration…everybody.
“These are obviously brilliant and creative people, and this test has taken over like a life-sucking monster. Teaching isn’t an exact science, just like parenting. Every child is different, and this terrible system is stifling all the joy and creativity that is required to really make an impact.
“Now, if I love this school and staff so much, and I know her test scores would attribute to an average boost ($$$), why would I pull her from this? She wants to be a teacher when she grows up. These teachers are already being grossly underpaid for such an important role.
“Pearson is America’s largest corporate maker of standardized testing. It has a multiyear contract with our Department of Education: For creating and implementing the TCAP and the end-of-course tests for high schoolers, we pay more than $150 million. (That’s three times what it would have cost to give Tennessee teachers a 2 percent raise.) The deepest cut of all? Teachers aren’t able to preview the test. They are neither editor nor author of the single most influential test of the whole year. It’s the educational equivalent of a slap in the face.”
– David Cook (Times Free Press)
“Auria can already make better decisions than this.
“My child’s job is to learn. The teacher’s job is to teach. But my role as her parent is more complicated. I also have to teach her when standing up for something is necessary. This system is stupid and unfair. She will be accepting a 0 as 15% of her grade for the year. But she will also be standing up for teachers and students all over the state. She will be taking steps toward bettering her future right now, and I think that’s better than just a memory of all those bubbles.
“Thank you for your time reviewing this matter,
Alicia Maynard
Murfreesboro, TN”
The above letter has been shared on Facebook over 1,140 times in the past 48 hours. Here are some of the many comments on it:
“Amen!
“As a teacher in metro, I love you!
“Wow! Seems I’m not alone about my TCAP feelings! Kuddos to this mom!!!
“The pressure for students, teachers, and parents is so unfair. It makes me so sad.
“This is so beautiful. It’s a must read for all parents and students.
“Maybe more parents should jump on this bandwagon!!! I would love to shake her hand and meet her in person!
“Incredible parent and letter! Hope someone listens! Something to think about where we are heading for the future of education for the little ones. Lets put Common Sense back in Education and worry bout the little ones not which pocket is getting thicker!!!!
“How many letters like this will it take to change things?
“Simply the truth. I am forbidden by law from seeing, asking or being told what is on the test my kids take. Ever. We never see the old tests. We cannot challenge bad questions…and trust me, the practice tests have bad questions. Parents can also never see the tests. Just try and ask, even after it is given. I have yet to have a teacher’s edition grammar book that did not have a wrong answer or horribly confusing practices. It happens, but now who is double checking? My kids will do well…they always do me proud in a pinch, but this is beyond ridiculous. Pearson controls education in Tennessee. Get over the outrage over the feds/Common Core (for now) and ask why in the Hell a private company gets to determine kids’ grades and teachers’ fates with ZERO oversight.
“May do this next year. Zac is flipped out about TCAP.
“This sums up my feelings on standardized testing word for word!!!!!!!
“I love how you just stand up for things that are unjust without ANY hesitation and I respect the heck out of that! TCAP tests and the like are the reasons why I did not complete my certification as a secondary educator. It’s an unfair system that pigeon-holes children into measurable data. You, Alicia Maynard, are a beautiful soul and a wonderful mother. Thank you for standing up for teachers and for teaching your children to stand up for their generation of learners.
“I applaud this mother and think it would be awesome to boycott this stupid standardized testing
“There are many, many more comments just like these above. Parents are fed up, waking up, and speaking out.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
am working on a doctoral research project inspired by Diane’s book, Death and Life of the Great American School System (2011). If the public school system–as many of us knew it, at least–is dead or near death, it would stand to reason that public school teachers who remember the system as it was prior to No Child Left Behind (2002) have experienced loss and grief. If you remember what it was like to teach prior to No Child Left Behind, if you feel as if teaching completely changed when No Child Left Behind was implemented, or if you ever felt saddened by some of the changes that resulted from educational reform, then you may be interested in taking my survey.
Professional Loss and Grief in Teachers (a survey)
https://ndstate.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5nCLnPAFadWZX93
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Bravo! Change will happen as long as parents continue to stand up for what is right! I teach in California and I support the boycott wholeheartedly!
Sent from my iPad
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“Murfreesboro has the best school system in the state (according to Google)….”
So, what, now Google is qualified to rank schools? Then why isn’t Bill Gates?
I really wish people would knock off claims like this. There is no way to compare schools against each other because they all serve different populations of students with different needs. Furthermore, there is no reason to compare schools against each other – it underminds the spirit of collaboration we need to beat back “reform” and it essentially means we’re playing the same game they are. If ranking schools A to F is wrong (it is), if declaring schools as “failing” based on test scores is wrong (it is), then claiming to have “the best school system in the state” is equally wrong.
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+1
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Exacto!
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““Simply the truth. I am forbidden by law from seeing, asking or being told what is on the test my kids take. Ever. We never see the old tests. We cannot challenge bad questions…and trust me, the practice tests have bad questions. Parents can also never see the tests. Just try and ask, even after it is given. I have yet to have a teacher’s edition grammar book that did not have a wrong answer or horribly confusing practices. It happens, but now who is double checking? My kids will do well…they always do me proud in a pinch, but this is beyond ridiculous. Pearson controls education in Tennessee. Get over the outrage over the feds/Common Core (for now) and ask why in the Hell a private company gets to determine kids’ grades and teachers’ fates with ZERO oversight”
This was my comment when I shared the link. Glad it caught your eye. I wish it would catch the attention of others who can have some influence. Today I used the “practice tests” that are offered online from the state as a last0minute group practice with my 9th graders. Check out a link here: http://www.tn.gov/education/assessment/doc/EOC_PT_EngI_Form1.pdf
Who knows where this gem came from. It appeared last year, I think. Pearson is listed as the author, but it is clearly cobbled together from a variety of tests and sources. The tests for English 3 were in print that was almost too small to read and when printed, none of the underlining or bold showed up, so it was just a big blur. This is what we are given to prepare for the test that counts for 25% of their grade and 35% of mine.
It is formatted so poorly that it is 90 pages long….as if we can print that. It completely leaves out areas that we have been told to practice for years–pronoun/antecedent, subject/verb, commonly confused words, but has loads of questions over the SPI’s the state has already dropped. They do include a handy “supplement” that tells you which questions to skip. Unfortunately, it is not correct, so you still have to read each question and compare to the list of SPI’s.
We can no longer get practice tests from our textbook manufacturers because who knows why. The state no longer prints them for the schools to use, either, and now our fearless leaders have postponed PARCC, so we get another year of using shoddy junk that Pearson probably charged the state to upload.
Opting out in high school is guaranteed to trash a student’s GPA, so that is not even an option for those who would like to take a stand, but cannot since they need scholarships for college.
Pearson is the scariest part of education since I started in1995. The control is breathtaking.
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We need more parents who are aware of the disaster these assessments are creating. Unfortunately, too many people are clueless and the more distance between the adult and the school system, the less aware they become.
It is telling that so many teachers are opting out their own children. That should say something to the general population.
My grand daughter opted out, mainly because I was a teacher, so I could influence my daughter.
Pass the word along.
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Bravo to all of the parents who are opting their children out of testing. Did anyone see this article by Alfie Kohn, published in The New York Times on Sunday, May 4? He weighs in on the question do we need to suffer in order to learn?
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Excellent article.
Yes, life is full of disappointments, but our role, as parents, is to protect our children from unnecessary or cruel and unusual punishment (such as these assessments).
Don’t worry, there will be plenty of time to face the harsh realities of the real world. In the meantime, let our children grow up in a nurturing environment so they can learn and grow without the weight of the world in their shoulders.
It’s one thing to experience bad grades in school because of not paying attention in class or studying, it’s another to take a test which is rigged for them to fail no matter how hard they work to succeed.
It’s just not the same thing.
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This is an educational nightmare for teachers, students and parents. If I had had to undergo this kind of scrutiny growing up, I may never have “grown up”. I attended a school in 1950’s that had NO RUNNING WATER, NO INTERIOR BATHROOMS, AND ELECTRICITY WAS THE MOST MODERN ITEM IN THE ROOM,other than windows.
We went to a local home and hand carried drinking water to our classroom where there were 5 grades one year. I am a graduate of a Philadelphia University at the post graduate level and have retired after 32 years educating students at all levels.
NOW, tell me why any student NEEDS TO UNDERGO this kind of treatment testing to standards. I wasn’t faced with drug abuse, child molestation, terroristic threats in the school day and other modern issues of this time. This kind of manipulation of faculty, parents, and students makes today’s life much more difficult. It is very difficult to say when all is in and done, wheather this kind of testing amounts to anything for a student, a school, a district, a town. It’s time to end this nightmare.
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