In the wake of massive technology breakdowns in the online testing in Tennessee and Alaska, this teacher posted a warning:
“Based on my experiences trying to teach lessons with various age groups in the computer lab, I must say I am not surprised by the technology issues when giving a statewide test. The Buffalo Publc School System couldn’t support a normal day’s worth of computer use. In our lab of thirty computers, a number of computers were broken and wouldn’t turn on, several were missing a keyboard or the mouse, some kids forgot their passwords, the hardware took at least five minutes to boot up, and some computers crashed or froze midlesson.
“In a state like New York with over a million students, I shiver to think about the log jam that will occur when everyone logs in at once. Alaska’s problems will look like a walk in the park.
“Of course, they all think it can’t happen here. I simply refer the administrators to Murphy’s Law when the make their arrangements.”
O’Toole’s Commentary on Murphy’s Law: “Murphy was an optimist.”
It happened in Florida last year. And I was forced as a teacher to do some very unethical things, things that if I had done them on my own would have gotten me fired or thrown in jail. I am ashamed of myself for not having the integrity to stand up and say”you cannot do this”
Please elaborate. Silence is collaboration.
And no, you weren’t forced. You chose expediency over what is right. The way to atone is to shout out those that you believed “forced you”. And we know that “they made me do it” is not an allowable defense.
To help give you courage in the future to stand up and refuse to do those unethical things may I suggest for you to read “A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues” by Andre Comte-Sponville. Here is an excerpt:
“Should we therefore forgo our self-interest? Of course not. But it [self-interest] must be subordinate to justice, not the other way around. . . . To take advantage of a child’s naivete. . . in order to extract from them something [test scores, personal information] that is contrary to their interests, or intentions, without their knowledge [or consent of parents] or through coercion [state mandated testing], is always and everywhere unjust even if in some places and under certain circumstances it is not illegal. . . . Justice is superior to and more valuable than well-being or efficiency; it cannot be sacrificed to them, not even for the happiness of the greatest number [quoting Rawls]. To what could justice legitimately be sacrificed, since without justice there would be no legitimacy or illegitimacy? And in the name of what, since without justice even humanity, happiness and love could have no absolute value?. . . Without justice, values would be nothing more than (self) interests or motives; they would cease to be values or would become values without worth.”—Comte-Sponville [my additions]
bruce, we all sell our souls to the testing demons. Those with keyboard bravery fail to understand. Teachers are powerless because America no longer backs teachers. When “The People” turn against educators, the best we can do is resist when we can, keep putting food on the table, and hope America comes to her senses before we end up looking like North Korea. The amount of anti-teacher passion out there is astounding. I do not even tell people I now teach.
Mathvale,
Your statement “. . . we all sell our souls to the testing demons. Those with keyboard bravery fail to understand” is false and serves to excuse inexcusable malpractices. It’s the defense of the “good German”.
No, not all (as you imply by using “we”) have sold our souls. Perhaps you have, Mathvale. I can’t say for sure but your argumentation points to it.
Some of us haven’t and have paid a heavy price professionally, monetarily, psychologically, and health-wise. For some of us that “keyboard bravery” has been earned in the stinking trenches of this fight where those who have been courageous have been viciously attacked and mauled in many ways but direct physical contact by those supposedly good humans called administrators.
Do not project/throw your psychological guilt onto others. It’s unseemly.
“I do not even tell people I now teach.”
Then my advice is to get out now and quit harming students by instituting educational malpractices on them.