Perhaps, in this election year, it is the economy, stup***.  President George Bush declares he knows this well.  “I reminded you that I understand that the economy is always a salient issue in campaigns.”  For this oilman President, money matters more than scholarship.  

You, dear reader might recall, at a Yale graduation ceremony, George W. Bush said to the seniors, “To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done.  And to the C students, I say you, too, can be President of the United States.”  The implication is a world leader need not be academically “accountable.”  There are others means towards success and George W. Bush chased these diligently.  He did as generations of his dynasty did before him; he followed the money.
The Baby Bush endows entrepreneurial enterprises.  Examples of Bush the business benefactor are ample; he has long sponsored the rise of the wealthy class and the fall of the masses.  However, in an attempt to appease the many, this noble “decider”  and his Administration is reaching out to the common man, woman, and child.  

The benevolent Bush in his infinite wisdom is giving money to educators.

In the closing weeks of the fall campaign, the Bush administration is handing out money for teachers who raise student test scores, [this is] the first federal effort to reward classroom performance with bonuses.

Apparently, the President perceives applause and appreciation  as not enough to encourage excellence in our schools.  He thinks he must send money.  However, just as a disconnected parent doles out dollars to his or her offspring if the child says, does, thinks, and performs, as the parent dictates is proper, Mr. Bush delivers cash only to those that follow his lead.

Our compassionate President, George W. Bush cares not for the quality of learning.  He shows no interest in genuine instruction.  He ignores pedagogical principles.  Mr. Bush only wants results.  He is selling the idea “Teach to the test!” and he is willing to pay for those who do his bidding.

In the world of George W. Bush, rote responses are reasonable; in fact, they are required.  Regardless of their evident and harmful effect on authentic scholarship, Americans stand behind the construct of “accountability.”  Yet, as we evaluate American students knowledge in contrast to those in other countries, we discover the difference is great.  The youth in the United States do not fare well; their counterparts excel.

A study sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development states education and achievement in this country have suffered.

High school students in Hong Kong, Finland and South Korea do best in mathematics among those in 40 surveyed countries while students in the United States finished in the bottom half, according to a new international comparison of mathematical skills shown by 15-year-olds.

The United States was also cited as having the poorest outcomes per dollar spent on education.  It ranked 28th of 40 countries in math and 18th in reading.

Students in the United States are doing less well today than they were only three short years ago.  “The gap between the best and worst performing countries has widened,” said Andreas Schleicher, the official who directed the study and wrote the final report.

George W. Bush, our “C” student President, deems “standards must be meet,” and they are.  However, these newer goals advance a decline in authentic scholarship.  Still Bush rants and rallies on.

Since 2001, Mr. Bush has claimed that testing is the answer.  High scores on rigid and rote evaluations will yield wisdom.  In truth, the reverse is true.

Under the auspices of an Administration obsessed with the “averages,” American students must be accountable.  George Bush believes in the dogma and diligence of tests, and the ranks they produce, above all else.  For him, there is no other valid option.

“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”
~ Abraham Maslow

However, in my own life I see the fallacy of this “thinking.”  I recall a time in seventh grade when I became enamored with what was evident.  Be a quiet, well-mannered student, one that memorizes and regurgitates well and “As” will be yours.  I realized as I observed Dawn and Joni, two young girls that were far from the brightest bulbs, that intelligence was not recorded in grades.  Test scores did not document scholarship.  Standards were just that.  In truth, those that meet the requirements, were often sub-standard.

True erudition suffers when testing scores tell the tale.  Critical thinking and all that creates this is lost when we focus as George W. does on grades and rankings.  Please consider this report, Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math, from the, New York Times.

Thousands of schools across the nation are responding to the reading and math testing requirements laid out in No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s signature education law, by reducing class time spent on other subjects and, for some low-proficiency students, eliminating it.

Nevertheless, Mr. Bush proclaims, “If your measurement system shows that you’re providing excellence for your children, it seems to make sense that there ought to be a little extra incentive.”  This prestigious President ignores the obvious, measurement systems may seem to show that “we” are providing excellence; however, other observations demonstrate that testing and the desire to furnish verifiable statistics is burdening our students, schools, and American society.  Let us consider the cornerstone of the Bush Education policy, No Child Left Behind.

Nevertheless, the “hammer” pounds on.  He pulls nails out that do not please him.  He punishes educators, institutions, and districts.

Please allow me to present a scenario that might help illustrate why focusing on testing or “teaching to the test” might not make sense when truly learning is the goal.  I ask you to reflect on your own life as a pupil.  Please place yourself in this situation.

You have a test to take.  The subject may be math; it may be science, English, or even history.  There are so many facts, figures, and formulas to remember.  You gather all your notes; your corrected homework assignments, your books, and you cram your brain with information.  You create flash cards.  You memorize answers to any possible question, to every probable query.  You recite the facts that you recall.  You ask family members to quiz you.  You call your classmates to ensure that you have all the particulars.  You sleep on your books hoping the knowledge will filter in through osmosis.  You wake early and review your books again.  You read your notes as you walk, drive, or ride to school.

You receive the exam, and wham; you realize that you know all the answers.  You do well.  An “A+” is your grade!  Then 5 minutes later, five hours later, five days later, five months later, or especially and even 5 years later, you know none of this information.  You did not learn it for a lifetime, but memorized it for a moment, only a minute, or two, maybe longer, yet not for all eternity.

Might I ask, does the grade reflect authentic understanding, astuteness, or intelligence.

I believe, and evidence supports my contention, rankings, standings, and statistics verify little of  what is really important.  For some they are a reflection of frustration; for others they exemplify an ability to solve puzzles.  A few are able to memorize; they can manipulate a system.  However, rarely do “standardized tests” report the essence of erudition or scholarship.  Substantiating the knowledge gained by a student or a class is not a simple process.  This determination cannot be graphed.  What can be calculated is the predictable predilection the President shows towards testing. 

I ask, in instructing our students, in facilitating growth for individuals, or for society at-large, does the practice of testing or teaching to the test truly advance wisdom.  Will we grow an imaginative, innovative, and inventive populace if we focus on the folly of testing?

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.”
~ Albert Einstein

For me, a quality education offers the opportunity to blossom.  If subjects are taught in a way that promotes a genuine love of learning, then all else follows.  Remember a time when you wanted to learn.  perchance riding a two-wheeled bicycle was important to you.  Your mind was alert; you concentrated on your mission.  for me this desire to achieve became a daily endeavor.  I would devote time and energy to learning how to ride.

I spent hours each day and each evening pedaling around my Mom `s car while it was parked in the garage.  With one hand I would hold on to her vehicle, with the other I held the handlebars of my new mode of transportation.  I trained myself to maintain my balance.  The sessions were rewarding, even when I failed or fell.  I felt accomplished.  Learning how to do what passionately held my interest day in and day out was not work; it was a pleasure.

There is a reason that they say, “You never forget how to ride a bike.”  For that knowledge is priceless.  The longing to learn creates a lasting impression..  For me, that is what school must be in order to be truly effective.

Educators must be facilitators, mentors intent on originating autonomy.  I think the truest skill we need to teach is thinking.  It is a talent that too often is breed out of us.  When pupils, or people think there is an evolution.  Encouraging experiences are the catalyst for such growth.  I believe instructors, parents, and  administrators must be more cognizant of this virtue.  We all must be sensitive to students and not the statistics they generate.

“Learning is something students do, NOT something done to students.”
~ Alfie Kohn [American Lecturer, Author]

Whether we consider ourselves teachers or students, we will forever be both, simultaneously.  Every [human] being effects every other.  We gain knowledge we give wisdom.  I believe it is vital to consider that we are all Don Quixote; we can dream the impossible dream and then create it.  We all need and crave a supportive, patient, gentle, trusting soul that believes we can be what we want to be.

One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety- nine who have only interest.
~ John Stuart Mill [Philosopher]

Please review the musings of another educator.  Perchance, this writing will ring true for you.

What Testing Means for Children

All in all, increased testing results in increased pressure on teachers and children.  In a school guided by developmental concerns, teachers place much less emphasis on the tests.  If, however, tests play a significant role in grade advancement, or the tests are the primary basis for the school’s so-called accountability, teachers feel compelled to spend considerable time preparing children to take the tests.  In such settings, the tests become the school curriculum.

Preparation usually begins many weeks before the actual testing.  During this period, two to three hours a day are often devoted to practice tests and exercises, all alien to the ongoing instruction and the usual student response patterns.  The teachers readily acknowledge that the questions comprising the practice exercises, similar to those on the real test, are “trivial and unimportant.”  Moreover, the possible responses contain words that children likely have never seen and certainly don’t use.  The practice time is wasted time, yet some teachers believe it is important to waste the time: they are preparing students for the test. 

By the time the three days of real testing is completed–after children have been admonished to “get a lot of sleep,” “remember that this test is very important,” “take all your books off your desks,” “leave your calculators at home,” “keep your eyes down on your own papers” and “ask no one for help”–weeks, sometimes months, will have passed. 

Time for real books will have been sacrificed for time spent reading isolated paragraphs and then answering several multiple-choice questions.  Rather than posing problems for which math might be used, in the process coming to a natural and deeper understanding of math concepts, time will have been spent on reviewing skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, and division–all in isolation.  Little time will have been given to science and social studies, other than the concentration on factual information that isn’t particularly useful or generative of on-going interest.  Time is a valuable commodity; it should not be wasted in this manner.

However, it is. 

Now, with money, cold hard cash coming from our compassionate Commander, George Bush teachers, administrators, and districts will again be called upon.  They must decide.  Do these educators wish to sacrifice their students and themselves for the almighty dollar, or do they wish to truly deliver wisdom.  Will rote be the ruling or will inspiration, imagination, and innovation again return to our American classrooms.

United States citizens claim to be concerned; they perceive competition worldwide.  Yet we knowingly,  have allowed American students to enter the marketplace ill prepared.  Americans have ignored what matters, the quality of life, living, and learning.  We as Americans have not advanced the passion for knowledge.  May I offer . . .

“A man without passion would be like a body without a soul.  Or even more grotesque, like a soul without a body.”
~ Edward Abbey [American Author.  Essayist.  1927 to 1989]

“Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.” 
~ Henri Frederic Amiel [Swiss Poet, Philosopher, Critic 1821 to 1881]

Economics, Education, Evaluation . . .

Betsy L. Angert
BeThink.org or Be-Think

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