What a circus! I definitely support the teachers' efforts to raise questions
about the quality of the test. It sounds to me like there must have been
some effort all along by the teachers to question the value of these tests,
but that low-key efforts to do so were ignored by the administration and
board. So, it would appear that the teachers had no recourse except to expose
the test questions publicly, a "guerilla tactic" that upset the
administrators, presumably because it reveals the test questions ahead of time
or some such, perhaps invalidating the test that cost lots of tax dollars to
develop. (Again, I don't know how valid this objection might be because I
don't know if the test content is revised annually or not. If not revised
annually, then it might be a more valid concern...Then again, who is really
going to go to the trouble to study the test in a tiny, poorly-circulated
teachers' newspaper? Is this a realistic concern? And is a million-dollar
lawsuit the proper response? It sounds like Goliath crushing a gnat. Why the
overkill? This suggests that the teachers' group is onto something...)
Anyway, as a former newspaper reporter, I am really puzzled that the two major
Chicago newspapers have called the teacher's tactics into question and
demanded punishment.(!bizarre!) My experience in Los Angeles newspapers has
been that it is rare indeed for teachers to be in the editorial frying pan,
but more likely that administrators and board members are... perhaps things
are different in Chicago. Could it be that the papers' editors are in bed with
the school administration? I think I have heard how Chicago's school
administration is being held up as an example of school reform nationwide --
so maybe this is what's going on...and I know historically that the city
school district has been rock bottom in the nation, primarily because of
poverty -- I thought, more than really bad teachers.
I hope that -- to the extent that the teachers really ARE focused on
improving the quality of assessments (rather than using this test critique as
a cover to deflect attempts to assess their performance), that their debate
will receive national attention. The mania for accountability testing is
occurring everywhere, and I do think it's high time that someone held the
testers accountable too...
I really think the voice of the teacher has been silenced during most of this
debate. If anyone should have some bright ideas on testing, shouldn't they?
Has anyone asked them? Perhaps it's high time for a teacher to take a
guerilla stand amid this patronizing, condescending political environment that
treats teachers like a bunch of incompetent hamburger-flippers at McDonald's.
And, jeez, with the newspapers and adminstration lawyers lining up against a
little teacher's publication -- well, hell with it -- good for him! Perhaps
this conflict can become a cultural tool for finally getting the teachers'
point of view on accountability testing on the front burner of national debate!
Louise