"The stakes are high and so am I" - Ted Nugent
I first met Jesse Turner, now the director of Central Connecticut State University's Literacy Center, when he was a graduate student at New Jersey City University.
Turner immediately demonstrated an extremely high level of dedication and a willingness to dive in to address critical issues.
He never shied away from debate or controversy, and his intentions were clearly always focused on the good of the students.
One of the first things I recall Turner doing was bringing charges to impeach a student body president who was rumored to have been, among other things, holding "all white meetings" among members of student government.
Turner won his case.
Thus I am not suprised to read in the Chicago Tribune about his one-man trek that he's dubbed, "Children Are More Than Test Scores."
According to Turner's open Facebook Group by the same title:
This is a group that welcomes new members who believe that No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top is misguided educational reform policy that relies too heavily on standardized test scores and is too focused on punitive measures against local schools.
Turner is walking to Washington to protest the two educational policies.
Turner says that the best data we have indicate that "the current reforms have had little or no effect, yet we are pushing harder than ever on more of those very reforms."
Columnist Helen Ubiñas wrote.
My original post on this topic stimulated some fascinating discussion.
voracious wrote:
Standardized testing has destroyed education. As a parent of 2 gifted children who score "Advanced" in all areas of these ridiculous tests I have yet to see how my sons' standardized test scores benefit the other children in their classes or at the school. I have opted out of testing the last two years because of the way the gifted program has been moved to an underperforming school to improve their test scores.
The scripted curriculum that has been developed for this testing is pathetic. We are now teaching first graders to use calculators for math.
Because my oldest child did not take the 7th grade standardized tests he was not eligible for the President's Award for Academic Achievement or the President's Award for Academic Excellence even though he met all of the requirements. The schools refused to give it to him.
... to which edtastic responded:
Testing is apart of life, the sooner you accept that the better. The sooner students accept it the better. You need to be a good test taker to get rewarded in academia. This is a fact of life.
The scripted curriculum needs to go. Teachers need to be free to teach the way that works for them and the student so long as the teacher is held accountable for the results. By that I mean the teacher is held accountable for student performance to some degree or at least rewarded for producing substantial gains. Tests will be with us forever unless they invent a mind reading machine. Homework and reports are the specialty of those who work hard not necessarily those who retain the most information about the relevant subject matter.
You should have let your kids take the test. School is not fair and neither is life, get over it and do what you gotta do.
Yellow Catering Van added:
If you can read, you will test well. If you can do math, you will test well.
I think it is so funny that my daughters' school just teaches the students how to read write and do math and their students destroy these exams. No teaching to the test needed if you teach the basics. For the past few years, my 9th grade daughter has taken an interest in medicine. She would like to be a doctor.
Thankfully, I have her in a high school that will help her get into a top ranked college and (if she still wants to) she will have a good shot at getting into medical school. If she was going to our local public school, she would have very little shot at her dream. Education is about dreams. Sadly, too often it is about dreams denied.
cermakRd responded:
Basics are good, no doubt about it. I did very well on those tests. I read a lot outside of class and that no doubt impacted my ability to test well--especially on tests using vocabulary and logic like the ACT.
But I don't think the school is all that important. I went to a public school in a rural town. It spent about 1/8 of what Chicago public schools spent at the time on their students. I got a great education and had the ability to go to pretty much any college I wanted and could afford.
I think inner motivation and curiosity are far more important than what school is attended. Abraham Lincoln was educated at home, yet he did very, very well in his short life.
*****
I applaud Turner for his constant willingness to take action for what is right. I've known him and close colleagues for nearly two decades, and Turner has been this way all of his life.
With tests being the latest issue - there is one that Turner clearly has taken to heart.
It can be seen in these words by Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull:
Here is a test to find out whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't.