High stakes testing is challenging in any educational setting, but it becomes even more so when the state and the DOE keep moving the hoops. But because I'm mellow by nature and try to see things in a positive way, my mantra for the recent trend towards more and more testing was repeating "This Too Shall Pass" softly to myself until the blood pressure medicine kicked in. However, a weird confluence of events happened during the past week, and I think it might have been that proverbial last straw for me. I believe I just became an anti- "educational reform" activist. Read below the flourish for the email I just sent to governor Rick Scott and our local state legislators. I'll let you know if I'm still employed tomorrow, as I used my real name and my school email.
Dear Governor Scott and Florida Legislators,
For the entirety of my teaching career I’ve listened to speeches and read editorials from Tallahassee about how much you care about education, and honestly I try to believe you. Really I have.
I teach Biology to three wonderful groups of high school freshmen. Some are more academically gifted than others, but they are all good kids and they all have goals in life. Since I met them at the start of the term I have dutifully reminded them that they need to do their best on The Test, the End of Course Exam that you mandated in 2011. I explained to the kids that their legislators in Tallahassee need to be able to hold me accountable for teaching them and hold them accountable for learning – that your high stakes tests are important for us all.
We’ve been working and learning as quickly as we can to prepare for The Test (your test). I’ve been skipping lots of labs and activities that take too long, because every question counts when we’re competing against other students and teachers, right? And because our school year started later but the test is still held on the same date, we’ve even started skipping some review time and classroom testing so we can make it through as much material as possible… Good for us, eh?!
But last week I ran into a bit of an ethical dilemma and I thought I should share it with you. I tried to call for help in finding a solution, but you didn’t answer. You never do, but I’m sure you’re quite busy writing more initiatives to keep my students and I on the right track.
Anyway, this was my dilemma: I had eleven class days before the The Test, and still needed to cover the structure and function of DNA, Mendelian genetics, evidence for and mechanisms of evolution, and plant anatomy and physiology. It was a lot, but we were confident we could do it. Then I got the call from NASA. You see, they were launching the MAVEN mission from a Saturn 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. They wanted to invite my classes out to view the historic launch from only 3 miles across the lagoon – even closer than the news reporters and the usual VIP guests get. They even offered to send out free charter buses and education specialists to teach the students about the science involved and answer questions! A wonderful offer, right? (Thanks big government!)
So I’m sure you see why I was so conflicted… if I allowed my students to go see the launch, we’d miss 90 minutes of valuable teaching time – probably the equivalent of one or two questions on The Test. Those questions could mean the difference between students receiving an “A” or “B” in the course – and a lower GPA could be the difference between them getting into the right college! Tough call, right?
In the end, we risked their futures and went to see the launch, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I doubt they will ever forget. Before the launch we shared a picnic by the lagoon as dolphins and manatees fed in the water and roseate spoonbills and ospreys flew overhead. (I feel guilty that we wasted so much valuable study time for The Test enjoying the picnic, so sorry for that.) Then the launch window opened, and right on cue the rocket thundered and boomed and made a spectacular exit as it headed for our nearest neighbor Mars. And the kids didn’t just clap, they cheered and whistled and some even danced. And perhaps one or two or even more was inspired to learn to launch rockets or even ride them, or to study how to save our lagoon ecosystem from pollution and climate change.
But now the inevitable guilt has set in – did I ruin their futures by letting them play hooky for a day and not prepare for The Test? What would you have chosen Governor Scott, Mr. Crisafulli?