Austin school board decries high-stakes testing

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Austin school board decries high-stakes testing

Joe Olivieri

Kealing Middle School student Callier Creadle spoke out against high stakes standardized testing before the April 23 Austin Independent School District meeting.

"Austin Independent School District became the most recent Texas school district to speak out against high-stakes testing for students.

At its April 23 meeting, AISD's board of trustees unanimously approved a resolution asking the state Legislature to re-examine public school accountability and develop a system that more accurately reflects what students know. That system would enhance teachers' roles as leaders and instructional guides, as well as instill a sense of inquiry and a love of learning in students.

AISD's resolution is similar to a model Texas Association of School Administrators resolution that takes a harder line on the issue.

Both commend Commissioner of Education Robert Scott for his concern on the overemphasis of high-stakes testing and continued support of high standards and local accountability. The TASA resolution goes on to say that over-reliance on standardized high-stakes testing is strangling public schools and undermining any chance of educators turning the education system into one that can prepare children to compete on the global stage."

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A Teacher's Creed

"In the classroom on the first day of a new school year, I am eager to meet my students. I have rehearsed my greeting and first day’s remarks, but no matter how many years I’ve prepared for this procedure, it’s always new. My heart pumps a bit harder, faster; I feel adrenaline like an athlete, or like an actor, or maybe like a novice public speaker. It’s a marvelous feeling, this first day, because I know that something special is going to happen, and I know it because I’ve experienced it before and I know that I will experience it every time I meet a new class throughout my venerable career. And then they’re seated before me and I smile at this special feeling. This is an assembly of students, yes. But there’s so much more, because each of these young persons is more than just a student entrusted to me. Each of these students has a story to tell, a lifetime, however brief, of experiences, a history in volumes whose richness and depth I can barely begin to fathom. And so as I absorb the first glimpse of these young charges, I must appreciate the extent of my responsibility, of the privilege I’ve accepted in presenting these young souls my special knowledge. In offering them my talent and passion, I am adding an enormous array of new bright stars to the vast firmament of their minds, stars that will never have time to fade in their lifetimes. I will be part of their story. And I know that each of them will always be part of mine. And that’s a good feeling, a feeling that is perpetually renewed, revisited, and rewritten in A Teacher’s Creed."

Carla Ranger - Dallas ISD Education Blog

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Austin school board decries high-stakes testing

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