Behind the Times

I admit that I am a relic of a bygone era.  Although  I invested 34 years of my adult life in education, I always said that BubbaSpeaks would not be an educational blog.  Despite using it for a book study while at JN Kellett, I remain persuaded that resisting comment on educational matters is good for me.  Occasionally the call is just too strong, and resisting the urge to comment is futile and frustrating.  According to my granddaughter in first grade we have begun to test all first graders using the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) in the very near future.  There is talk about testing kindergartners as well.

While MAP provides good information to teachers about individual students, unlike statewide tests, I can't help but wonder what we hope to gain.  Sure, we can teach them to produce better test results, but can we teach them to be better people?  It has long been my belief that children need better childhoods more than they need better test scores.  I realize the the State Accountability Act and NCLB indicate that the state and federal governments feel differently.  I question the wisdom of involving five and six year olds in such high stakes testing.  Test scores will rise, but children will suffer from more pressure, less time outdoors, and learning at that tender age that they don't meet our expectations.  Children at that age should believe to the core of their being that they can do ANYTHING.  To involve them in this grownup game of Gotcha is not appropriate.  What's next?  How about a test for newborns so we can really get a jump on all this testing?  We could even just e-mail their parents at birth to advise them that many will not meet our testing targets, thereby relegating them to second class citizenship.   Oh, and b the way, good luck and welcome to the world.  All this testing has already gone too far and should reduced or eliminated altogether.  It does no long term good and may very well do long term harm to children.  Just my humble opinion.