Blogs

Blog #1 The article that I choose to do my reflection on is titled New SATs Show Education Suicide is Working. I choose this article because I believe that major tests like the SATs and other standardized tests are a hot topic right now. Like many believe and it is also stated in the article the SATs are narrowing the curriculum and teaching to the tests. Also stated in the article that these tests are taking the enjoyment and fun out of the classrooms. I believe this to be true. I remember when I was in Elementary School, we would have tons of fun days that also helped us learn. For example in fourth grade we did the trail of tears walk. The whole day we had to carry all of our stuff with us, so we could feel what the Native Americans had to feel. We also did the 100th day of school celebration where in second grade we had to make a big 100 out of one hundred things. I made my one hundred out of push pins.“'Test-and-punish school ‘reform’ policies are leaving more children further behind, even when measured by other standardized exams,' according to Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director of FairTest, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing." This is completely contradicting the whole point of No Child Left Behind. Why are we trying to push kids out into higher grades if they are not ready? One thing that did give me some hope though is the part where it talked about 840 colleges that offer a Bachelor's Degree are making accepting decisions without any SAT or ACT scores. My SAT scores were pretty low, so this makes me feel good about applying to college.

Blog #2 What is Being Left Behind is an article that talks about policies and activities that have been taken out of schools because of the No Child Left Behind Act. So as I was reading this article, I came across a fact that said Social Studies is one of the subjects that is being "left behind". This actually surprises me. Social Studies is an important subject, if you don't teach about the past history is likely to repeat itself. Granted this would not necessarily be a bad thing since there were good times in history, but there were something that should never be repeated, the time of Hitler for example would be bad to have happen again. It’s sad to see that history teachers in Florida have to worry about their jobs. I agree that history should be a tested subject. Since reading and math are the really the only two subjects being tested, the students mind’s are becoming very narrow. Economics, current events, health, physical education, music and art have all been left behind. Unfortunately unless the school system changes, the number of these programs that get cut each year is only going to keep rising. This gets me really angry because all of these subjects are important in their own ways. Too bad the government doesn’t see it like that.



Blog 3 High School Senior, Sylvie Baldwin, Just Says No to Any More Testing is probably the most interesting thing I have found on this site so far. This is a documentary kind of movie about a girl named Sylvie who refuses to take any SATs, SAT 2 or ACTs. She is also not only applying to test optional schools but also to schools that require SAT scores. In my opinion, I think she is doing a smart thing, actually I almost envy her in a way. First off, think of all the money she is saving by not taking these tests. The SATs alone cost around 85$ every time you sign up for one of them. Also many students sign up for 100$ classes to learn how to take the SATs and ACTs. Are these classes really worth it though? My friend took more then three SATs. The first one she took while without taking a class, and the second she took after she had a class and guess what... the scores were almost identical. Her parents paid $200 for a class that helped her gain about three points in each category. Second the amount of stress she has is decreased. Many students spend up to 50 hours preparing for these tests. Instead of looking over books of useless facts that she will probably never need again, she is spending it doing things she enjoys. Something I really like about this idea of not taking the tests is that she is not being labeled as a number. By not taking the test she is showing schools herself as a whole and not as a test score. I wish Sylvie all the best with her study and I hope she gets the results she wants from it.

Blog#4 I really enjoyed the blog article titled "The Problem is Poverty: Evidence from Gerald Bracey". This article talks about how low our national and international test scores are and it gives evidence as to what he believes the reason is. The reason given in the article is like it says in the title, poverty. It gives statistics saying the poverty levels, which I found to be kind of interesting. The article also clearly states that the schools that have lower than 25% poverty outscored the highest country. Poverty plays a major role in a child’s education. America needs to find a way to lower the poverty levels. I really liked how this article states that it’s not the teachers fault, nor unions or the children themselves. Teachers have been getting a lot of bad publicity lately when it comes to low test scores. Gerald Bracey believes the solution is to protect our children from the disadvantages of poverty, through health care, nutrition, and access to books. Unfortunately Arne Duncan decided to take his own approach to the problem He is focusing on measurement and spending billions of dollars into “worthless tests”, while in the opinion of Gerald Bracey, he should really be focusing on helping.

﻿ Marking Period 2 ﻿ Blog 5 ﻿The Blog that I read was called [|Help Ballou Senior High School Library Build a Book Collection]. This article talks about how this high school's library was not up to par. It was old, did not have books or computers and it was dimly lit. Many students did not even realize they had a library at their school until this year. I'm really happy that the library at Ballou Senior High School is a place that students can go and get their work done. Every school should have a good resource center. I could not imagine walking into my high school and not being able to work on a project because there were no resources to back me up on. Schools focus a lot on athletics and it's time that less money go towards new uniforms for the football team but instead be used for books to help students get a better education.



Blog 6 I thought that 20 Reasons Why to Eliminate NCLB was a great article. I believe that NCLB should be eliminated for different reasons but I agree with the overall concept. My favorite reason that they gave in the blog was definitely number twenty. Test scores should not tell you how smart and individual is. Some students are good test takers but they really do not know the material. They could have just got lucky and now they are being pushed up to a place they don't truly belong in. Number nineteen makes sense also. Any policy that needs to be pushed as hard as the government is pushing the NCLB Act should be taken out. If it was a good policy, why is the government trying so hard to get others to like it? Seventeen is also a good point. Good teacher's jobs are being taken away because their test scores are too low. Honestly, I would rather have a teacher who is teaching my child how to use the lessons they are being taught in life rather then teach my child how to pass a test. This article brings up some very controversial issues and I honestly have to agree with the overall message of it. Eliminate NCLB!

Marking Period 3 The article that I read was titled MichelleFirst. This was an article about how everyone in the world thinks they are experts at education. Just because you spent time as a student in a classroom does not make you an expert on how or what to teach. I agree with the overall message of this article, one hundred percent. Many people look at scores on their child’s standardized test and if they score low, they assume it’s the teachers fault. Well news flash, maybe your kid is lazy and unmotivated to learn. The government and public really need to stop telling teachers how to do their job and let the teacher, the one who has the teaching degree, teach. According to national records student achievement has gone up, especially in minority groups like African Americans. So if scores are going up, let’s stop complaining!

The movie I just watched titled __The Rise and Fall of Queen Rhee__, was a movie about how all the government cares about is test scores. Teachers are taught that testing is the most important thing to track student learning and progress. Test scores are being used for the wrong purpose now. Instead of helping the teachers find out what students are struggling, it helps administrators figure out who is not “a good teacher.” The amount of testing in the schools today has become ridiculous. Students are feeling the effect more than anyone. Some parents will look at a 3rd graders homework and say something like “We didn’t learn that until middle school.” Or “I really don’t know what to do for this problem.” When parents can’t even help their kids do their homework, there is something wrong. Teachers also have no say in what the government wants them to do. They have to do what they are told, because if they don’t, they will be fired, and there are hundreds of teachers already lined up for their position. Testing is also narrowing the curriculum. Students are not getting enough in depth information anymore. There is so much for a teacher to cover by the end of the year, topics are being rushed. Also what test scores are good enough? It’s like students get 80s but the government wants 90s, and when the students get 90s, they want 100s. Government is getting a little ridiculous about this whole testing thing.

The article that I read was called Not an Entrance Exam. I found this article to be very interesting. I agree, there shouldn’t be an entrance exam for that school. These tests discourage young people from wanting to learn. This school had the right idea. Why are schools pushing the students that want to learn out, while a student who might be naturally smart but have no interest in school can pass that test with flying colors and they get to go to that school. I think that is really stupid. Testing is way too important in society today. Everything is being blown out of proportion. Tests should be used for one sole purpose and that to benefit the children. Most of the tests are either too easy (to make is seem like the kids in that particular area are smart) or they are unbelievably hard. I couldn’t imagine growing up as an elementary school in this day and age. It seems like every day they are being tested on something. I honestly feel bad. I’m really happy this school in Baltimore is no longer making kids pass that test.

The next article that I read was called Why Charlotte-Mecklenburg Parents Should Sue Peter Gorman and the C-M School Board. Peter Gorman is the person in charge of the schools in Chalotte, North Carolina. He is using money he doesn’t have and spending it on apparently useless crap. In the article it states that he is one of those people that undermines schools and really wants to put schools into the hands of corporate managers. It is really sad to see a member of the education profession to work against the teachers. Seeing how the economy is and how many jobs are being cut, instead of being an arrogant prick, work with everyone and come up with a way to stop spending money on useless crap so that everyone could keep their jobs.