Perspectives: Educational Malpractice

EDUCATIONAL MALPRACTICE:

State Mandated Standardized Testing

Jane Seidenberg works in the Resource Program as a special education teacher in Gorham

In my opinion, the worst of the tests is the 90-minute “essay”. Eight and nine-year-olds are asked to sit in front of a computer and type an essay for 90 minutes.

Iam one angry and exasperated special education teacher. I made it through the most excruciating time of year for me as a professional. I just know the majority of my colleagues feel the same. We trudged through the annual torture of administering the Maine Educational Assessments to the kids at our elementary and high schools throughout the state.

I cannot begin to describe how disruptive and inappropriate these tests are for the children I serve. It is important to try however, because we need to have a conversation about the utility of these evaluations.

The assessments are administered over a week for a total of nine hours. It is hard to rationalize nine hours of testing for 8, 9 and 10 year-old students. By way of comparison, the BAR exam for would-be lawyers is 12 hours over two days, and the MCAT (admission to medical school) is 7 hours given in either one or two days. But these young children with disabilities take 9 hours of testing that includes two math tests, two reading tests, two language assessments (!) and one essay. The quality of these tests is concerning. This is particularly true regarding the language and essay portions. As far as I can tell, the language test is looking at grammar. But the test is unbelievably tedious. On one item kids are asked to correct awkward sentences within long passages by choosing replacement sentences from a choice of four. The problem is, the replacement sentences all sound and look the same. Yes, if you look closely there are slight differences in the sentences, very slight. A student with attention issues will surely miss this nuance. If I ever gave any of my students a task like this my colleagues would call that bad teaching. Good teaching builds on success and does not set up students to fail. These questions on the language portion seem as if they are trying to “trick” the children; I say shame on them.

In my opinion, the worst of the tests is the 90-minute “essay”. Eight and nine-year-olds are asked to sit in front of a computer and type an essay for 90 minutes. I don’t know about you, but I could never sit for 90 minutes and type up a high-quality essay. This is developmentally inappropriate for all children, and especially those with disabilities. This is not how writing is taught in schools and does not produce the best quality work from beginning writers.

The most agonizing part of the experience for me though is watching my students as they test. It’s important to understand that students with disabilities take all the tests at their grade level, even if they have not yet been taught or are ready for the material. If they are a 5th grader and read at the third-grade level, they take the 5th grade test. If they are working on 3rd grade math concepts and are in 5th grade, they take the 5th grade test. Try to imagine how a nine-year-old student who already knows he/she is very behind experiences this injustice.

The final educational malpractice is the delivery of the scores. The scores for the MEA assessments generally arrive a year later. The kids are in a different grade, with different teachers and in some cases at a different school. How can that possibly be of any use to anyone? The score report says nothing about the students learning needs, only if he /she meets, partially meets, or does not meet the standards in a certain area. This is of no help to teachers, parents or students.

I’m writing this as a plea to all those in the position to affect educational policy. This approach to assessing and reporting on our students with disabilities must end. It is cruel and serves no purpose. It is a waste of time and resources. It takes valuable time from instructing. It is damaging to children, teachers and the school culture. Those who understand children and schools need to come to the table and provide alternative ideas. Too much is at stake to squander precious resources and precious children on something that provides so little in return.

Tech Talk Podcast Possibilities

If you’re looking for a fun way to give your students their own voice while building self-esteem and sparking creativity-think Podcast! Podcasting will allow students to both improve research, writing, speaking and collaboration skills. Podcasts are also great for those students who are auditory learners. With free online tools creating podcasts are easier than ever. You can share the podcasts with students’ family members, the school and others by posting on social media, the school website and via email.

Here are a few ideas for podcast projects in your classroom:

Reading Radio Show

Students create a radio broadcast about a recent book they’ve read and share what they like most about the story. This gives students an opportunity to share what they’ve learned and gives them an opportunity to share opinions about the text as well.

Action News Classroom

Students read non-fiction stories happening in your area, practicing both their reading and oral skills. Allow students to trade places reading different kinds of stories from features, to city hall type news to weather.

Reporter Round Up

Have students interview each other or other teachers and administrators about interesting things happening in the school. Was there a recent class that performed a play? Conduct a podcast review of the show after interviewing students and the teacher.

End of Unit Podcast

After you’ve finished a unit, ask students to share what they’ve learned in a podcast. If you studied World War II, students can present their knowledge in a podcast, reading from a written report and adding in key details and interviews at the same time.

Celebrate Special Months

Use a podcast to share information about important cultural events like Black History Month and Women’s History Month. Share the podcasts with family and the community via social media.

Free Tools

Audacity allows you to record straight from your computer with an internal or external mic. You can also drag sounds in and mix and edit. (Windows/Mac)

Audacity

While it’s known for its music making, Garage Band, built into Macs is an easy application to create podcasts. (Mac)

Garage Band

An app that you can download on your phone, Anchor is as easy as can be to use. You don’t need any extra equipment-- you just record everything in your phone then you can edit online.

Anchor

Quick How To’s

Give students an idea on how to start their podcast. Remind students to:

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5. State the name of the podcast

State their name(s) as the hosts of the show

Content of the show

Call to action to tell listeners when you can hear the show again or learn more about the topic

Thank listeners