Testers not teachers in the classrooms

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. When talking to people who have never taught in public school, they often have solutions that I know are wrong. Further, they will not believe someone from inside the schools; especially the teachers. Know this: the teachers are for the most part doing what they are told by the administrators to do.
     Many teachers say they are not teachers, just testers. They spend no time teaching, instead, every minute is focused on accountability tests. All the students are learning are test questions, if you can call that learning.
     Even worse is that many teachers wonder why they got a teaching certificate because no one listens to them. Obviously there is no need to address the curriculum at teaching colleges when teachers have no voice.
     What would happen if we started listening to teachers instead of administrators? Administrators are far removed from classrooms. Many went into administration for the pay. They can double their retirement. Teach twenty years and administer five years then retire with pay like they were in administration twenty-five years.
     Most of what I find objectionable is the reform fads. When I started teaching in public school Gerald Ford was the president. The then fad, among others, was quarter-hour lesson plans. For every class period I needed four pieces of paper filled out explaining how I was going to change what was happening in the classroom four times an hour with methods, objectives, materials and measurement routines.
     This requirement was before computers so it was done by hand, my hand. Each week, with a sore writing hand, I handed in a stack of 120 lesson plans which I am sure no one had time to read. The next year I took a job at the University of New Mexico in educational media because my writing hand could not take any more.Read full column

Testers not teachers in the classrooms