Comments on: Teacher Resigns over MEAP violation

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» Comments Galore! Writer’s Block Demolition Site — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:03:14 +0000

[...] Jonathon: http://sapele.edublogs.org/2007/11/30/teacher-resigns-over-meap-violation/#comment-20 [...]

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 05:58:11 +0000

It’s true. MEAP and other standardized tests really monopolize a Michigan teacher’s time, and, therefore, her students’ time. I understand what Hammersley’s saying about caring for students’ learning more than the test. However, I do question her motives. She must have known that what she was doing was against regulations and all that. She chose to give her students that kind of help, anyway, and I wonder why. When I read this post, I get the feeling that Hammersley had an ax to grind about the whole standardized test issue. It seems like she was unhappy with the situation and handled it by going against the standards, which I’m fine with, except that she brought her students into it, and that I have a problem with. Of course, this is all speculation on my part, so I really do have little to say, but that’s the impression I get. I agree wholeheartedly with her and anyone else that standardized testing has reached nauseating proportions, but I think that as teachers we should handle it a little better than Hammersley.

By: Standing on Reason » Comments

Standing on Reason » Comments — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:08:25 +0000

[...] #2 [...]

By: Ashley

Ashley — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:53:20 +0000

This has to be, without a doubt, one of the most saddening/nerve-racking stories related to the topics of teaching and education that I have ever heard. It goes to show how extremely serious the subject of testing has become and how clearly education has lost its focus. From what I gather, it sounds like the teacher was doing what a good teacher should – guide a student in the right direction by helping him/her fix mistakes. Why must we disregard this when administering a test?

I do not want to try and answer my own questions, nor do I want to continue to rant about what most of us surely consider to be an idiotic policy. But I do want to express some concern that stories like this make me question my professional goals. There seems to be a plethora of negativity in the teaching profession which has forced multiple teachers to resign, and this terrifies me. I don’t want to become one of these teachers, but when the pressure is so high I have to wonder why I’m even doing this. I hate to say it, but my google reader has brought me articles similar to this multiple times this semester, and I have questioned my ability to stand my ground in a corrupt educational world.

Let’s just hope I’m alone in feeling this way.

By: Ashley W

Ashley W — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:29:52 +0000

I think that you raise a very important question…are we always going to have to cover our “behinds?” I think in a sense MEAP testing is out of control. If MEAP is all our teachers are worried about for a good chunk of the year, is that the kind of eduction we want kids to have? An education were they have to study the strict and structured elements of writing so that students can pass a timed test. Since NCLB, teachers have focused do much on keeping their schools off the “under-performing” list that MEAP prep has become the most important lesson of the day, month, and year.
While this teacher may have broke some rules of the MEAP test, can we blame the hype that is placed on preparing students for such tests?
When your livelihood is based on whether the students in your school perform above a certain standard, wouldn’t you want to give them every advantage possible. When your students learning and value as a student is assessed by a standardized test, wouldn’t you want to give them every advantage possible?
There has just got to be a better way in my opinion.