No Teacher Left Standing has 19 ratings and 5 reviews. Jeffrey said: And You Call Yourself A Teacher?Reluctantly I find myself criticizing a writer who.
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There is a movement these days that acknowledges the problem, and suggests that teachers distinguish between the essential concepts that must be learned and retained for a lifetime, the important things that should be learned in order to support the formation of essential concepts, and the rest, which is helpful to learn. However, TEA has not made the distinction, so everything gets tested.
This is a letter to the editor I once wrote, addressing the madness that testing has become. Every year our children have shown progress. This year teachers are preparing students to take a tougher test TAKS with a higher passing score.
This is not what we wanted to do for and with children. About half of new teachers leave the profession within five years. A lot of the spontanaeity that allowed for those magical moments of learning has been supplanted by a high-pressure nose-to-the grindstone concentration on test preparation. There seems to be little time for anything but that -- if, in fact, there is time for that.
- No Place For A Woman;
- Biographies of Great Politicians (Four Books)!
- No Teacher Left Standing!
- Paranormal Kids (The Paranormal Kids series Book 1);
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- .
TEA is asking us to teach different, more complex skills that will take children longer to learn. Has TEA factored in the time necessary for planning, preparation, conferences, meetings, and the many non-instructional duties we must perform? I need to know if what I am expected to do is within the realm of possibility within a 50 hour week.
What happens to the other kids when the state holds us accountable for making sure the slowest kids pass? Behavior problems which already take enormous amounts time and energy to deal with now require many more hours of documentation before consequences can be implemented, according to new TEA guidelines. When do teachers have time for inspiration to germinate?
Administrators are in a bind. In the past, they asked us for the moon, and we delivered; it is difficult for them to come back and ask for the stars as well. They know we will either deliver at great cost, to both ourselves and our students, or burn out trying.
Editorial Reviews
All administrators can do is train us to use ever more effective methods and integrate subject areas to kill multiple birds with one stone, but at some point the law of diminishing returns kicks in: The rewards of teaching are still tremendous. But teaching has become so stressful that some are forced to leave in order to preserve either their physical or mental health. Yes and the law requires that they be tested in English, too.
Well, you can't mean a child with Down syndrome, you're thinking. Look, I've only got words to tell you about this insanity, so let's move on. Each school is required to give expensive tests and show prescribed progress annually, ultimately ending in perfection in 10 years with every child producing a C or better in math, English and science. Not only does the entire student body have to demonstrate annual progress, but the law requires that each sub-group children in poverty, special ed, minorities, transients, learning disabled must make the same progress as the mainstream group.
Fortunately, teachers have lots of spare time to work with these kids, and they can easily fit in the tests and the extra work with the slower kids when they're not pulling playground, bus and cafeteria duty, serving on committees, taking in-service classes, mentoring other teachers, teaching overcrowded classes and grading papers at home just before collapsing in bed.
No Teacher Left Standing
It's the teacher's and school's fault if one kid who doesn't speak English screws up their batting average. If a school fails to achieve AYP adequate yearly progress , the entire school is officially labeled a failure. If a school fails to hit AYP for two years, then it faces federally mandated punishments such as termination for teachers and a letter notifying all parents that the school has failed and that they can demand private tutors at school expense and transfer to another school with the school covering the transportation costs.
By the way, nobody has figured out how any of this will be paid for. Essentially, the federal government ordered schools to do all of the above, and when somebody asked how, the feds said, "Search me. This law is the equivalent of telling a high school track coach that every one of his kids has to run under 12 seconds for meters, including shot putters, discus throwers and pole vaulters.
NTLS Teacher College – No Teacher Left Standing
Even though Johnny weighs pounds and runs a world record for meters, he still has to throw the shot put 50 feet or else. Fat kids, skinny kids, slow kids they all must hit the mark, because, as everyone knows, all kids have the same abilities. Eskelsen, who spends about nights a year on the road campaigning against No Child's Behind Left, or whatever it is, refers to the law as a "weapon of mass distraction. By , they'll share that distinction with the legislators and their pie-in-the-sky law.
- Just One Week - Meekness.
- Absolute Poison (Rafferty & Llewellyn Book 5).
- See a Problem?!
More than four-year colleges and universities do not use the SAT or ACT to admit substantial numbers of bachelor-degree applicants. Find out why and how schools go "Test Optional. Contact Robert Schaeffer at or FairTest at