Thank You, NCLB

Let me give you an example of a school that is broken thanks to No Child Left Behind.

For the fifth year in a row, my school has not made Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) on the state test or ISAT. In the past, our school's English Language Learners and special education students were the two categories that performed poorly on the test (due to the school's lack of a bilingual program and dismal special education services). But this year, the overall Reading scores fell a few percentage points. In fact, since 2006, the overall percentage of students who met proficient levels on the test has been steadily decreasing, while NCLB requires the number to rise incrementally until 100% of students are proficient by 2014.

My principal, obviously alarmed at the prospects of being "restructured" by the powers above, has decided to take drastic measures to raise test scores. For one, she is mandating one day a week as ISAT day for the entire year ahead. That means all teachers have to indicate on their lesson plans the ISAT strategy they will be teaching, which the students will practice that day. Since there are 40 weeks in a school year, that's 40 days, 240 hours and 14,400 minutes a year dedicated to ISAT. Oh, I'm exaggerating. The principal has stressed that there are only 19 Wednesdays before the ISAT.

This confirms one of the biggest criticisms of high-stakes testing as a means to hold school accountable - Teachers will be forced to teach to the test. Students will bubble in answers for multiple choice questions and write formulaic paragraphs instead of doing any meaningful learning or critical thinking. Unfortunately at my school, test-driven teaching has been the norm, and obviously that's not even working. But the administration insists that we continue drilling ISAT skills to an even greater degree.

Secondly, my principal has combed through the data to connect every teacher to the number of students in their class who were "below" or at the "warning" level on the ISAT last year. She sent out a list of all the teachers in 3rd-8th grade and the breakdown of their class's performance to the whole school. I find her actions disrespectful towards her staff and inappropriate on many levels.

You cannot evaluate a teacher based on one year's test scores. There are questions of accuracy (one day, one test) and whether the test itself reflects what a student knows. As is often the case in my school (again because there is no bilingual support), English Language Learners lag far behind grade level in reading. A 6th grade teacher who has moved a student from a 3rd grade reading level to a 5th grade reading level in one year is still considered a failure since the student couldn't pass the test.

You can, on the other hand, look at the progress each student made in that teacher's classroom during the year as one component of the teacher's effectiveness. The administration could make an effort to visit the classrooms regularly and observe the teacher in action. Teachers could evaluate each other as well and offer feedback to improve our practice. The administration could support teacher leaders to pave the way on curricular and instructional changes. We could, together, ensure that a student has a consistent and coherent education throughout his time at our school that prepares him not only to do well on a test but to succeed in life - to show care and tolerance, to be articulate, to reflect and critique, to solve problems, to be creative.

Placing blame on individual teachers for our school's performance on the test is hardly a way to build a team. I don't know if, by sending out the list, my principal anticipated that teachers were going to compare themselves to others, gossip, and just feel completely deflated, unmotivated and angry. But she has succeeded in doing so. I have never seen such low morale of the staff as we start this new school year, and I am feeling the pressure too. I know one thing though. "ISAT Day" won't exist in my classroom.