I just learned about Doug Ward through a local homeschooling list. He's just been suspended for refusing to give his special ed students a standardized test they have no chance of passing.
Having been in the position of being forced to give inappropriate standardized test to students I completely understand his reluctance to participate or subject his students to the ordeal. I've been forced to give kids with a 1st grade English reading level 10th grade tests. Why? Because our program's funding is dependent on compliance with the NCLB regulations. I'm told our results don't matter and that I should tell my students "it doesn't matter". They get to feel incompetent and be told I'm wasting their time. What a deal!
This high stakes testing nonsense absolutely burns me up. So kudos to you, Doug Ward, for standing up for your students.
3 comments:
I just e-mailed this story to my mom (a public school teacher in California). Doug Ward is definitely a hero--I will be interested to see if his courage, and the subsequent smackdown, have any larger ripple effect.
We can offer all the kudos we want, but the saddest part is that it's crap like this that makes so many talented people opt out of public education as a career. Stupid educational policies are driving people away from the teaching profession.
This is definitely a problem everywhere. As a special ed teacher, I used to have to proctor these tests. Kids with IEPs for mild to moderate LD would be working on IEP goals for them, but the tests assumed goals that were age-grade level rather than the level they were working at. We were not allowed to modify or help with the test in any way...
It was a crying shame.
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