B is for A vs B causality: Standardized Testing
The "No Child Left Behind" issue has a lot of teachers raving. I too feel that standardized testing leads to trouble, both for teachers and students. A VERY brief list: Teachers: 1. Teaching to the Test restricts creative lesson plans 2. Standardized teacher reviews neglect teachers' connection with students (arguably more influential on student mental health than getting A's) in favor of ability to cram facts into students' heads ( teaching vs educating ). Students: 1. Loss of connection with teacher 2. Those in low income areas seem to be getting the short end of the stick...again. -students in low income schools rarely see change. If teachers truly want to make an argument against Standardized Testing (aka breaking from the status quo of "intelligence" marks) then we're going to need a few good arguments. Most of all, we have to watch our fallacies. Suggesting that the testing structure or disciplinary schools leads underachievers to jail...