An Ode to Teachers

You want a target for the cause of the condition of our educational system? There are plenty of easy candidates. But take teachers off the table. Not because I am married to a teacher, nor because I know many of them. Take them off the table because they are one of the great hopes for reformation in classroom. Yes, some are tired and overwhelmed and some of them have had enough. But they give and invest more in their profession than almost anyone else I know. They pay out of their pocket for much of what they use to accomplish their jobs. They have cultural, behavioral and linguistic challenges unknown to previous generations.

But the primary reason for taking teachers out of the target zone is that they hamstrung. They are tied to a governing standardized test. In Illinois it is the ISAT. Schools live and die by the ISAT. It governs everything that happens in the school. It is this test that determines their AYP, annual yearly progress. If a school doesn’t make the expected AYP they are put on a watch list. If they don’t make it in two or more years there are punitive measures waiting to fall on them. The result is teachers teach test. Period. Creativity is drained from the classroom, exploration doesn’t have any room there because if the scores aren’t high enough the consequences fall. The environment is almost pure anxiety. There is a charged atmosphere where everyone is on edge. Teachers can’t be teachers; they can’t express their personality and creativity. They are anchored to a sinking rock.

There ought to be standards, but they need to make sense. There has to be recognition that not every child or every school will move at the same pace. And we need standards that encourage teachers, administrators and school to move forward creativity, not sink down out of anxiety.