Testing is out of control, say teachers

When lawmakers killed CTA's testing reform bill over the summer, CTA President Wayne Johnson told the news media the bill's fate was yet another example of "how politicians don't understand what's happening in California schools."

This year CTA is seeking legislators willing to sponsor at least three bills tackling different aspects of the testing program that teachers have problems with.

The bills CTA has proposed include one to remove the sanctions and rewards from the Public School Accountability Act; one to align the STAR program with the federal ESEA by addressing the needs of English language learners and making test items public after they are used; and one to remove some of the onus of the High School Exit Exam by making it just one of several conditions for graduation, rather than the only one.

At CTA's Regional Leadership Conferences this fall, the California Educator offered participants a chance to help legislators understand their problems with testing. Following are some of their comments:

"Testing is out of control," says Marc Hyatt, a member of the Teachers Association of Long Beach. "We basically stop teaching during April and May because of test preparation and test days. And now with the high school exit exam in place, it's only getting worse."

"Right now our entire day is spent on test preparation," says Kris Knutson, a member of the Western Placer Teachers Association. "And I'm teaching fourth-graders. We spend from 8:15 in the morning until 2:30 in the afternoon gearing up for the SAT-9 test. Our API scores are so important, they're the focus of the entire year."

"We used to have an integrated science program, where we would be able to teach the kids a little bit of everything - a little bit of earth science, biology, chemistry and physics," says Anthony Gonzales, a member of the Merced Teachers Association. "But now with the test scores at our school, we've gone back to straight biology, chemistry and physics. It doesn't give the kids options to discover what they like and what they want to get into."

"We do so much with test prep now that it takes a lot of the curriculum time," says Fresno Teachers Association President Sherry Wood. "And to what end? I wonder: Am I really making a difference in this child's life by preparing him or her for this test?"

In the grand scheme of things, Wood knows she's doing students a service with what she manages to teach them. "But I'm also doing them a huge disservice because [test preparation] is not what we are really about. We are spending too much time focusing on that test. Is that what we really want to be about?"

"Legislators know that a large percent of the students who attend our public schools are non-English speaking," says Vanessa Richardson, also a member of the Fresno Teachers Association. "So what are we doing? We're setting up our students to fail. We're setting up public education to fail."

She says CTA should get the state to align the tests to what's being taught. "Then let the teachers say this is what we teach and this is what needs to be on the test. We know what the kids need."

Stan Ennis, a member of the Associated Teachers of Pixley, says he spends a lot more time looking at the standards and trying to teach the kids what the standards require in a way that they can comprehend. "But the joy of teaching has gone by the wayside because of all the stress to get all the standards covered. It's very difficult."

"I think the teachers are doing their jobs and doing all that they need to do. It's just trying to reach those kids who don't particularly care about education. "Leave no child behind" is kind of a joke. Some kids don't care to take tests. They don't want to be involved in the process at all."

"It's darn near child abuse what we put our students through - especially the bilingual and special needs kids - and the stress it puts us teachers through," says Evelyn Guess, a member of the Oak Grove Educators Association.

As educators and advocates of children, she says, "we must continue to keep our standards high without becoming such a great burden on our students by measuring them outside their learning styles. A test does not necessarily measure a child's ability - we need to have multiple assessments."

It's nice to get rewards for performance, says Joan Bowersock, a member of the Cupertino Education Association. "We got API award money a couple of times, but we are an upper income area and it doesn't seem right that we get the dollars when others need it more. We've got parents donating money and we have walkathons and lots of community support and participation." One parent donated $250,000 worth of stock.

"Yes, we like the money, but it doesn't seem to be going to the right place. For me, personally, I think the poor schools should get more money to get more teachers to bring the schools up."

Everything in her district revolves around testing, says Celia Carrillo, a member of the Alum Rock Educators Association. "The students have pre-tests, post-tests and tests. They're tested all the time. The district spends thousands of dollars on tests and the kids take so many practice tests that by the time they take the real test, they've given up."

The whole focus of the district is to get kids to score well. "They buy new curriculum each year, and it's such a farce. It changes so often, the teachers and kids can't get a handle on it - it's changing all the time."

Her school, which she says ranks at the bottom on the API, is located in a low income community with a high transiency rate in an area with a high cost of living. A quarter of the student population speaks English as a second language. Although the students are mostly Spanish-speaking, 71 different languages are represented at the school.

"Unfortunately, the parents assume the system knows what's best for the kids, but the system is messing them up. Our parents have two, three, four jobs just to survive. It's hard for them to be involved. They leave it all up to us."

She supported CTA's testing bill last year - AB 2347 - and was disappointed when even the pared-down version that would have given students who speak English as a second language a chance to take the test in one of four alternative languages died in the Senate Appropriations Committee without a vote. She's glad CTA is trying again this year.

"Our kids take the SABE (test for Spanish-speakers) and they tend to do quite well, but no one wants to talk about that."

"Many kids are not successful at testing and it's pointed out to them every day, she says. "How would it affect you if you were told on a daily basis that you were not making it?"

If you have comments to share with your legislator, send them to the California Educator editor@cta.org or Contact Your Lawmakers and send a copy to the editor.