Stop administering standardized tests

While districts have turned valuable educators into test administrators and score reporters, big companies reap enormous profits from these tests while students continue to be negatively affected.  It doesn’t take a psychotherapist to see this focus on testing and increasing scores is a dark cloud over many students’ academic careers; once a kid starts failing, he or she continues to fail.

So why then do educators keep falling in line and administering these tests?  Why do counselors continue to let the system use them as score reporters?  Have you ever been down the hall of the guidance department on score reporting day?  It’s awful; kids are crying, counselors look defeated.  Why do educators help perpetuate this malicious cycle?  Is it fear, apathy, complacency?

Just because a district gives you a paycheck, some mediocre benefits and a promise of retirement funds, doesn’t mean you should continue to maintain their bad policy.  When all the teachers and counselors say no to administering pointless and punitive tests, the tests will eventually stop.  All it takes is a little courage and some collective consciousness.

There are of course possible consequences for this act of necessary defiance and that is pissing off your leadership team because then they will have to scramble to find someone else to administer the tests.  But aren’t you pissed off?  Don’t you feel used as a tool for someone else’s agenda?  When you went to school to be a teacher or counselor, is this what you envisioned?  It’s ok if you piss off a few people.  Revolutions do not come to fruition by everyone holding hands and singing folk songs.  Get angry and start making other people angry.

When all the educators stand up and say no, other teachers at other schools will hear about it and those teachers and counselors will refuse to give tests.  Then the district has to tell the state they don’t have staff willing to administer these tests.  And then the state has to either let up on the amount of testing happening in districts or hire people to come in and give the tests.  The state doesn’t like to spend money on education; so it is likely the amount of testing will have to be reduced.

If you are a teacher or school counselor, organize with your colleagues who feel the same way and stop giving tests in your school.  Go back to your classroom or office and be there for students as a teacher or counselor, not a test administrator or score reporter.

Stop thinking you are not powerful enough to be the change we need in education. 

I could go on and on about how awesome you are, but you already know.  Not many jobs in the world require people to be in charge of hundreds of humans at once while engaging those humans on an authentic level and helping them achieve at their highest potential.  You are fully capable of starting a revolution!

Take that creative resilience you use everyday and harness it to bring about much needed change. High school teachers, get with elementary teachers, they will bring some added creativity to the mix by giving your local movement a cool acronym.  Elementary, get with high school, they will add some grit and much needed reality to your rainbows and bulletin boards.  You both need each other.

Most people in the world never accomplish what an educator does in a year.  So it’s time to connect your talent, drive, tenacity and skill and catapult it into the universe by standing up and changing what you know is bad policy.  Educators change realities for the better everyday.  So you are most definitely powerful enough to be the change in education our students need you to be.

If Libyans can overthrow Ghadaffi by using Twitter and make shift rocket launchers, teachers can stop Pearson and high-stakes testing by using Pinterest and PLCs.

Although, we might need a few rocket launchers, just in case.