Here’s my wonder for today. With all today’s required testing, do you ever feel as though your best and brightest students receive less teacher attention? This thought came to me last night after a seemingly favorite singer on the American Idol competition received the fewest number of votes (and was subsequently voted off the show). Of course, I have no way of knowing why this happened. My suspicion is that voters felt this particular singer didn’t need their support because, well, she seemed like a shoo-in for the finale.
I’m certainly not suggesting that teachers purposely give less attention to their best students. However, it does seem as though students who consistently score well on tests are not the focus of our current testing environment. After all, the few additional points these students might score cannot substantially raise testing results. And isn’t raising testing scores the primary goal of repeated testing? Have I lost a marble? Or does this ring a bell with you?
Thoughtfully,
Diane
PS: Have a great weekend!
I definitely feel like my best students get less attention. Why? Because we are hounded by admin to get test scores up. Just yesterday afternoon, we had a staff meeting. We were told to work harder with our lowest students. We’ve got to get test scores up by the end of the year.
Do administrators not understand that it takes all kinds of people to make a world? Not all children are at the same level. That’s life! But administrators seem to make us feel like we aren’t doing our jobs — no matter how hard we work, no matter how much we do.
My coworkers and I work very hard to get our lowest students to learn as much as they possibly can. But I definitely feel like I’m not doing enough for my brightest students. I often feel like I’m letting them down. It bothers me a lot.
Oh Diane!! You are ringing my bell loud and clear. It is clearly a shame that test scores trump authentic teaching and learning. I am deeply saddened that my high-fliers take the back seat all the time.
So true, so very sorry. We try to push those “high-performing” kids but…the lower kids get the most attention partially because they provide a bigger bump in the numbers. Remember though, if it works we really are making sure that ALL kids succeed. Finally, please get rid of so much testing…it doesn’t happen in our district (yet) but I see so many other schools with such a huge emphasis on testing.Sad.
Boy do I ever have to agree! Testing has definitely gotten out of hand. My high students suffer because I am trying so hard to get my lower students to grade level. I miss the good ol’ days when we all thought less of testing and more about the integrating of our lesson and pleasure in learning.
My son is in third grade and is a straight A student. He came home one day very upset and crying, saying that he might not get to go into fourth grade. When I asked him why he thought that, he said that his teacher said if they don’t pass “the test” they will not get to go on. I know the pressure is coming from the administration, and then rolling downhill to the kids. But, pressure tactics don’t work for low OR high achievers. They scare the children who shouldn’t be worried, and simply add more stress to children who already struggling. It breaks my heart!