While in my fog this past week I managed to miss the fact that the people running the overly-large school district for which I work pretty much abandoned their principled challenge to the inflexible rules of NCLB.
Just about a month ago our superintendent was talking big (“Let them fire me for it.”) about not allowing the Education Department to require testing of non-English speakers whom everyone knew could not possibly pass the standardized exams.
He sold out to the feds last week saying “they would give most of those students grade-level reading exams even if they were likely to stumble on items dealing with metaphors, poetry or other difficult material”.
I guess the going price of principles these days is right around $17 million federal dollars.
I’m curious as to how you are holding yourself accountable? You say you were in a “fog” and didn’t notice that your district had “blinked”. Can teachers play a role to play in this tug of war?
pete
Good questions. Teachers certainly can play a role in how their school/district responds to the demands of NCLB. However, I don’t think most believe they have that kind of influence.
I’m way behind on my blog reading and I just came across this. I teach in the same district and was just as disappointed in the decision to cave. If our district can’t stand on principle in areas like this, no one can. We have the money and resources to make this stand and others were clearly willing to follow our lead.