A principal apologizes for over-testing

"We don't teach kids anymore. We teach test-taking skills. We all teach
to the test. I long for the days when we used to teach kids."

Rocky River Middle School Principal David Root
critical of emphasis on school tests
By Regina Brett

from The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Wednesday, July 23, 2008
he school report cards came out in June.

Rocky River Middle School did well on the 2008 Ohio Achievement Tests, required to be given each
year to assess math, read ing, science, social studies and writing skills among all the state's publicschool students in grades three through eight. The school earned an "Excellent" rating and met the mandates for
Adequate Yearly Progress. For all those accomplishments, Principal David
Root has only one thing to say to the students, staff and citizens of Rocky River: He's sorry.

Root wants to issue an apology. He sent it to me typed out in two pages, single-spaced. He's sorry that he spent thousands of tax dollars
on test materials, practice tests, postage and costs for test dministration.Sorry that his teachers spent less time teaching
American history because most of the social studies test questions are about foreign countries.

Sorry that he didn't suspend a student for assaulting another because the attacker would have missed valuable test days. Sorry he didn't strictly enforce attendance rules because all absences count against the school on the State Report Card. He's sorry for pulling children away from art, music and gym, classes they love, so they could learn test-taking strategies. Sorry that he has to give a test for which he can't clarify any questions, make any comments to help in understanding or share the results of so students can actually learn from their mistakes. Sorry that he kept students in school after they became sick during the test, because if they couldn't finish the test as a result of illness, the students would automatically fail it.

Sorry that the integrity of his teachers is publicly tied to one test.
He apologized for losing eight days of instruction because of testing
activities. For making decisions on assemblies, field trips and musical
performances based on how that time away from reading, math, social
studies and writing would affect state test results. For arranging for some students to be labeled "at risk" in front of their peers and put in small groups so the school would have a better chance of passing tests.
For no longer focusing as a principal on helping his staff teach students but rather on helping them teach test indicators.

Root isn't anti-tests. He's all for tests that measure progress and help set teaching goals. But in his eyes, state achievement tests are designed for the media to show how schools rank against each other. He's been a principal for 24 years, half of them at Rocky River Middle School, the rest in Hudson, Alliance and Zanesville. He loves working with sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. "I have a strong compassion for the
puberty-stricken," he joked.

His students, who are 11, 12, 13 and 14, worry that teachers they love will be let go based on how well they perform. "I have a strong
compassion for the puberty-stricken."

One asked him, "If I don't do well, will you fire my teacher?" He cringed when he heard one say, "I really want to do well, but I'm not that smart."
He wants students to learn how to think, not how to take tests. "We don't teach kids anymore," he said. "We teach test-taking skills. We all teach to the test. I long for the days when we used to teach kids."

Unless we get back to those days, principals and teachers all over Ohio will continue to spend your tax dollars to help students become the best test-takers they can be.

Close Back to: NCLB Menu | Trelease Home Page
http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/sorry-testing.html 11/13/2009

Tasers in Guilford County Schools

Sheriff, chief say they won’t remove Tasers

Friday, November 13, 2009
(Updated 5:32 am)
By J. Brian Ewing Staff Writer
GREENSBORO — Law enforcement officials say they will listen to the Guilford County school board’s concerns about Tasers, but they don’t intend to disarm their school-based officers.
File photo (News & Record)
“If they are not comfortable with the equipment our sworn officers are carrying, then we may need to have a conversation about having our officers in the schools,” said Greensboro police Chief Tim Bellamy.
Greensboro police officers working as school resource officers were armed with Tasers for the first time this year. Bellamy said he made a deliberate decision that protects the school and his officers.
Sheriff BJ Barnes echoed that sentiment, saying all deputies are trained to use their weapons appropriately. He said not arming a school resource officer with a Taser while all other deputies are armed with them is like saying the resource officer is less competent.
“The idea that we want to hurt any children is ridiculous,” Barnes said.
High Point police Chief Jim Fealy could not be reached for comment. High Point school resource officers were equipped with Tasers for the first time this year as well.
The Guilford County Board of Education voted 9-2 during its regular meeting Tuesday to invite the two chiefs and the sheriff to a meeting to discuss the use of Tasers by school resource officers.
The board has discussed the issue of Tasers in schools since the sheriff’s office began arming deputies with the weapons in 2007, but the debate has heated up in recent weeks. Several parents and community members have addressed the board on the issue since a school resource officer used a Taser on a female student at Ragsdale High in September.
Days later, another resource officer was injured breaking up a fight at Northeast High. The sheriff’s office said the deputy did not use a Taser because of the previous controversy.
The school district contracts with the law enforcement agencies to provide school resource officers at almost every middle and high school. Nearly all officers are armed with a Taser.
School board member Sandra Alexander made the first suggestion to invite the law enforcement agencies to discuss removing Tasers from the schools. The board opted to approve board member Paul Daniels’ suggestion instead, which softened the wording to simply inviting them to discuss the issue in general.
Alexander said the Tasers need to go, and school resource officers need training specifically for working in schools and for de-escalating situations with children.
“Working with children requires special training, and I don’t know if they’re getting the training they need in that regard,” she said.
A majority of board members are uncomfortable with Tasers in schools and so are many voters, Alexander said.
“I think the citizens of Guilford County have something to say about who occupies those offices, and we hope that law enforcement administrators will enter into this discussion about Tasers with that thought in mind,” she said.
Daniels supports the decision to arm school resource officers with Tasers and said he offered to have the discussion with the chiefs and sheriff in hopes of changing the minds of some school board members .
“It’s an invitation, not a subpoena,” Daniels said. “I hope that people will come away from this meeting maybe understanding each other a little better and maybe have a better understanding of why our SROs carry Tasers and why they have to use them sometimes.”
A date for the meeting has not been announced.
Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com