[AuntieEm]

Gracious but I'm sick of accountability!

Our district is getting so concerned with teacher accountability (as measured by twomillionfourhundredthousandninehundredtwentythre e individual assessments, formative assessments, district assessments, state assessments, team assessments, collab assessments) that teachers have less and less time to teach anything at all. How can teachers teach and students learn if all you do is test?

grrrarrgh!

[May66]

That's the bottom line. I feel like that is all we do too. Every two weeks, we assess the lowest readers and it takes a couple days. Well, how much progress do they really expect us to make in that short time period? It really is ridiculous. Plus all the other assessments in all the other subjects that we are supposed to do once a week. We are not teachers, we are assessors.

[TeachNut]

And don't you love the term "teacher accountability"? Uh, hello? The fact that I show up and do my job is my accountability ~ how are these assessments taking in to consideration STUDENT accountability?

I can teach 16 hours a day, 6 days a week and leave only time for an 8 hour night's sleep and 1 day off a week; but, that doesn't mean the kids will listen, learn, or retain the information. Sometimes when children fail, it isn't the teacher's fault!!! Some children will NOT learn no matter what you do; and some kids will learn but won't demonstrate it on tests.

I hate this path we are on!!!

[gonefree]

This was just what I needed to read. We seem to be adding one more one more one more just one more.....just one more.

When am I suppose to teach the kids.

Good to know I am among other feeling the same way

[lamaestra]

tests today and did not feel good about it. I felt that my students shouldn't be tested so much in one day. I spent most of my day testing, unfortunately I had to. I feel that every time I turn around there is another mandatory assessment that for one reason or another I have to administer.

I hate all those assessments as well.

[tangerine]

I agree completely. I am testing more this year than I ever have before.

Another thing I am frustrated about that is related is that someone from the state is coming in and telling us what "great schools" do. We are supposed to start adopting these great school behaviors. Grrr. Apparently great schools have teams who take meeting minutes and apparently great schools have renamed their committees to names that are more professional and dynamic and great schools assess more and more.

Well how does any of that turn in to higher student achievement?

What about smaller class sizes? What about more aides and reading specialists and paras so that more small group work can take place and so that students can get more one on one attention? What about hiring more subsitutes so that they can quit pulling our reading tutors to cover classes so that our kids don't end up missing their remedication time? Why is it that nobody will discuss those things as options that will raise test scores?

I'm sick and tired of all these meetings and accountability requirements. They are taking away my planning and teaching time. They are taking away my ability to be a thoughtful and reflective teacher. I run around like a chicken with my head cut off all day!

~Tangerine

[MrsDriver]

are we doing more testing at my school but we now have a new district wide computer program that the kids have to do for 30 minutes a day. I have to send them 5 at a time if I can't get my class to the computer lab because another class might be there. Everytime I turn around something new is being added. I end up sending kids during core curriculum time. On Friday the kids had two long tests and we didn't get to this new program. I'm waiting for someone to ask why so I can let loose.

I do what I call "Hit and Run" teaching.I hate it. I could teach them so much more if you just left us alone. Everytime I go to my mailbox, I swear, my kids are praying not to see me walk in with another test.