I teach math. Let it be noted that our school is NI-4 because of mathematics. We have a special state lady who consults with every mathematics teacher on a daily basis. Every day, for thirty minutes, we target poor mathematics students with intensive, test-preparation studies. (Most of these students are traditionally unsuccessful in math and, as a result, most of them hate math.) And, some of our students are currently enrolled in 3 mathematics courses - remedial math, math support, and regular math - allowing them 2.5-3 hours a day for a subject they are traditionally unsuccessful in and quite honestly a subject they hate. Unfortunately, this problem isn't unique to our school, it is rampant across America. Schools are continually striving to do better, to serve better, to teach better. And, the measurement we use to guage learning is a standardized test.
In Chapter one of Readicide, Gallagher writes, "reluctant readers drown in test preparation, ensuring any chance they may have had of developing a lifelong reading habit is lost. Worse than turning off to reading, students grow to hate reading (page 17)." WOW! Boy do I agree! And, for me personally - I relate this phenomenon to mathematics. When we force a student to continually emerse himself or herself shallowly into a subject they are unsuccessful, we set them up for failure. When we fail to go back and review the basics a student missed because we are on a strict schedule due to testing, we set them up for failure. Our school systems are so test driven, we continually miss the mark. Education is about learning, not about testing. And, "when they [students] perform poorly on mandated tests, we respond by giving them an intensified dose of the ineffective treatment" (Readicide, 23)... we set our students up for failure when we "immerse our students in a curriculum that drives the love of reading out of them, prevents them from developing into deeper thinkers, ensures the achievement gap will remain, reduces their college readiness, and guarantees the result will be that our schools will fail (Readicide, 23). We as educators need to get a grip and realize its not about the test - its about our students. And, we need to refocus our teaching strategies to accompany a learning friendly environment.
