I think one of the major problems today is all of the state assessments, and I believe all of the testing is really hurting education. In New York State, students take state assessments through eighth grade. Then they take Regents level courses which culminate in a state exam. I am fortunate enough to teach in a wonderful high school, and I don't think most teachers solely focus on the exams, but when schools are compared based upon the scores on these assessments and exams, too much emphasis is placed on them. There isn't enough time to focus on thinking skills and creativity if an assessment test is the focus. I was really saddened when my tenth grade resource room students took an advanced placement college level history course. They considered how successful they were in the course solely on the score they received rather than how much they had grown as students or what they had learned in the class. I agree about the importance of English, and skills have been breaking down for a long time. I think instant messaging and texting are really impacting written language, particularly spelling and punctuation. Many students are not reading much anymore, and that also hugely impacts written language ability. In spite of all of this, I see young people accomplish great things daily and I am so impressed by our student population. |