This article comes from the National Education Association about two teachers in Seattle. And let me just say right now, I would LOVE to have these teachers in my corner! These teachers, Lenora Quattro and Juli Griffith co-teach a self contained K-5 classroom which has students with varying disabilities. In Kennedy's school this is called the "Life Skills Class". So a couple years ago, these teachers were told that they had to give their 12 students the state standardized tests for Washington. (It's called the Washington Alternate Assessment System there, it's called the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program or TCAP here.)
Let me rant about TCAP for a second, will you? Around here, these tests start in 3rd grade and take place in the Spring. However, from the time your child enters Kindergarten, everything is centered around the TCAP tests. The way teachers have to teach, the way all tests are administered, and certain facts that are drilled into the students' heads are because, "they'll have to know that for TCAP!"
In reality, how well a child does on their TCAP test means nothing to the individual student. All it does is boost up the school's scores so they can publish THEIR report card saying, "Look how great we're doing!" It doesn't affect the student's report card or whether they will continue to the next grade... or anything else for that matter. It's a week of school that students stress out about for the whole year for no reason. They need volunteers to come and administer the tests, and the schools have gotten so competitive that one teacher in Middle TN was even caught helping her students cheat last year! (NOT our school!) The whole thing is really... ridiculous.
As far as my kids go, I tell them not to stress, do their best, and I'm sure they'll be great. Only Kassidy has taken TCAP so far and she did fine, for the record. Kameron is already nervous about it and he won't even have to take it until Spring 2011! Makes me so mad! I do love the stories of the older kids who band together and mark "C" all the way down or make designs with the bubbles they have to fill in and let the answers fall where they may. I always wanted to be that rebel, but never had the guts to do it.
Anyway back to Washington and these two teachers. SO They're told to give these 12 students in a self contained classroom this state test. And they did. It took 3 months vs. 1 week because the test had to be given to each student individually, which of course took more time. Even though the test was modified, it was still measuring these students against their grade level standards... from what they said in the article, these kids are cognitively between the ages of 6 months and 2 years... so that would be like me asking Keeghan to answer a question off Kassidy's science test. Not gonna happen. Sorry. These poor kids were so stressed out they were crying when it was test time. If I asked Keeghan about cumulus clouds, he'd probably cry too!
So last year when it came time for these state tests, these teachers thought, "You know what? This is crazy! It's not fair to our students, let's talk to their parents." So they did... and the parents said... (insert shocked look here) "If I had known you were doing this, I would have told you to stop." Another said, "I'm sick of tests that tell what my child can't do. I want to see what he can do." Imagine that.
So, the teachers did their research, like any good teacher would, and found out that parents do have a right to refuse state assessments! (I wonder if we have that law here, too?!) The parents refused. They didn't give the test. Done and done. Or not.
The district freaked out because the teachers didn't follow their orders (did I mention yet that I've always wanted to be a rebel?!) and suspended them (the teachers, not the students) for 10 days without pay! Seriously. The teachers said, "But the law says..." And the district said, "Sorry! Did we forget to mention you have to have that in writing?!" UGH! So of course these grateful parents wrote letters to help these teachers who were protecting their students, but it was too little too late and now the teachers have a black mark on their record and a 10 day, no pay suspension. Fabulous.
Over and over lately I have heard parents of kids with special needs rant and rave about the schools, the special education system, the fear, agony and STRESS of IEP meetings (more on that later), and then you have these two awesome teachers who are fighting for what is right for their students and they get slapped down! I don't get it! Seems to me the school would rather excuse the students from the tests than have them pull down their "all-important" school rating anyway. But that's just my opinion, what do you think? You can read the whole article here.
PS. I am commenting in my comment section on this post too!
Posts
27 comments:
I agree that there is way too much emphasis on tests and as a third grade teacher, I hate having to prepare students for them all year. But, the reason that schools and teachers have such emphasis is because of the No Child Left Behind act. According to this, all students will pass the test by 2014. Schools that do not make adequate progress can lose money and even be completely restructured by replacing all of the principals and teachers. A school can be on the "bad" list by something as simple as one subgroup of students, even Special Ed. students not making progress. Parents look at the results and can choose not to send their child to these schools. That is why the schools emphasize it and until the law is changed, we will continue to do so. I agree with you about the teachers in the article though!
We have testing starting in grade 3 here in Ontario Canada. I hate that they teach for the test. The scores only boost the school's rating. This year in grade 10, my son has to pass a literacy test in order to graduate high school. So much pressure! The only good thing about it is that kids with learning differences don't have to do the testing. I wish it only started in high school. Some kids cry and are so stressed out by the testing. My kids didn't mind it- no homework that week!!
Wow - quite a post my dear...I know we were just discussing this the other day and I agree with you totally! There is much to be said for private schools. I had to chuckle though about the part of "wanting to be a rebel..." Hmmm - I think it all started around 13 years old...or maybe 11 or 12?? I could tell you rebel stories...LOL, but all of that makes you who you are today :)
Love,
Mom
Unfortunately Renee, this goes all the way up to federal government and the NCLB laws. It's stressed here in schools big time too. The principal does always tell the kids they are no big deal just do what you've been doing all year. I'm worried about Kaitlyn next year though. I mean while these tests won't prevent the kids from moving on what it does do it cause all sorts of crazy chaos in the schools. Because of the NCLB laws if a school fails these exams or falls below bench marks or whatever so many times then they do drastic things including removing a principal from the school. Now let me explain why this thinking is faulty. At the school that my children go to it's a very transient school. I imagine you probably have a little of that too living in a military community. But we get kids coming and going literally on a daily basis. There are kids coming in who don't speak English. Kids who have been in 5 different schools in just the 2 short years of their educational lives. That poses many problems. It disrupts the classroom. The teachers have to figure out what this child's strengths and weaknesses are. So important instructional time gets taken away from everyone. But the NCLB laws put so much stress on EVERYONE to succeed that they do tend to go a little crazy. Now, here's my concern for Kaitlyn. It's not that her failing the test is going to cause her to stay back or anything. It's that failing the test is going to do damage to her self esteem. That she's not going to continue putting everything she has into every aspect of her education. Reading does not come easily to her. I have been told over and over again that you slow things down for Kaitlyn and she will perform better. Take the time aspect out of things and she's fine. She trades speed for accuracy. However, because she's not considered "special needs" we can't have these special accommodations given to her for testing. So she will have to test along with her peers next year and yet she'll be reading at a grade level behind her peers in all likelyhood. At least that's the way she's been running thus far. A grade level behind. Definitely does not seem fair. Now mind you Natalie doesn't stress too much about these tests. This will be her 3rd year. She excels on stuff like this though. She's the kid that the teachers really want taking these tests because her scores bring those low ones up. The only way the TCAP's or the CMTs (Connecticut Mastery Tests) are not going to hold so much weight on the schools is if we can get the people on Federal Hill to wake up and see that they have no business in the classrooms. Their law making for schools as a whole are not helping things, but rather hurting them. Okay, so I'm very long winded as well. What happened to those teachers is not fair and I hope they have some form of action. Where was their teacher's union when this happened?
So, do we really even get a choice as to where we send our kids? For Kassidy and Kameron, who are typical, they go to the school they are zoned for, and that is that. I LOVE their school for them. I HAVE heard of some schools in the district having open enrollment, but those are usually schools you don't want your kids at anyway. But if we were zoned for one of the horrible schools, could I theoretically decide which school I want them in?? I've always been told "no" unless I want to put them in private of course. I looked at the schools' report cards that were published in the paper when they came out last Fall, and for the ones with really low scores, I seriously thought, "sucks for them." But I didn't know the parents could do anything about it... short of moving or lying about their address.
It really is stupid that principals or teachers can get fired over these tests... some students just plain don't test well, some students just plain don't care (like the kids I've heard about that banded together and went and marked "C" all the way down... wonder what happened to THAT teacher?!) I just hate it that more emphasis is put on state testing than it is on the individual child sometimes. Our district is even making up our snow days by tacking on 30 minutes to the end of the day before TCAP of course so students won't lose any of that important instructional time.... for TCAP THEIR words. Who cares about their grades, let's just get those TCAP scores!
And Monica, you should see about getting Kaitlyn on a 504 plan. You can make modifications for her, like extra time to take tests, without her actually falling under the special needs umbrella. It could help relieve a lot of her stress.
A neighbor of my parents, recently retired from teaching here in Michigan. He taught for 30 years. Loved it. From what I know of him, just being his neighbor and babysitting his kids from time to time. He was likely a fabulous teacher. I'm finding those are few and far between anymore. Anyway, there was a big write up in our newspaper. Front page actually. He stated the reason that he retired. His reason was....."Teachers aren't allowed to 'teach' their students any longer". The article went on to say that all they can basically do is prep for all the state testing. Sad.
Sure wish Carly had a couple of teachers like the two you speak of in your post. They are golden in my opinion. I was wondering why the teachers union didn't step up to the plate. Hmmm...normally they eat this kind of thing right up.
Joany, that's so sad... and I'm hearing stories like that a lot. Everything has to be taught the EXACT same way here, teachers are very limited now on how fun and creative they can be in the upper grades to keep students interested. We have some wonderful teachers here who I think have their hands tied a lot of the time and it stinks!
I don't know about the teachers union for these teachers in Seattle. Nothing was said about that. It did say they were appealing the decision though... and I REALLY hope their principal is supporting them, and I hope they win!
We have 'MAP' here in Missouri...same deal. Ben's teacher opted to do the 'MAP-A' with his entire class. Instead of a week of testing, the are measured on alternative measurement standards...and it can be customized for each student. They don't take an actual test, but they have certain plans to follow...and the teacher has TONS of work and charting and data collection to do, over a 2-3 month period. She does it for the kids though. I'm SO grateful for Ben's teacher!!!
Renee - I must be quick, as my kids are hungry. But let me say as a mom of a 2 1/2 year old with DS and a pediatrician, I wholeheartedly agree with you. However, my husband also happens to teach 3rd grade in TN. He hates TCAP as much as you. However, unfortunately, he is judged on how well he teaches based on a standardized test!! (Of course the parents aren't judged if they don't help their child learn or don't feed them breakfast on test day or otherwise stress their child's life on the day of the test resulting in poor test scores... but that's another issue). What you need to know is that it is going to get MUCH WORSE! The federal govenment is handing down new legislation that will now link teacher pay to test scores. In fact, Tennessee just passed their own laws to help this go through in TN. So be prepared. We all need to be ready to fight. It is not a teacher's fault that some kids are good at taking tests and some aren't. I don't want a good teacher penalized because my child doesn't perform well on a test!! Anyway, I could ramble on and on... but just wanted to give you a heads up!!
Michelle Estes
The only reason I can see to test like this is to hold the teachers to a standard. However, in my experience, (I have 5 kids, too, ages 3-16) it seems to be more complicated than that to get rid of poor teachers (we've had a few :)). The kids are stressed out the entire year. Instead of learning that the learning process can be fun, they are taught quite the opposite. The elementary school my children attend scores well because of the population from which it pulls. The parents are extremely involved. Some of the teachers are excellent, but some leave quite a bit to be desired. Their students still score well because, like you said, the teachers teach to the test. (Can you tell you struck a chord?!?!?)
My kids range from highly academically gifted to a child with special needs (DS). I can't imagine them being given the same test on any given grade level. I think I'll right my letter now refusing testing--if refusing is an option in NC. Sorry for my ranting--I'll join you, Renee, on the soapbox!
Michelle,
I actually DID know this and was going to go off about that too, but I thought that may be getting a little TOO far off course of the point of my post. But since you brought it up, here I go!! LOL
It is CRAZY that they are doing this to teachers. It's not fair at all! Over and above students who just plain don't test well, what about kids with special needs (like Kennedy) who aren't in a self contained classroom??? No teacher is going to want these kids in their class because they know it will pull down their scores and thus mess with their pay... and who could blame them?!
Also, what about inner-city schools?? It's already hard to get teachers there and it's going to be even HARDER now. This is TOTALLY not fair to teachers. Teachers should have annual reviews based on their year and their performance and yes, their students progress, but it should be overall progress with special circumstances taken into consideration (like kids who obviously have parents who don't help at home OR kids who don't test well OR kids with special needs OR OR OR...). Basing a teacher's WHOLE year of teaching on ONE stupid test is just... well... ridiculous! UGH!!!
I wonder if anyone besides TN is doing this yet, and if not, I bet it's coming.
pay for performance is up and coming in many states.
it can be a good thing. there ARE many teachers out there that are slacking.
Anonymous, I agree with you, there ARE many teachers out there that are slacking... and I think pay for performance is ok on some level. I mean, lots of jobs do that. What I think is WRONG is pay for performance based on ONE test. How is THAT fair?! How is that an accurate judgement of the work the teacher has done ALL YEAR with his/her students? It's just... not fair. It's not fair to the teachers and it's not fair to put that kind of pressure on the kids.
Oh, don't get me started! Our elementary school here REFUSED to start the process so Curtis could have an IEP. I had to contact the state board to kick them in the butt so they would do what was right. I finally got them to where they would start the process then Curtis got accepted to the residential program for children like him. Oh, when he comes home I will be that wheel that is squeaky and I will get what's right for my child. He's delayed because of his other problems. What's wrong with today's school systems? Laziness is what I call it.
This is ECACTLY why I started homeschooling Christopher. (Don't worry, I am not going to try to convince anybody here). Our district is HORRIBLE about stuff like this - last year, he worked on "Red" - yep, that's it, red!!! I had better not get started - the comment section isn't long enough. :(
Steph
Don't get me started about this topic. In Texas it's the TAKS test and if they don't pass in the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th grade, they don't promote to the next grade and in the 11th grade if they don't pass by graduation, they don't graduate even if they made straight A's. I've already had one child "goof" off on the test and repeat the 3rd grade for it. They have three chances each grade, two during the school year and then 3 week summer school to pass or be kept back. My kids have been so stressed that they have thrown up on test days. They take benchmarks in the fall and then work on those areas the rest of the year until test day.
ARRRRHGGGGHHH! I am an assistant in a classroom very similar to the one you describe in SC. We do not have to test the children in our classroom, b/c like in your district, we don't start til 3rd grade. Our older class has to do what is called "alternate assessment" which is basically the same test given in a different way. You probably agree when I say that what we want to see is these children learn to potty independently, dress themselves, TALK, and be able to live in this world. Their cognitive knowledge is the least of our worries! OH, this is one of my soapboxes and I could go on forever. I was fairly bright as a child, but standardized tests did my knowledge no justice, as I did not test well...there should just be a better way...
Don't even get me started on Texas TAKS. The students can and will be held back based on the score of 1 test. If the school does not score well and does not improve scores over a 3 to 5 year period - it will be closed and they have closed schools here in our city. They can apply to repurpose the school but it can't have the same name or the same staff. All this testing just stresses everyone out without truly encouraging learning. Yes, there is a reason we homeschooled our children because it is one option for dealing with all these issues.
I am from Washington State. Growing up we had to take the WASL or Washington Assessment of Student Learning. They still give this assessment test. I've never heard of the one mentioned in the article though. Nor have I heard that kids on an IEP must take it!! The district I grew up in has an AMAZING school with both self contained and main stream classrooms that does very well with the special needs kids.
This article makes me angry. It's very unfair. HOWEVER, being a Seattle native, it's sadly doesn't surprise me. Seattle is very political and Washington does not treat there teachers well at all. They often focus on tests and ratings and don't care much for students or even if the tests are accurate assessments of student learning. I had to pilot the science portion of the WASL my senior year of H.S. and it was a joke.
This is one of my pet peeves! TESTING! I have a very intelligent son who can't take a test to save his life. Say the word "test" and his mind is a blank. I was the exact same way. My son is in college now and STILL does terrible on tests even though he has straight A's in class work, homework, labs etc., add in those quizes and tests and PLOP, grades right in the toilet!
That was one of the many reason I decided to homeschool Joseph. Now this kid LOVES in annual standardized tests. I don't have to test him every year, I think the official years are 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th grade in NY. Joseph doesn't even realize it because I never let him know those years are any different. The tests are the same each year, at least in his eyes, so he just does them, no pressure, no stress, easy peasy.
Anah will hopefully be starting the special private school for children with Dev. dis., there she will have alternative assessments and she won't even realize that she is being tested. Whether Jonathan is home or in school, I will do all in my power to make him as UNaware of testing as possible.
I always tell Joseph that I test him yearly to see how I am doing teaching him and to see if I have to change any of MY methods of teaching, none of the pressure is on him.
I feel terribly for the teachers, they do have to teach to the tests and not to the student or the material that needs covered.
Not sure if NY has the option to not have kids with SN tested, but if it does, I would sign the paperwork every year for every kid if I had to!
I also make test day/days fun. No other school work, special quiet time work (puzzle book or such), a special lunch (usually pizza) and at the end of the week maybe a get together with friends and a new game for his DS or whatever. This way he looks forward to testing week (although he does anyway) and it is a "treat" not a "threat". Just my two cents, (told you it was a pet peeve...argh)
Did anyone know that the reason ALL states give these mandated tests is that the government COMPARES the United States students to other countries? Did anyone know that the United States is the ONLY country that INCLUDES special education students in their test scores? Then the government updates laws like No Child Left Behind based on those score comparisons! Teachers are told daily NEVER compare one student to another because they are all different, learn in different ways, and all have different areas of strength! DUH! So why does the government COMPARE our scores to others?
I can tell you about TCAP ALT portfolio that is for students unable to take the standard TCAP. The portfolio IS NOT based on the child’s abilities, but the teacher’s abilities to document and complete the paperwork well. Does that make sense? Of course not! Beginning this year, there is the TCAP MAAS for only 2% of the special ed population. The MAAS has (1) fewer choices, more visuals, and is easier for them to read because of the lower reading levels.
In TN, the governor has now made it even more stressful on the teachers since the law was passed (for MORE money in the state's pocket) that their tenor and etc is based on the students passing these tests!?! Um, what about the teachers in special ed? My thought: Governor Breedson needs to be educated on students. How? Well, we could start by locking him a school for a week, but he wouldn't last a day! If he has a heart, he would see the students that come to school with poor home lives (to say the least) and know what teachers fight everyday! Don't even get me started on how students come to school hungry and dirty! If their basic needs have not been met, teachers DO NOT have a foundation to build upon. It is called the hierarchy of needs. Teachers bring clothes and shoes to school, wash student's clothes, give them opportunities to bathe, supply hygiene products, AND feed them!!! Teachers LOVE them first then they teach them. They spend their "planning" period helping struggling students! They LOVE their students because if they didn't they wouldn't do what they do!!! There is no other job that pays so little, but requires more and more than is EVER recognized or documented!!!
Then there is the fact that teachers only have the students 7 hours a day. Of those 7 hours, there thirty minutes of lunch and an activities class like music, PE, and etc. So that leaves 6 hours of teaching. There are 24 hours in a day AND there are 180 school days in a 365 year. Now, who has the students longer? Teachers or parents?
I think the teachers in the article are AWESOME!!! They needed a better support staff. Sometimes in the effort to do what is best for children, steps are forgotten like documentation. Teachers CANNOT do their jobs without a GREAT supportive staff like administration, school physiologist, therapists, nurses, and etc. Teachers are not perfect, but they TRY!!! Unfortunately, sometimes doing what is best for the student will get a teacher into VERY hot water, but as I said they LOVE them FIRST, then they teach them. In my opinion, GOOD teachers are as under appreciated as the military men and women who fight for our freedom!
I know that this is true in Maine because my parents pulled us out of testing! There are 3 of us, 1 with some disabilities, varying levels both physical and developmental and 2 of us who were considered of "appropriate developmental age", although we were all told we have specific abilities and never taught one of us had DISabilities....anyway though, she pulled all 3 of us out! We had family vacation every year and I remember it falling during testing more than once and the teachers couldn't believe they were pulling us out during that time because it was "mandatory"...turns out it isn't! It's worth looking into! My parents raised us kids to believe that no test could measure our abilities or disabilities!
Sadie
Anonymous @9:00am I 100% agree with everything you said!!! GREAT rant! Thanks for the info about the TCAP ALT and the TCAP MAAS... And I agree the ALT does NOT make sense! Interesting to know it's out there though!
Sadie, your parents rock!
Commenting on anonymous about some teachers slacking and performance pay being OK. The whole model of that is a "business model". In other words - it's like teachers are the managers and they are paid based on how their "employees" are performing. Only problem is - they have no say in who gets to be their "employee" and they certainly can't fire a kid for not preforming well. There are SO many things to consider about how well a child does in a classroom. Yes, the teacher makes a big impact on that. But some kids are just smart and great test takers. Some kids have parents that are invested in their education and read to them and be sure they eat breakfast and be sure they study etc. Then there is the opposite - some kids have parents that couldn't care less. Some kids have parents in jail or parents that are on drugs, or don't have enough money to feed them regular meals. Some kids parents never read to them and could care less about their education. Is that the teachers fault? And what if a great student has the flu the day of the test?! The teacher certainly has no control over that. And then there are special ed kids. In my own opinion, every special ed kids deserves the right to be in a regular classroom - it's good for the kids to interact with typical peers and it's good for typical peers to interact with special ed kids. However, it is not the teacher's fault that many of these kids can't perform well on tests. So in other words, I think judging a teachers performance on how a bunch of 9 year olds perform on one weeks worth of tests is in one word... RIDICULOUS!!
Michelle Estes
Going out of town, bubbling all answers C, and etc are nice ideas IF your child is in elementary or middle school. I apologize for being the bearer of bad news; however in high school, the Tennessee state mandated Gateway tests are required for a student AND they HAVE to pass it to receive a “regular” diploma. Again, this is because a number of legislators “think” that our scores “need” to be as high as other countries. I WILL NEVER understand why they do not see that our scores are going to be different because we include our special ed population in regular education and other countries do not! I wonder how the US would compare if they used the “Bell Curve” grading system!?! I beat our scores would be equal or better!
One person who commented was correct in saying that the “mandatory” tests WILL NOT be given if the student is out on that day of school. TCAP is one week and it is given one makeup day. If a child does not make it all week, then they are exempt because the county has a deadline to get the tests to the state department. Benchmarks are given in two weeks over 3 days, but if a student misses the first week’s subjects they do not go back and make them up from the previous week’s tests. The tests scores are just left blank. Benchmarks are supposed to be used to show teachers what they need to re-teach and not for state documentation. Gateways are a different story. No “regular” diploma if you do not take and pass the tests.
One “good” thing (if there is any good thing with testing) is that the scores required to be proficient or “pass” the TCAP are A LOT lower than classroom levels. For example, the “passing” score may be 30% out of 100 or 50% out of 100. In the classroom both of those grades are failing. Of course, that makes you wonder why the government is so “uptight” about the scores!!!
We forget we have to take ACT & SAT to get into college, but there is a “secret” about those tests. If you do not make the score to get into a university, they DO NOT tell you that you can go to a community college AND THEN TRANSFER to a university regardless of your ACT or SAT score! ;) I personally tell everyone I know that so they will NEVER give up hope of furthering their education!!!
I could go on forever, but thanks for letting me “rant” again.
"Anonymous @ 9:00 am"
As a former special education teacher, I love these teachers! In any state a parent can refuse to consent to testing, and have it written into an IEP that their child will not participate in standardized testing. We had only two families in our entire county do this, but I thought they were awesome. The teachers are being punished for crossing the line we all know too well and educating parents about their actual rights as compared to what the school wants. I was fired for a similar breach - for refusing to undereducate a class of children with severe disabilities and treat my job as babysitting. I requested equal access to materials, to technology, and to inclusion. I informed parents about their rights and about what occurred in the classroom. I stood up for my children. I crossed the same line. We had to teach to the SOLs in Virginia, and boy were they aptly named! For students with severe disabilities you had VAAP testing which was based on a portfolio the teacher put together and could be marked as failed because of something as simple as a missing label on a page. Worksheets were considered appropriate even though these were children who could not draw a line independently. It is insane. No Child Left behind has turned into No Child with an education. I was supposed to instruct my children, K-2nd with severe disabilities, on the symbolism of the American flag, the meaning of Columbus day, the ability to read, and their IEP goals like head control and activating a switch for cause and effect. Crazy. If it is not on the test you don't learn it at school anymore.
Bethany not sure where you teach but in both PA and OH parents can (and often do) opt their kids out of standardized testing. Our teachers were threatening us because we were the first class that had supposed differential seals depending on our scores what would go onto our diploma. All of our parents went and fought the school board and there was NEVER any actual kind of seal, diplomas are diplomas. The proficiency tests in high school are just to gauge state funding and get more grants for the school.
Just like you can opt out of sending your kids to public school, you have the right to opt out of these tests, disability or not.
Also, if you are *certain* you cannot opt out, show me the document where it states that and I'll tell you how you *can*. We will not even consider the prospect of our two going through these tests, it's hard enough on them being compared against eachother since birth being twins.
And btw, I will admit to having "christmas-tree'd" my state tests all through school before having been opted out of them. And when we got the reports in the mail the first couple years they always re-tested me for reading and math because my scores were soooooo low. LOL
Post a Comment