"No bad surprises" is a pretty good rule to live by; that is, don't pretend something bad will just go away and not surprise someone you could have warned, like your spouse or boss or co-worker. Looks like the Indiana Department of Education forgot that rule:
As Indiana children take the ISTEP this week -- the first time in years it has been given in the spring -- they're finding the new test is a doozy.
Principals, teachers and parents from across the state reported students giving up on the test in frustration, crying themselves to sleep or even calling for a ride home when they became physically ill from stress.
It's hard to argue with the idea of making the tests tougher and the students work harder; that's what a lot of us have been calling for. But to not clue teachers and administrators in -- surprise! -- so they could both better prepare students and let them know what to expect? Seems like the perfect example of bureaucratic cluelessness.
Comments
Leo,
The Indy Star link didn't find the page regarding IDE.
But, other than that, what the heck is going on with the kids getting stressed out? Who's leaning on them to get freaked out about the ISTEP testing? Parents? The teachers? Sounds like somebody needs breathe into the paper bag a few times and read up on some fundamental psychology. Alternatively, call your state legislator and demand IDE subsidize an early warning system for teachers and students in danger of hyperventilating and start administering chill pills for the adults and smart pills for the kids (seems to me that Crabby Appleton had something like that he was working on).
Try the link now; same story but in the Muncie paper. The one in the Star seems to have vanished.
My 7th grade daughter is bemoaning the ISTEP regimen this week, but she's surviving, as are the teachers and administrators apparently. She doesn't appear anymore "freaked out" about it than I was about the Iowa Basics...
And Leo, your quote "Seems like the perfect example of bureaucratic cluelessness." is spot on, just wait until they control health care too! What could possibly go wrong?