Cracked...

Today my students deomonstrated the awesome power of the standardized test and how damaging it is to the ego.

For my 2nd period lab, I had students read and answer questions but instead of completing the worksheet I had 9 students rant and complain about how they don't think it's fair that NY has all these Regents exams.

Some students were on the verge of tears describing their turmoil and struggles and how they feel it's unfair to have to know all of these things for subject specific and standardized exams.

It's an unfortunate reality that these kids are basically tested to death every single year. They take Regents and many students are generally kept from graduating because of their inability to meet these tough standards. Some seniors are incapable of walking at graduation because they have failed their Regents examinations.

To be honest, I told my kids that I want them to be as prepared as humanly possible to take the Regents and that if I had my way, I'd be teaching SAT II level or even advanced placement level biology to the Regents kids because these questions are actually very tricky.

Many students face these exams with handicaps. The exams themselves are specifically meant for 9th grade or 10th grade reading levels when my students come into school reading anywhere from the 5th to the 8th grade level. They can barely read the questions on the test.

Many students in the Bronx are Spanish speaking or are not native English speakers. So they struggle to read the English passages and they naturally lack the analytical ability to break down the components of English passages. So even if all the answers are in a passage, they have trouble deriving it from the passage.

It's frustrating to have to deal with these frustrations and these issues. Students are stressed out. They're more compliant, which is good because they don't give me any trouble anymore. Other students don't give a shit so they don't bother showing up anymore. There is also no real middle ground, either students are on track to take and pass the Regents or they're so far behind that they've just given up on it.

It's an endless struggle and it's impossible to teach the unwilling. If you're not willing to put in the work, you'll never learn. These kids are defiant to that credo and will do the least amount of work possible to get nowhere...

Class is now dismissed, I'm going home now.