by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer
“I’m feeling mandated to death,” said Rachel Reavis, a fourth-grade teacher at Sewanee Elementary School. During a Dec. 2 forum with Adam Tucker, Franklin County Board of Education District 5 representative, Reavis said it is a juggling act for teachers to give students a well-rounded education and meet the overwhelming testing requirements. About 30 attended the event, hosted at the school by the SES Parent-Teacher Organization. The topic of greatest concern was the amount of mandated testing.
Parent Janna McClain, a former academic interventionist in Murfreesboro, said her son will take nine mandated tests this year in pre-K. “Who thought that was a good idea? As a parent it would be helpful to know what it is our teachers are being forced to do,” McClain said. “I think the rationale is to prepare for these tests that are connected to dollars, so we have to do more and more tests,” she added. “I understand mandated testing, but I don’t want my child tested nonstop.”
Tucker, who lives in Sewanee and was elected to the school board in August, is an attorney for the city of Murfreesboro. Tucker said he welcomes ideas from the public and wants to see what can be done at a local level to reduce excessive or unnecessary testing. Reavis noted that even as a teacher it is difficult to understand what political body is requiring what testing program.
Some of the tests are mandated by the local school district as part of reading and math programs, while other tests are state-mandated but co-opted by the federal government to determine allocation of funding and judge performance levels of schools, teachers and students, Tucker said.
“The pendulum has swung to excessive testing,” said SES principal Mike Maxon. “There needs to be a balance.” Certain programs that involve mandated testing also require additional interventions in specific areas, which can be detrimental because it draws students away from other core subjects and creative learning.
“With many of these kids the way to reach them is through art, through something that is the nontraditional classroom and [you can’t reach them if] you’re pulling them from that class,” Tucker said.
Not only are students pulled away for interventions, but teachers are spread thin, as well. The need for education interventionists at SES was a popular sentiment for many in attendance.
“If this is the future of education with federal and state mandates, we’re going to need reading specialists, math specialists, interventionists, not calling on the music teacher, the art teacher, the guidance counselor to be offering these interventions,” Maxon noted. “You only have so many hours in the day.”
Erin Cassell, vice president of the Sewanee Elementary PTO, has four children in school and said over-testing impacts their self-esteem. It “makes some of my children feel less than others,” Cassell said. “That’s an issue for me, because they’re not less, they’re just different and have different strengths and weaknesses. Their value as a student is tied to a number on a test, and that’s not true.”
Tucker said there is valuable data generated that can help students and teachers improve, but there is more to a person than a test score.
“I would hate to see a student reduced to a number, with that number representing their value as a student, as a person, or their ability to achieve, to perform, to have a career, to be happy, and it shouldn’t come to that,” he said.
Other topics at the forum included:
Tucker briefly discussed the need for an increase in funding for schools from the Franklin County government. County Commissioner Helen Stapleton, who represents District 5, said she fully supports increasing funding. The county has not increased school funding for more than 10 years, and the school board does not have the authority to generate money through taxes or referendums. Tucker said Tennessee is one of only 11 states that does not allow school boards’ funding control.
One parent said there was too much waste of food during the Thanksgiving lunch at Sewanee Elementary last week and suggested using the leftover food for compost and implementing a program similar to Project Green Fork in Memphis.
Tucker talked about the state’s report card for Franklin County schools and said Sewanee Elementary outperforms the average school in Tennessee on the TCAP.
He also spoke about the search for a new director of schools. Current Director Rebecca Sharber is retiring this summer. The Tennessee School Board Association is conducting the search and had received 10 résumés prior to Thanksgiving. The school board will begin the interview process in late February or early March.
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