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Monday, March 03, 2008

Go Test! Go Test! Go Test!

So, the children start big-time NCLB testing soon. Some of them will do great. Some of them will do okay. Some of them will struggle.

We recently had a big "pep rally" to pep the kids up. It came complete with teachers dressed as cheerleaders, face paint, a whole lot of cheering, singing, and dancing, and teachers running through paper banners with the name of the test on it.

It was hilarious, both because it was really cute and fun, and because it felt to me like its whole existence was kind of sarcastic. Of course, that was probably just in my head. But the whole point of the assembly (k-5 students attended, though not all of them will be tested) was to get the kids excited and ready and enthusiastic for The Test. And The Test is so ridiculous in so many ways. And like I said, many of the student will do really well, and many of the students will not. The pep rally felt like it was mocking The Test, in a way.

It was saying, "You may take up two weeks of instructional time. You may test our students on a year's worth of material 3/4 of the way through the school year. You may make the teachers pull their hair out in frustration, at times. But look! A pep rally! Pep Rallies are ridiculous too! But at least they're fun! Whoo!!! Go Test! Go Test! Go test!"

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