Our administrators are too busy to create a schedule that would allow teachers to see all their classes every day, so testing canceled the same two periods every day of the month, except for exams week. For teachers whose planning time falls during one of those two periods, well, too bad. "Comp' time" is being offered to compensate them.
Remind me why we are doing this again? Oh, yes, so that students and teachers know what to expect when the "real" test will be happening. Will we be better prepared to handle computer issues, software glitches, power outages, just because we have seen it all unfold this month? Oh, but not to worry, there is another one of those "diagnostic testing" months planned for the winter. We wasted a full month now, then we shall waste another in the winter, and finally a third one for the "real thing." Three months out of ten. Next year just as this year, our principal will open the first faculty meeting with this question: "How come our students are not making learning gains the way they should?"
Don't you DARE blame testing conditions, the test itself (if it was created by one of Jeb's friends, its validity must not be questioned), or the wasted instructional time. You and I KNOW who is to blame: those overpaid, lazy teachers. If a construction builder was told to build a house with 70% of the materials and in 70% of the time it usually takes, he would tell you to f*** off. Teachers don't act like this. Teachers are to remain civil and polite, because we all know that education is not about us: it's ALL ABOUT THE CHILDREN.
