AP on Teacher Suspended...

Teacher Suspended for Refusing to Give State Test

This article is an associated press release on a suspension of a Seattle middle school teacher being suspended for two weeks for refusing to give the Washington Assessment of Student Learning in classroom. I thought the teacher ability to stand up for his beliefs in a powerful way was quite interesting. At the same time it made me think about our state required testing on standards for grades 3, 8, and up. Our Yugtun students who were never formally taught in English were required to take an English test. I used to cringe inside and have that silent roar building up inside me as I watched my students take the test over a time period of three days. One student had his head down on his desk the whole hour. I felt his pain just observing and thought how unright this whole thing was. Thank goodness we no longer allow this group of students I teach in Yup’ik to not have to take the test. (If my husband made enough money for us to survive, maybe…just maybe…after reading a similar article… I, too would have stepped out of school during the time period of state standards testing. The other part of me now asks: would I have done that?)