My special unique students through the years would not have survived this test-crazed reform.
A retired teacher remembers the "special" kids. I get a little sentimental when I think about the years I taught before the "reforms" began under the Bush family. They are continuing under Obama's appointee, Arne Duncan.
These students may not have been in a special education program, they may not have had any "label" at all. For years there were no such programs or referrals. But they were special in their own way.
I wonder how they would fare now with all the one-size-fits-all testing. After all there are few exceptions, in some areas no exceptions, for students like them when it comes to the endless testing now in place.
I remember most of us teaching way back then did the best we could to provide them with needed help and assistance.
I often look at a lovely green and white vase on one of my shelves with a pointed matching lid...and I think of the mother who lovingly made it for me by hand. She was a lovely lady who had her hands full. Her husband was a Vietnam veteran with serious emotional problems. Her boys were among the best-behaved, most polite, I ever taught.
However they could not read a single word by 2nd grade. Not a word. They were whizzes in math, they could do the most complicated word problems once the examples were read to them. They did science experiments for the class that were brilliant.
I had them tested not just by a county school psychologist, but by a medical doctor as well. Their IQs were in the 180s. Today they would probably be called dyslexic or learning disabled. Back then the labeling had not really begun. There were no special classes. I had taken a course in which such students were covered. I knew that tactile and kinesthetic techniques were recommended. We did all that and more. I could never get them to read a single word. I would love to know how their lives turned out. I kept track of their teachers for years, and they were nurturing.
One of the most special students was a 2nd grade girl who was sweet and well-behaved. She was not a good student, barely got by with much help from an aide. She was at my desk near the start of school, and she told me she loved my new mushroom because it was so colorful. I had no idea what she meant so I asked her to show me. It was my new swirly colored pencil. Whenever she could not think of what to call an item, she called it a mushroom. It seemed perfectly fine to her, and I corrected her now and then, substituted the right name. It simply went over her head.
There was a child whose mother told me from the start of the year that he was mentally handicapped. I worked with him the best I could, had an aide give him special tutoring in reading. One day he walked up to my desk, sat down beside me and started to read a book on grade level. I handed him another one, he read it also. He was so proud.
A couple of years later I learned that he was determined to be in the low 70s and 60s ability wise. "Normal" is supposedly in the 90s. His reading continued but had reached a plateau about 4th grade level, still amazing.
I had a student in 4th grade whose parents were well educated, fairly well off. They admitted their son had problems they could not solve. They asked my help, were willing to work with doctors to determine how best to proceed. He was unable to be still, though he knew all the work and knew it well. He wandered, disrupted. I filled out daily behavior sheets for the parents' chosen doctor. He was learning in spite of his severe hyperactivity, but he could not be on task enough to produce.
This doctor was not one for ritalin or similar drugs, but he said in this case it might work. The difference was night and day after one dose. This student was very advanced in science because of his home environment and his father's scientific knowledge.
I tried letting him teach the class a lesson on a science topic with a promise of others to come if it were received well. He did amazingly well. The principal walked in during the lesson. The student continued unfazed. Later the principal shook his hand and commended him on a job well done.
Then there were the high achievers who fell apart when presented with bubbles to fill in on multiple choice items.
For years the only test we gave was the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). It was used in an entirely different way than today's high stakes tests. It was used as a tool for teachers and schools to measure their progress....not as a way to cause schools to fail so they could be replaced by corporately owned charter schools. One very bright girl in particular comes to mind. She was so mature and wise. Her mother really had problems, and she had to play along to survive. She wanted to please so badly that she would be unable to complete the test out of fear of failure.
Her mother was obviously pregnant, and she often came to help in class. I had known her for years and was seriously upset at what she was pretending about her pregnancy. She told everyone she had a watermelon in her tummy, and the big bump would go away when the watermelon disappeared. Her daughter had to pretend she was right.
One day that girl came to my desk and told me she hoped I understood. She said she knew her mother was going to have a baby, but if she didn't go along she would be punished. She often held her mother's hand in support of the pretense. She just wanted to be sure I understood she knew better.
Two of my brightest 4th graders decided to rebel when the FCAT reading test first began in the late 90s. At that time teachers were not yet being judged by the class scores, so I was thankful for that. They put their heads down the day of testing. They could not be persuaded by anyone to take part in the test.
When I retired I could see that the times were changing. Jeb was now governor, and we were not to speak a critical word about him at school. I saw the future when our new principal did nothing but blame teachers for everything.
Thank God I could retire, and I did.
Arne Duncan should have the grace to realize the harm he has done, and he should simply step down from his position. Ideally it should have been done a long time ago before so much damage was done to public schools, before the "reformers" got the upper hand.
It may be too late now.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I guess I need to re-read it.
The way you write online is pretty OTT
I hope you don't think I am a RWer
But, I have issues in what you say - but not always.
Her situation: She teaches in a low-income section of NYC. She is a good teacher (strict and persistent about what she expects from her students).
This year, after her new class was tested, she saw that 90% of her class is below grade level. She called me very upset about this and said that she is thinking about quitting (she won't). She has three young kids and commutes a long distance so her teaching job is stressful at its best. I asked her why these kids are being pushed up and she said that her admin know that she is a good teacher and that they expect she will bring them up to grade level.
I think there is something very wrong with this.
She will do what they expect, but is this burden fair? Why aren't all teachers expected to do the same?
since it all depends on one high stakes test which contains stuff that has not yet been taught.
Some are even worse.
--imm
Thank you.
Sometimes the anger comes through. Thanks for the kind words.
and as usual another little bump to the top by posting a reply. 
I had good mentors and went on to higher education in spite of FCAT. 
