How would you assess the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills? What is your opinion of substituting the last year of the TAKS test with an end-of-course exam, which some in Austin want to do?
I have never been a fan of standardized testing as a way to determine individual student performance, but rather as a tool to assess the strength of the academic performance of a school as a whole. Our students are being tested too much and at an age far too young. There is not a doctor or parent that would insist that a toddler be remediated at the age of exactly 2 years and 3 months if the toddler was not walking or talking. Why then do we insist that a child who is six years and six months old must be able to read or will need remediation? The pressure and stress on the students in Texas schools are overwhelming. We need to stop and let our children grow. I personally would recommend that everyone connected with the Texas Education Agency be required to read the book Leo the Late Bloomer, by Robert Krauss.
However, if there is a silver lining to the TAKS test, it may be found in the fact that students who struggle academically can be identified and helped much more quickly than some educators may have predicted. Conversely, there are other ways to identify kids with academic challenges other than high stakes testing of TAKS. This type of testing is being done far too early and there are far too many tests being given to even our youngest children. I only support the proposed end-of-course testing if (1) it returns the testing authority to the classroom teacher and (2) if it eliminates some of current testing. If the end-of-course testing actually increases the number of student tests, then it is a bad idea. We need to return the classroom to a place of learning, not a place of testing or preparing to be tested.
Why am I running for the Allen ISD School Board?
I retired from teaching in 2006, and am running for a position on the Allen Independent School District Board of Trustees in the May election. I am often asked why I am running for the Board, and I have several reasons I believe are important.
First, I was always happy teaching school. I think this is evident by the number of my children who followed me in this great and honorable career. I feel that I need to give back to the students and professionals who gave me 43 happy and enriching work years.
Secondly, I have a great passion for public education. We in Allen are blessed because we still have some of the small town "feel" left in our schools. However, I believe we must return to the principle upon which public schools were created: to reflect not society, but the best of our society; if our schools do not subscribe to the highest expectations--not only in academics, but in citizenship, character and mutual respect--public education as we know it will turn into a system of private schools with each segment in our society having their own school. Our forefathers probably made our country what it is today because they enacted the free public school education laws. Our schools must return to the position they once held in our culture: that of promoting, expecting and requiring that our schools exemplify the highest standards of society.
Thirdly, I have a personal interest in keeping Allen schools the best they can be. I have one grandchild who graduated from Allen High School, one currently attending AHS, one is a pre-kindergarten student at Bolin Elementary, and two others who will be in AISD in the next two years. All of these children make education--particularly in Allen--of grave importance to me.
In my opinion, "It's all about the kids" is not a public relations statement, but rather a personal mission philosophy I embrace and I am pursuing for the benefit of not only my grandkids and the other children of Allen, but also for all the little ones yet to come.
First, I was always happy teaching school. I think this is evident by the number of my children who followed me in this great and honorable career. I feel that I need to give back to the students and professionals who gave me 43 happy and enriching work years.
Secondly, I have a great passion for public education. We in Allen are blessed because we still have some of the small town "feel" left in our schools. However, I believe we must return to the principle upon which public schools were created: to reflect not society, but the best of our society; if our schools do not subscribe to the highest expectations--not only in academics, but in citizenship, character and mutual respect--public education as we know it will turn into a system of private schools with each segment in our society having their own school. Our forefathers probably made our country what it is today because they enacted the free public school education laws. Our schools must return to the position they once held in our culture: that of promoting, expecting and requiring that our schools exemplify the highest standards of society.
Thirdly, I have a personal interest in keeping Allen schools the best they can be. I have one grandchild who graduated from Allen High School, one currently attending AHS, one is a pre-kindergarten student at Bolin Elementary, and two others who will be in AISD in the next two years. All of these children make education--particularly in Allen--of grave importance to me.
In my opinion, "It's all about the kids" is not a public relations statement, but rather a personal mission philosophy I embrace and I am pursuing for the benefit of not only my grandkids and the other children of Allen, but also for all the little ones yet to come.
Friday, March 30, 2007
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