High Stakes Testing Turns Kids Off from Reading

Longtime followers and readers of GSW will know that I am a conscientious objector of No Child Left Behind because it leaves too many of our children behind. Mainly, I'm opposed to the constant high-stakes testing component of NCLB.

After attending an "EOG Parents Night" this past week at my daughter's school, I ran into this tidbit on the NEA's Website, which shows that high-stakes testing may be turning children off to reading.

Dear God.

Check this out:

NCLB Testing May Be Turning Kids Off to Reading

Rather than inspiring higher levels of student achievement, the pressure of the federal No Child Left Behind Act's required testing is ruining students' appetites for reading and decreasing reading comprehension for many. At least that's the observation of one NEA member.

And NEA member Diane Brantley of Crestline, Calif., knows a lot about how to teach kids to read and specifically about tutoring K-12 students who are struggling with reading. She's an assistant professor of literacy education and director of the Literacy Center at California State University, San Bernardino. She has worked as an administrator in three different university-based literacy tutorial programs for K-12 students over the past eight years.

She says, "It seems that NCLB has created an environment of quantification of reading with little regard to the quality of understanding of a piece of text."

Perception of a "Good Reader" is Changing

Ms. Brantley is one of hundreds of NEA members who responded to our request to share their personal experiences regarding the impact of NCLB on their students and on them.

Before the enactment of NCLB, most students said the purpose of reading is to understand material and to learn new information, she explained. Good readers were described as "those people who could read without stumbling over words and could understand what they had read," according to Ms. Brantley.

"Since the inception of NCLB," she wrote, "more children are being referred for tutoring because they do not read fast enough and are subsequently receiving lower grades in reading.

"Parents are saying that their children are required to read at a particular reading rate measured in words per minute. Many of the children state that good readers read fast rather than understanding what they are reading.

Students Are Referred for Not Reading Fast Enough

"Teachers are sending students for remediation even when they are comprehending at grade level because they do not read fast enough. Children are being exposed to continuous speed testing and are beginning to dislike reading because of it.

Parents state that their children are beginning to have physical complaints (headaches, stomach aches, etc) before going to school because they feel a pressure to test well and test often or else they will receive lower grades.

"Many parents state that their children's class time is spent on test preparation to the exclusion of quality content area instruction in literature, science and history. The arts and physical education have been eliminated to make more time for test prep. Children are being taught to take tests rather than being taught important material needed to be successful citizens and college students."

*******************
This is criminal....

E.C. :)