WMI

I've just finished reading John Taylor Gatto's Weapons of Mass Instruction.  It's ironic to be reading it, and resonating so strongly with so much he has to say... just as I'm calling the local high school to see about Wyatt taking a couple of classes there, part-time, next year.  *sigh*

However, one thing we will NOT be participating in at the school is standardized testing.  I couldn't agree with Gatto's take on that more.  Here's what he says, (emphasis mine.)

… we inevitably discover (as adults) that the information these glorified jigsaw puzzles generates is unreliable, and very misleading – absolutely nobody ever asks after the data.  We see that those who test well are more often circus dogs than leaders of the future.

Nothing inside the little red schoolhouse does more personal and social damage than the numbers and rank order these tests hang around the necks of the young.  Although the scores correlate with absolutely nothing of real value, the harm they cause is real enough… They constitute a matchless weapon of social control, wreaking havoc on winners and losers alike.

The frequent ceremonies of useless testing – preparation, administration, recovery – convert forced schooling into a travesty of what education should be; they drain hundreds of millions of days yearly from what might otherwise be productive pursuits; they divert tens of billions of cash resources into private pockets.  The net effect of standardized testing is to reduce our national wealth in future generations, by suffocating imagination and intellect, while enhancing wealth for a few in the present.  This occurs as a byproduct of “scientifically” ranking the tested so they can be, supposedly, classified efficiently as human resources. 

No WASL, MSP, HSPE, MAP, AYP, or other BS.

I can only imagine how the school will react when it comes up...

Breathe the free air.