I was doing fine until we got to that point. But my class time is precious. As it is, my students are only seated in the classroom for about 900 hours per year. I already spend about 15 of those precious hours directly administering California's Stanford 9, leaving me only about 885 hours for actual instruction. It is popular for politicians, including Bush and Gore, to place contrived meaning on tests.
Test scores have the appearance of a bottom line.
The metaphor that underlies the belief that teachers are accountable for test scores is a translation of what works in business. Therefore, belief in the factory metaphor for education holds teachers accountable for somebody else's preproduction, without any system of accountability for the other parties. Davy McClay is a Santa Clarita resident and teacher at Valerio Elementary in Van Nuys. Search our online archive, or browse past editions. All rights reserved.