How smart you are=how still you sit

I remember back to the beginning of my program at NYU about a year and a half ago. There was a meeting that took place for the group of NYU graduate students who were accepting the Partnership Scholarship, which basically meant that we were indentured servants to the New York Public Schools for two years after graduation, and in return, they paid for 1/3 of my schooling. It seemed like a good deal. It still seems like a good deal.

What struck me at that meeting, was when the dean of such and such came in representing the Department of Ed. She welcomed us to the school, welcomed us to the city, and stated how pleased she was to build this partnership. It was all fine and good to me until she started going on and on about testing and accountability. I have a distinct memory of thinking-- F that.

I revisited those feelings today after spending 4 hours straight in a classroom with 18 ESL students trying to explain to them why they had to miss lunch to finish their standardized test. I'm sorry, but certain 8th grade boys are incapable of sitting still for that long. And even some girls. They wanted drinks, they wanted bathroom breaks, they wanted to call out random turrets-style sayings during the test. I was dreading today, and for good reason. It is inane. What is this test really testing?

I know my students are smart. I can prove it in MANY different ways. I don't need this test to do so. But the instruction manual tells me otherwise. F that.