Dear Friends,

More good news on the anti-testing front. In addition to the rally that students in Providence, Rhode Island held last week and the on-going protest in Washington State where teachers are saying "no" to giving a test that they say is not only not valid but is truly a waste of time for them to give and for students to take, a local New York State school board has taken action to put the brakes on the over use of testing. See the link here.

I am tracking these movements because it is my wish to offer my colleagues hope that the pendulum of insanity is about to start swinging back toward a more sane approach to assessment. I need to give them hope. I talk to too many every day who are planning to leave the current high pressure environment that currently makes up our school system in general. I understand their instinct. But it breaks my heart when I hear exemplary teachers who have many years left to contribute to the learning of their children talk about their exhaustion, their sense of overwhelm and the fact that they have given up hope of it ever getting better.

Efforts like the ones I have pointed out in Rhode Island, Washington state, Texas, and New York tell me that we are not alone in our frustration, and a real movement has begun. I wait for it to take hold and start to be seen in every state--not just a few.

Until next time.

Kitty