Any ILLINOIS teachers out there?

[FINFAN]

I just finished reading an article about how the State will increase the responsibility of the districts in the performance of schools....have you or any teachers you know felt that the pressures on the school/teachers/students has been increasing? The article states that ALL students (including special-ed, low income, minoritie etc.) that's 100%...will be required to pass the standardized tests by 2014. The article states that State and Federal officials plan to punish school districts for poor performance. This all falls under the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT I am concerned over the pressure on everyone.....I think kids have a pretty tough load as it is, and I hate to see time being spent on studying for standardized testing instead of the curriculum. Just nwondering if anyone has started to feel any pressure.

 

[December99]

There has always been a "watch list" for the schools in Illinois - based on budgets, school ethnicity, and test scores from standardized tests. My guess is there are ALOT of private schools that don't do the standardized tests and they are probably trying to regulate it so that ALL schools participate. I'm only speaking as a parent and as a "I'm assuming" type of opinion. I have not seen any articles on it yet but maybe it's coming in our papers tonight.

I know in my dd's school the standardized testing is more like the "Iowa Basic Skills" tests where they "rank" kids to see what "level" they are in as far as how much they have comprehended over the years. This tells the state how the teachers are doing and if the school has the proper curriculum - that is part of how they judge them for that "watch" list as far as I have ever been told. But then again - I'm not IN the schools so this could be misleading info. I'd be glad to hear from anyone that is a teacher here in Illinois.