"I'm inviting you to join a real conspiracy, call it an open conspiracy, with real consequences on millions of real lives. I know that sounds megalomaniacal, but be patient. If we pull this off, a great many will bless us, although the school industry few will curse us. This is about a project to destroy the standardized testing industry... This adventure is called 'The Bartleby Project.'" John Taylor Gatto. (Weapons of Mass Instruction, New Society Publishers 2008)
My 11-year-old son loves the show Myth Busters. From the first time he put two Legos together he was hooked on constructing intricate things (200 piece Bionicles at age 5). He creates Rube Goldberg contraptions and loves animals. He can manipulate through different technologies (Google Earth, iPad, iPod, Facebook, Sims, etc) and he doesn't need instructions because his curiosity enables him to navigate and learn new technologies. He also loves football. He watches the NFL channel around the clock and can give you just about any statistic related to the game or players. This is just a snapshot. A quick glimpse of my son outside the insidious institution we call public schooling today.
I am currently thinking hard about asking my son to participate in the Bartleby Project and to write "I prefer not to take your test" across the top of his state test in March. In Pennsylvania we don't celebrate March Madness. Instead we practice it. March is the month when Pennsylvania schools administer the Pennsylvania State System of Assessments (the PSSAs). The entire school year comes down this one week in March. This is when schools and students across the Keystone State are held accountable. This is the big time. This is what it's all about.
Is it fair to ask my son to carry out an act of civil disobedience? Should I place this social burden on his shoulders? What will the consequences be? Can he handle the pressure? Should he even have to handle the pressure?
Since late in August, my son has been subjected to a system of indoctrination that has essentially squashed his inner desire to learn -- the Ruinous Culture. Five entire months devoid of intellectually-stimulating classroom experiences. He has been forced to complete worksheets in language arts and mathematics. He can alphabetize spelling words and find the main idea of a paragraph. He's had practice in sequencing. He can round numbers. He can add, subtract, multiply and divide with fractions and decimals. And he has mastered the scripted art of estimating (Who knew there were incorrect estimates?). He has had multiple PSSA practice tests and according to these tests my son is ready. He has been trained for five months to produce scores that will help his school achieve Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). I'm sure his school is counting on him.
But what has been lost during these past five months? He sits in social studies and science classes that have been shortened to allow more time for reading and math instruction. He hasn't been given the opportunity to engage real children's literature. His reading teacher is clueless about his interests. Five months of drudgery. How much can he take before just the thought of going to school immobilizes him? There is real damage being done. Something has to happen before my son loses all curiosity.
As his father, I need to advocate for him. But I don't want to just go in and take him out of school. I want him to learn something. I want him to experience real opportunities to learn in school. I want him to learn about the courage needed to change social structures that are designed to ultimately guarantee mass failure. Maybe he will be the start of a movement. As Gatto said in 2008:
"No demonstrations, no mud-slinging, no adversarial politics... [just] peacefully refuse to take standardized tests."
This is the perfect opportunity for my son to learn about social justice. He has a chance to fully participate in the democratic life we are supposedly striving to instill in children. But why does he have to do it? Because, as Gatto said:
"Adults chained to institutions and corporations are unable to; because these tests pervert education, are disgracefully inaccurate, impose brutal stresses without reason, and actively encourage a class system which is poisoning the future of the nation."
Is he capable of sitting down at his desk during March Madness and simply writing, "My name is Luke and I refuse to take your test?" Will this be the start of something? I'm sure it will start something, however, I'm not sure what. Luke may be on the verge of becoming a hero. His classmates may cheer him and go home to tell their parents that they want to "be like Luke." Or, it may begin the process of social blackballing. Would it be bad if either of these outcomes materialized? What should we do?
Follow Timothy D. Slekar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/slekar
A Brief History of Standardized Testing - TIME
How Standardized Testing Damages Education | FairTest
^To be fair, Bartelby never refused to do his work.
We considered boycotting the tests, but didn't. I told my sons that I would support their decision if they pulled a "Bartleby."
We're grateful that we could send them to a private high school; best of luck to all the Bartleby participants.
The Bartleby Project is as mentioned, a project of John Taylor Gatto, who, to sound like a hormonally crazed teen, "soooo my hero! I love him". He has truly inspired me as an educator. I even wrote about him on my blog http://3rseduc.blogspot.com and have began to explore his research on eugenics, Prussian education, state control...and them my own research of interest, and my experiences in the classroom, on that very same blog. Funny thing is, I work as a "data and assessment manager" and yet I promote the Bartleby Project..I am "the enemy within".
Basing everything on this one test is the worst thing to happen to our system in my lifetime. Even if every student in the school had an IQ of 140, who's never had something on their mind & been unable to function well at work? What do you do with a well-prepared child whose parents were fighting all night? How about the child who woke up with a bit of a cold that gets worse as the day progresses? A billion variations of mood, environment, & health can affect these test scores.
We as educators are so unappreciated by "the powers that be" & -- let's face it -- by society at large, that our jobs & fate of each individual school can depend on the scores of the students. Even teachers who don't want to teach to the test are practically handed a script of what they must teach. Creativity is being stifled in favor of the race to "get it all covered" and reviewed before test time. We just hope that our genuine concern, our individual personalities, and/or the style in which we cover this material makes a
A better way is to gather a group of like-minded parents, keep students away during the test -- participate in cultural activities as a group, or something equally educational and enriching -- and make sure ALL of the local press is aware. You might even get local symphonies, ballets, museums, and theaters to do freebies or give discounts for the good press of helping students truly expand their horizons.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Bartleby-Project/113345878694721
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Bartleby-Project/140903059271208
"Like" and suggest!
2. Make a Facebook page for this, if you're serious, so people can friend it instead of just sharing the story. That way there can be updates that keep it in the public mind, and it is more likely to spread that way.
But starting in middle school, his interest and enthusiasm for school declined markedly.
He has recovered his love of learning now that he is in college ... thank goodness.
In the meantime, I found out about this "accountability" philosophy.
So, we opted my daughter out of every Colorado Student Assessment Program test ... her joy of learning and excitement about school has never flagged. While I watch her friends sag and groan as testing time approaches, she looks forward to time with me going to museums and doing alternative 'educational' activities.
And we're not talking about a day or two of testing time -- this testing goes on for three weeks; three or four days of each of those weeks; and that doesn't include the pre-test pep rallies, the testing reviews, etc.
What is best for your child comes far ahead of what the politicians and the 'educrats' want for all their 'lofty' data collection schemes (I don't know a single teacher who approves of these tests).
I am not against tests ... teachers should have the ability to test their students as part of their classroom effort to teach and help their students. But these standardized, high stakes tests are political schemes and, after all these years, they have proven themselves to be educational failures.
Last year, our school prepared "bag lunches" (the lunch given for field trips -- sandwiches, milk, juice, fruit) for each class, and lunch was delivered to the classrooms as they finished testing. Students in Special Ed or English as a Second Language -- who get extended time, were given lunch between sections of the test.
Even though the students ate, and went to the bathroom when needed, they still sat in one classroom for hours and hours on test days. In the afternoons, we had field activities because we know this is so unfair to them.
We hate this torturous testing. The test in Florida (FCAT) is a lousy instrument. AND, imagine the money the state could dedicate to enriching the schools if they didn't spend the millions on disposable materials from year to year! Everything gets thrown away, "updated," and reprinted from one year to the next!
If he's willing to deal with the consequences, I don't see a problem with it.
Refusing to take it does nothing for your child. Teach him to be a voice for reform, but also make sure he is directing that voice to the right place. No Child Left Behind is garbage legislation, help make it go away!