The Communists are Coming!

I got a text message on the bus on the way home. My eyes were on my phone because I left my e-reader at home. Consequently, I cradled my elephantine, non-smart phone in my lap,looking at it so as to dodge eye contact. The screen went white and I clicked the round "OK" button in order to read the new message from a colleague. "My doctor was shocked that teachers are allowed to grade Regents exams." I went livid. Of course, I have complained about differences with colleagues over how to interpret the rubric for the ELA Regents. That is the nature of language, however, and it wouldn't be fair if we didn't question each other and dialogue with the grading system foisted upon us. The Board of Regents itself concedes that there is more than one way to obtain the same grade -- there are "4" level essays which are more than thoughtful, but stray somewhat from their objectives, though they ultimately defend their original argument sufficiently. There are those which hit the mark, provide sufficient development -- all "no more, no less," than very good, but not excellent. We are given more than one "Anchor paper" (model papers) to judge our own by. The more you work with language, the more shades you can see to it. People will always have stylistic differences. Not every English teacher is interested in pretty prose -- some are in it for the bold themes or the heroic stories. However, we balance each other in the end as no one person determines a student's final score. Papers are always marked in teams. In the end, we always agree that the tasks themselves aren't rigorous enough, and the rubrics are equally shallow.

I go into this explanation because I was so affronted by my colleague's physician's response. She had related some of my feelings about the debates which ensue over work sometimes. Instead of seeing the complexity of the task, or perhaps, wondering why the State bothers to insist on "standardized" exams when its own rubrics are not stringent enough to satisfy the ideals of good teachers, he just questioned teachers' abilities to judge. Why not just let teachers create better, harder tests? The largest complaint in our grading room was about the fact that papers were going to pass State standards despite the fact that we would've failed those same papers if they were submitted to us in our courses. It would be unfair, however, not to give the student the State exam grade he/she deserves. In this case, the teacher is punished twice. First, we have to give an exam which doesn't live up to our own standards. Then, we have to pass kids on this exam whom we failed regularly during the year. But, all my colleague's physician could think of was the possible inadequacy of the teachers grading the exam, not that the whole exercise is flawed. It's natural for people to argue about language. What's sad is when the language isn't worth our breath. Or, in my case, my thumb movements.

After sending upwards of 15 texts back, many asking questions about whether doctors could be trusted to treat their patients properly given all the incentives from insurance companies to cut corners, I grabbed the handles of the backdoor with both hands and slowly pulled myself down onto the wet pavement. Without even waiting for me to turn around, one of the local car service drivers pulled up and I got in. First, he rebuffs my exhaustion with "well, just one more day." "No. There's Monday and I have Professional Development before summer school." "Well, at least you are working," says the upbeat driver. I let the "at least" comment go. I've never been fond of cherishing the "At least." It brings to mind my forebears in Nazi Germany thinking, "At least, they haven't..." Until they had. I make some passing remark about the heat and the lack of A/C in my classroom. He is seemingly, sincerely up-in-arms. "What about portable air conditioners?" "We would need three per room." I know this because the computer room has three air conditioners to insure that, even if the students fail, the equipment doesn't. Finally, he says to me, "Well, this is all because the communists are coming." I'm livid again. For one thing, education in the Soviet Union was, arguably, better than ours is here. For another, it's American cheapness that is keeping us from providing proper treatment to our students. If we were any cheaper, we'd be anarchists. I say something like, "but we're not spending any money on schools." "You will see. Little by little they will take over." What this has to do with anything I have said, I don't know, but this man is convinced of this. Like my colleague's doctor, he lives in the golden world of rumor which is fueled by anger and ignorance. Of course, this is part of the new/old list of Republican talking points against Obama, recycled from the start of the Cold War. Standardized tests were created out of distrust for teachers when, in fact, they undermine our efforts to be rigorous and rely on our best abilities to interpret their "standards" in order to be clear and fair with our students. I suppose that my driver was picking up on the buzz from our "fair and balanced" media, but does not understand that it is the rumor mongers who are denying my students decent learning conditions and giving weak students the impression they have achieved something by passing easy exams.

Of course, if education were a world priority, none of this would be happening. But, never fear. Companies are in no danger of losing their right to create and sell standardized exams, and drivers are in no danger of losing their opportunity to make cash they don't declare on their taxes. The classrooms are still boiling hot, the students are definitely "first" to be given an easy way out, and the teachers can't do anything to stop it. If we do, the media will say we aren't teaching because scores are too low. If scores are too high, they'll complain about why we are allowed to grade the exams. Has anyone bothered to look at the tests, the rubrics for grading, the anchor papers, etc.? Too busy looking for those Communists/Weapons of Mass Destruction/Communists/Evil Teachers.