A few years ago Briar made this in class:
It absolutely delighted us. Watching her blossom and gain confidence at school as she became a big girl was inspiring. This year she is in 3rd grade. She is still inspiring, but I find myself feeling less like she is experiencing the learning process and more like she is being forced into a very dark and hopeless box. I wrote a little bit about how our first experience with testing has been. I hope that you will visit the New York State United Teachers site to read the post and, hopefully, to leave your comments about your own experience with testing.
I understand that there may be many viewpoints on this subject, but I think we owe it to our kids and the future of our state to talk openly about this as parents, educators, tax payers and, honestly, as former elementary school students.