plea for help from Ohio

[Victor Steinbok <Victor.Steinbok@verizon.net>]

The following message was posted on a math listserv earlier. I've 
removed the name to prevent any potential conflicts. If you have any 
comments please post them to ARN (or send them to me).

	VS-)

>  Hello. As you know, I teach 5th and 6th grade math in Ohio. We have these
> wonderful tests that tell what great teachers we are. These are given the
> first week of March and cover the entire curriculum for that grade.
> Basically they are telling us that March, April and May are not worth
> anything.
> Anyway...here is my question:
> We were required to do a "Math Calendar." What this means is that they told
> us when to teach and what to teach in our book. I am supposed to be starting
> chapter 9 and I am just finishing chapter 5. I have a fairly bright class,
> but I really am trying to stress the basics. I could just give them a
> calculator and tell them to "get the answer." I want them to understand how
> we came upon the answer, but I am in a minority around here.
> We have 26 objectives that the students need to know for this test. My
> question is this...should I stay with the book or take these objectives and
> break them up over the next two months and create my own curriculum? Our
> book does not match the test very well. For example, it teaches mean,
> median, mode, range, outlier, etc. and all they are required to know are
> mean and mode. I want to teach it all to them, but perhaps after March.
> You would think that I am a first-year teacher, but this is my 12th year.
> Teachers are being evaluated by these test scores. I had a person actually
> tell me to try to reach 75% of my class. He said, "You'll never get the
> lower 25% anyway, so don't waste your time on them."
> I love my job. I love where I work and I love the kids. However, I have
> seriously considered leaving the teaching profession on several occasions.
> I firmly believe that these tests are ruining public education. I live in a
> small town where 70% of my school is on free lunch. They compare me to
> teachers that teach with small classes and in upscale communities. My
> scores will never compete with those scores. Two years ago I had a 86%, last
> year 49%. Two different classes!!! I was told that if my scores didn't come
> back up, I could be moved. (This was told to the entire district.)
> One final note, this year ALL students in special education will be counted
> on my scores. If I have a deaf student and she goes to another school, she
> will STILL be counted on MY scores. All LD, DH, and SBH students will count
> too. There are no EXEMPTIONS this year.
> Last year, we exempted students that were not working on grade level. This
> year we are not able to do so.
>
> Please help. I have discussed this with others, but they just say, "Do your
> best." I am doing my best, but it isn't good enough.