Fwd: [LiteracyForAll] We need to change the paradigm!

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:
> The below message was posted by Doug Ward, the NC teacher who refused  
> to give
> NCEXTEND. Link: http://educare-leadout.blogspot.com/ (See below.) Ward  
> reminds us of
> the ludicrous nature of NCLB and high stakes testing, not to mention  
> programs like
> Reading First. What a great sense of humor Doug Ward has. His post  
> made me laugh at the
> nonsense of NCLB, high stakes testing, Reading First, the book, A  
> Nation at Risk, etc.
>
> Here's Doug's post.
>
> Hey ya'all. Greetings from the mountains of North Carolina. My name is  
> Doug Ward, and I
> have trouble following orders! (It's a special gift!!) I refused to  
> give an invalid end of grade
> test (NCEXTEND1) to my students with severe disabilities and received  
> a suspension with
> pay for the remainder of the year (whoo-hoo!!! a month's paid  
> vacation!!!), and my
> contract was not renewed-I was FIRED!
> The hardest part of this ordeal was being so serious in such an absurd  
> situation. The
> merry prankster in me was dying to do some absurd political theater;  
> but the serious,
> logical, straightforward approach worked best in allowing the system  
> and the
> administrators to show their lack of logic and compassion!
> Below are some links to the latest news and my you tube video. The  
> first news link has my
> entire refusal letter printed at the bottom of the article.
> http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/05_08/05_21_08/ 
> fr_saying_no.html
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj_bJkGTC8U
> http://www.thesylvaherald.com/2008/052908/html/ 
> school_officials_fire_teacher_.html
> http://www.thesylvaherald.com/2008/052908/html/letters_to_editor.html
> http://www.thesylvaherald.com/html/letters_to_editor.html (good until  
> 6-12 and then
> changes to link below)
> http://www.thesylvaherald.com/2008/060508/html/letters_to_editor.html
>
> More from me....
>
> Another thing to consider, is the voices of our young. It is just so  
> heartening to learn that
> 160 middle school students turned in blank tests. Hooray for the  
> students of Doug Avella.
> In addition, UFT is supporting Doug Avella when Chancellor Klein  
> decided that Avella
> needed to be fired.
>
> Here in Colorado, we have our own insanity going on. Our governor just  
> signed into law
> Colorado's "so-called" Landmark Education bills where now we have  
> seamless Pre-K to
> Post High School Standards. They want to make sure that those  
> preschool children are
> kindergarten ready and that those who graduate from high school are  
> 21st century work-
> force ready, what ever these things mean. They want to fund preschool,  
> but the cost is
> evaluating those little ones to see if they are kindergarten ready.  
> And as far as graduating
> high school seniors being "21st Century Work-Force Ready" well, I  
> guess they think they
> are smart enough to predict the future. They think they have crystal  
> balls....ninnies.
>
> Anyway, I have taken way too much of your time. So, I'll stop.
>
> Keep on resisting. Keep shedding light on the situation. Do what you  
> can do. It is
> important that we each do what we can. Every little action matters in  
> order to bring sanity
> back to education and to insure that every student's talents are  
> nurtured and valued so
> that they can be contributing members to society and all of humanity.
>
> The thing that keeps me going is looking at the big picture.
>
> With respect for all that each of you do,
> Yvonne Siu-Runyan
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
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