Seeing Stars

Well the students had their CA Standards Test today. I checked out the test for 9th graders. I think the CBEST was easier. The ELL class that I helped proctor today is currently working at an English level at basically the fifth grade. So all of the test levels were pretty much estupid to expect these students to have the necessary ability. The teacher and I tried to reassure the students that they would not be graded, but some of them tried so hard, it would break your heart. I asked one girls how many languages she spoke. The answer was three. I told her that was more than nearly any student on campus. The teacher also told the students that they would all be able to master the test in their own language. The students began to smile again when the teacher put a movie on for them. I'm still not smiling. Today was an argument against merit pay based on testing. Hey Arnold are you listening? Mean and getting meaner.