Washington 4th grader suspended for not answering one question

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aUeF_6E1NX5g&refer=us

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Tyler Stoken was a well-behaved fourth grader who enjoyed school, earned A's and B's and performed well on standardized tests.

In May 2005, he'd completed five of the six days of the Washington State Assessment of Student Learning exam, called WASL, part of the state's No Child Left Behind test.

Then Tyler came upon this question: ``While looking out the window one day at school, you notice the principal flying in the air. In several paragraphs, write a story telling what happens.''

The nine-year-old was afraid to answer the question about his principal, Olivia McCarthy. ``I didn't want to make fun of her,'' he says, explaining he was taught to write the first thing that entered his mind on the state writing test.

In this case, Tyler's initial thoughts would have been embarrassing and mean. So even after repeated requests by school personnel, and ultimately the principal herself, Tyler left the answer space blank. ``He didn't want them to know what he was thinking, that she was a witch on a broomstick,'' says Tyler's mother, Amanda Wolfe, sitting next to her son in the family's ranch home three blocks from Central Park Elementary School in Aberdeen, Washington.

Because Tyler didn't answer the question, McCarthy suspended him for five days. He recalls the principal reprimanding him by saying his test score could bring down the entire school's performance.

``Good job, bud, you've ruined it for everyone in the school, the teachers and the school,'' Tyler says McCarthy told him.

Oh.
My.
Stars.

You have GOT to be kidding me! And then some districts and schools wonder why people are leaving their schools for private education, whether it be private schools or home education.

Yes, the child did refuse to answer a question after repeated requests to do so. But it doesn't sound like it was a case of "blatant defiance and insubordination", but rather a sweet kid who wants to do right by people, even if his first impulse was less than the best. I simply cannot understand that people can't understand THAT. Oh, wait, yes I can...

While there's no academic effect on elementary school children taking the exams, there can be repercussions for school administrators. When schools repeatedly fail to show adequate yearly progress, as defined by No Child, the principal can be fired.

Ah, now we know the heart of the matter! It's all about the adults, after all...

posted by Homeschool Help Web at 8:09 AM |