Oklahomans Against High Stakes Testing Worship

Tonight I created a new “cause” page on Facebook: Oklahomans Against High Stakes Testing Worship. In the initial wall post I wrote:

This is a group page I’ve wanted to create on Facebook for a long time. We need a movement in Oklahoma to change the direction of educational policy in our state. We need to stop worshipping high stakes tests… and a lot more. Stopping high stakes test worship is an important step in constructively reforming our schools and transforming them into the creative and inviting learning spaces our children and grandchildren deserve.

I used the iPad app Brushes to create this amateurish but hopefully effective graphic:

It’s licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution-Only License, so feel free to use it. I considered making this group national in scope, but I want it to be state specific because Oklahoma is where I live, work, and my kids attend school. Our schools are the ones I most personally want to help change, because “this is my neighborhood.”

I was inspired to draw the outline of the praying legislator by this graphic from this church website in Iowa, which I found via a Google Images search for “prayer icon.” Hat tip to Kevin Honeycutt and his amazing Art Snacks Community for teaching me the value of copying another person’s artwork or a photo when you’re trying to draw something for the first time.

I’m not sure what will happen with this page and “Facebook cause” in the months ahead, but I wanted to share a link to the article, “Teachers Survey: Job Satisfaction, Security Take A Dive” today. I tweeted it, but I wanted to share it in a way that might be more impactful and long lasting.

It’s long PAST time to change the course of educational politics in the United States, and specifically in my home state of Oklahoma. If social media can help us do that, let’s use every means available to us to bring about the change we need and our children deserve. I also shared five past posts on the page elaborate in detail on what it means to “oppose high stakes testing workshop.”

1. A contrary view of education and NCLB (Feb 2008)
2. NCLB damages US education by narrowing the curriculum (June 2010)
3. ReadingFirst, NCLB, School Accountability, and our Educational Future (August 2008)
4. High Stakes Testing Damages Student Writing Skills (August 2011)
5. A Response to the Alleged Consensus on America’s Failing Schools (Feb 2012)

I also shared Dr. David Berliner’s outstanding presentation from 2006, “Troubles for the NCLB Act: It may not be improving achievement and it corrupts the profession.” I recorded and publicly shared that presentation online at the time with permission, and re-posted an enhanced podcast version to Vimeo about a year ago. His analysis, research, and prescriptions still ring true today… six years later.

High Stakes Testing is the Enemy from Wesley Fryer on Vimeo.

Technorati Tags: education, high, oklahoma, politics, stakes, testing, facebook

If you enjoyed this post and found it useful, subscribe to Wes’ free newsletter. Check out Wes’ video tutorial library, “Playing with Media.” Information about more ways to learn with Dr. Wesley Fryer are available on wesfryer.com/after.

On this day..

• Advice for Responding to and Protecting Against Phishing Email Attacks – 2019
• Visualize Tweets on a Map with Avian for AppleTV – 2017
• FaceTime Connection During a Tornado Warning – 2015
• Unwrapping Common Core State Standards and Unit Planning (Deer Creek Public Schools) – 2012
• Flip Video Session Recording – With a Tripod! – 2010
• Forget the iPad – The MacBook Wheel is what you really want – 2010
• The Thursday Folder and Worksheet Measured Learning – 2009
• Join the Digital Literacy debate – Live! – 2009
• Exploring differences in preteen social networking sites – 2008
• Blogs, Wikis, District Polices, Walled Gardens and the Open Web – 2008