Teacher Suspended for Refusing to Give State Test (2007)

This article by The Associated Press is the first of an actual teacher refusal to administer the Washington State mandated test that the United States requires every year. Carl Chew stood up for the students, but my only fault with that was wondering if he asked the students themselves how they felt about the test and what the results mean to them, before banning the test in his classroom. I am sure while he was suspended the class had to take the test anyway.
This is a strong message asking for improved quality assessment tools that actually measure student success and their potential. I can relate to Carl because I see the whole curriculum in my classroom focusing on assessment and no consideration for the many needs and abilities of my students. Mostly the results show that students are far below proficient, below proficient, and proficient. Even in my K-1 setting students know when they are behind the rest of the class and most of the time it is just a matter of time before they are on level with the rest of their peers.
My other point is that like adults, not all students perform well on assessments. I strongly agree with Carl about coming up with better alternative ways to assessing the state's education system.
What I am doing in my part to help my class succeed with any test they are given is to tell my students that they are smart and sometimes language dialects in Standard English can be the culprit of their lower scores and then concentrate on helping them discover their strengths in their education.
We do have an assessment crisis. So many students are labeled as far below proficient and that does not do well to educate students to let go of name calling and treating each other with respect, no matter where we are in the educational spectrum. To me, the many levels of education is a gift, not a flaw. Lets get a better assessment to build up our younger generation, not to blame them for our lack of creating a better assessment tool.