Chapter One Readicide

Chapter one of Readicide is great. Gallagher places emphasis on the origins of No Child Left Behind as well as teaching towards a "shallow" test. I did not realize that No Child Left Behind's origins were from a Texas program of "high-stakes" testing. The program does not have any validity, so why are we using a model of it to base our Nation's education program? I really liked the "Paige Paradox," it is something I have seen in practice. While working in the front office and media center of a high school I saw an emphasis placed upon test prep. Many teachers pulled out study books and practice tests in order to get the juniors ready for the GHSGT. Is this what our students need?

Gallagher provides a wonderful argument as to why teaching to a "shallow" test does not work. There is evidence that high school students are now less prepared for college as well as the workforce. Only ONE THIRD of students read at grade level. I believe this can be attributed to the emphasis on these "shallow" tests. There is so much pressure on administration, faculty, and students to perform well on these tests so they will not lose their jobs or graduate. Students are not able to study a topic in depth or develop critically thinking skills instead they are pushed to focus on practice tests, multiple choice quizzes, and simple coverage of the material. Students would better benefit from reading and studying a topic they are interested in and working on projects that develop and deepen their knowledge of the content. Gallagher also mentions the achievement gap between low-income and minority students.

Many of these students do not have the resources available to them in order to become life long readers and learners. Our teachers are forced to shove these students through years worth of material in a short time so that MAYBE they will pass THE test. There is no longer a focus place upon the whole student; the focus is placed on whether or not they will be able to cover all of the content within the allotted time frame. We are setting these students up for failure and thusly ourselves as well. These students are our future and we are not appropriately preparing them for it. Their are no realistic expectations; our only expectation is for them to pace this infamous test. We are stuck within this awful "Paige Paradox." But how are we to break free?

Perhaps our government should reform the No Child Left Behind Act; it does not work. For the past 5 years their as been no viable improvement in student performance. If anything students are falling behind at an even faster pace. We as teachers need to be developing our students into life long learners as well as readers. By introducing motivating methods, material related to the real-world, and focusing instruction on metacognition hopefully we as teachers can help to solve this problem of readicide.