So much for apathy

The debate over incessant testing in England has generated thousands of words from teachers, unions and academics
30th May 2008, 1:00am

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So much for apathy

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/so-much-apathy
The debate over incessant testing in England has generated thousands of words from teachers, unions and academics.

But over in the south Bronx, New York, it is the 14-year-olds who are taking action.

At least 160 students in Intermediate School 318 simply refused to take a three-hour practice exam for next month’s social studies test.

Instead, they submitted a petition to Maria Lopez, the school principal, and the city’s department of education, saying they were fed up with “constant, excessive and stressful testing”, according to the New York-based Daily News.

The 14-year-olds wanted to spend more time learning about social studies, and less being tested.

The school administrators’ response was to promptly suspend a probationary teacher whom they said had stirred up the unrest.

David Cantor, the education department spokesman, said: “This guy was far over the line in a lot of the ways he was running his classroom. He was giving them messages that were inappropriate.”

We wait to see if the pupil protest crosses the pond.

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