Testing Doesn't = Learning

This time of the year - across the country - children are forced to spend a good portion of their school day taking standardized tests. My nine year old's STAR tests began on Monday and while some kids will ace the test and others will just do their best, a few children will be truly affected by the whole ordeal. These children suffer from test anxiety and for those hours of filling in little bubbles with a number two pencil - it will take years to overcome what this process does to their self esteem.

In the end the result of these test scores mean more to school funding, administrators and politicians than as a gauge to understand any particular students capacity for learning. Year after year President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" program does more to cripple our system than improve it.

But here is something that will encourage a better understanding of this issue. A newly published book written by a good friend of Left-Over titled "Nobody Left Behind: One Child's Story about Testing". It is a fictional story that chronicles nine-year-old Jeffery Taylor's struggle with the all-too-common problem of test anxiety.

We at Left-Over recommend this book to anyone interested in this issue including parents, teachers, administrators and especially politicians. Follow the above link to learn more. Or purchase through the Amazon link on the right.