Issue In Education

Let me start out by saying I don't have a link to any article, this blog will address an issue that came up on Thursday in an Adaptive Physical Education (APE) meeting. Next year in the Evergreen School District we will start to administer a written test similar to the WASL in that it is standardized and is mandated by the State. The test will focus on aspects of health and fitness in physical education. At the meeting we were told that all our APE students will be required to take the test. As an APE teacher our only focus is to improve basic motor skills in students, their currently is no health and fitness in our curriculum. After looking over the test the conclusion of the APE members present, is that the language of the test at each grade level is far beyond what our students are capable of understanding. Another problem that exist is that a great number of our students can't even read do to the severity of their disability. As a APE teacher I understand the importance of health and fitness but I also understand that the amount of time needed to teach this information to my students far surpasses the amount of time I have in class. An example of this is a basic muscle test that I give my higher students at the high school each year. The test gives a picture of the human body with arrows pointing at ten specific muscles. The names of the muscles are included on the test so students simply need to attach the name to each muscle. We go over this information each day in class before an activity for two weeks before administering the test. Roughly one third of my students are able to score at seventy percent and above. The state mandated test is eight pages long including seven questions that are response driven. There is no way any of my students will be able to come close to passing this test. My dilemma is do I take the time and try to prepare my students for a test that none of them will be able to pass or do I simple focus on the curriculum that is most beneficial to my students. I have gotten my first taste of what other special education teachers are experiencing with the WASL and I don't like it one bit.