The numbers of teaching

No Child Left Behind...
API...
AYP...
Meeting subgroups' targets...
Locating and filling the gaps...
Yes, these are the mathematical equations of current public education. Meeting standards is an important part of teaching as is some sort of an evaluation process. But I am always struck by the fallout of the annual review of STAR testing. We start with the positive but somehow that gets forgotten with all the highlighting, circling and recording of numbers. Experienced teachers end up looking like they were just hit by a truck. Yes, there is always more we can be doing to improve the delivery of instruction. But these are human beings we're dealing with and young humans at that. A piece of this has to be attributed to human nature. Humans get scared, they freak out, they get tired. Everything children learn is not represented on the STAR test. There are no numbers to represent the love of learning that is born in the primary classroom, the social skills involved in working and living within a classroom community, or the relationships that grow between teacher and child that lasts a lifetime. As teachers, it is important to keep everything in balance. The numbers are important but so are the faces that rest in front of those little brains we are testing, scoring, and evaluating. The faces that record what's happening on the inside - feelings of self worth, pride in each attempt, the beaming smile that comes from the eventual success, and trusting the classroom where it is safe to take risks.