An Arizona Teacher's Perspective On Testing And Football

Teacher Brian Tatum, of Heber, Arizona, wrote this to The Arizona Republic:

As a teacher, I would like to share this comparison between football and the AIMS (Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards) test.

A fellow teacher shared this with me:

1.All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.

2.All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities. All kids will play football at a proficient level.

3.Talented players will be asked to work out on their own, without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don't like football.

4.Games will be played year-round, but statistics will only be kept in the fourth, eighth and 11th games.

5.This will create a New Age of Sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimal goals. If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind.

Education will never become as expensive as ignorance.

I guess that we could say that we've still a long way to go if we are going to score enough touchdowns to suit the legions of expert coaches (few of which have actually played the game) standing on the sidelines just itching to bench a few players. Meanwhile, I think I know who is up in the luxury skybox watching the game.

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