Test Scores: Plain and Simple

"When I die, I want my standardized test score,
Every one of them, carved into my gravestone."

"When I retire from teaching, I want my students to
Remember me as the teacher who increased their test scores."

"I am looking forward to the time my children become
School-age, so they will be exposed to high-stakes tests.
It will show them whether they will be a have or a have not."

"Who am I? I am the 75th percentile."

While assessing performance is a necessary part
Of determining progress,
A single "one fits all" assessment is incapable of
Capturing the intellectual growth of a person.

While accountability may be necessary when
Holding a large government institution in charge
Of serving the nation's children,
One person cannot be solely responsible
For its success or failure.
This is truly irresponsible.

We, as a nation, inadequately support the development
Of thoughtful citizens when we apply narrow-minded agendas;
Ironically, we perpetuate the mis-education of millions of students
And their teachers,
All in the name of accountability.

Accountable to whom?
Accountability to what?
Turning a complex context like teaching
And learning into a simple formula
Is counter-intuitive.
Plain
and
Simple.

Love Crawlers

You left me standing in the road
No where left to go
So I roamed,
I roamed
Clutching the remnants of my soul.

I left you quiet on the phone
No one to speak to for years after
So you moved on
Moved on,
Like usual
To experience a new heart exchange
Only to find yourself searching once again.

Through poetics, we attempt communication as
Symbols and metaphors bridge
Our imaginations
While never revealing the muse.

Carpe Diem believer no more,
For my reflections are caught in recurrence,
Whirling around and around.
The wind is fierce
So I fall down and crawl
Underneath the flying debris
In between the lines on each stanza I read.