At 47, Steve Bailey of Jacksonville Beach has seen enough to know that he doesn't much care for the FCAT.
He has taught the classes leading up to the test. He has spent some time scoring the tests. Now he has written a play blasting the test.
Bailey bills his two-act comedy, Testing: A Week in the Life of an Ex-Teacher, as "America's first anti-standardized-testing play." And he wants teachers "as well as other disgruntled workers" to know about it.
He's still auditioning actors for some of the smaller roles, in hopes of staging the play on Jan. 30-31 and Feb. 6-7 in Neptune Beach. Teachers with valid school ID get in for half-price. Some of the language is off-color, he warns. (No surprise there. FCAT has already become a four-letter word to so many educators, right?) So don't bring the kids or pets.
Can't make it? No problem. You can still get a chuckle by checking out Bailey's blog or reading the play for free online (free registration required).
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Get inside the world of Florida education with St. Petersburg Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek and the rest of the Times education reporting team. We'll bring you up-to-date information about the latest education trends, fads and news and dig deep into Tampa Bay area school issues.
Want to read about what really goes on behind school doors? Go to Amazon.com or google and type The Missing Heart: Chronicles of an Educator.
This recently released book is a controversial, yet inspiring story that's drawn the attention of people from across the country. From California to New Hampshire to Colorado and Florida, people are reading this story, one that's based on the actual experiences of a former high school assistant principal in Florida.
Some readers, probably teachers, will relish in the fact that somebody was brave enough to actually write about what they and their students going through with FCAT.
Posted by: WiseHootOwl | January 06, 2009 at 05:13 PM