Abstract
Progressive Teaching amidst Standardization
Current U.S. educational policies set high standards for students’
achievements, but reduce students’ opportunities to interact and thus learn
effectively. Also, current focusing on standardized tests promotes teaching
students to memorize facts and successfully take tests rather than developing
students’ higher order thinking skills that turn the students into responsible
decision makers. My study describes the results of the reflection process of a K-
12 ESL teacher Barbara whose case shows that a K-12 ESL teacher can work
on achieving the existing educational standards without having a negative
impact on ESL students.
Keywords
ESL teacher, standardized test.