One teacher who hasn't totally taken the week off is NYC Educator; he's been blogging away. Today he takes aim at the culture of school as work that led PS 15 in Springfield Gardens to schedule optional 5-hour test prep sessions daily over winter break, as the Daily News reported earlier this week. "As we know ... inner-city kids with low standardized test scores are not eligible for vacations or time away from the standardized test prep practice mills," NYC Educator writes sarcastically. "They must be socialized to expect a future where 9 and 1/2 hour work days, little-to-no vacation time, and weekend work days are the norm. In addition, they must be socialized to expect that much of their compensation will come in the form of 'performance bonuses'" — in this case, XBox game systems, which were promised to the top scorers on the state test.

NYC Educator thinks that KIPP schools embody this philosophy, and there is an interesting exchange between a KIPP teacher and his critics in the comments. (Of course, we know that KIPP schools, or at least their teachers, have a healthy appetite for fun and games.)

As valid as his critique of the system are, it's true also that of all the dozen tests kids take each year, the January ELA and March math state tests matter the most for promotion and placement. Even if you're no fan of high-stakes tests, you've got to want to give kids a fair chance to succeed on them as long as they are required, and I've always thought it didn't make too much sense to have such a high-stakes test just five school days after a holiday vacation full of travel, sugar, and video games. If PS 15 cuts the kids some slack after the exam — and for the three kids who bring Xboxes home, it will have to — holding lessons the day after Christmas might be a semi-reasonable thing to do.