I’ve spent the last two days scoring our district’s fifth grade NYS Social Studies exams. It was an exhausting job. Teaching is so much easier–and a lot more fun. There was a wonderful article in Sunday’s New York Times about the No Child Left Behind act. I agree with so much of it and wish there was some way to take the pressure off ten year old children who are now being asked to recall and synthesize three years worth of social studies content and then write an essay to answer a document-based question. So many kids did a great job, but there are many who are not yet ready for such challenges. They are left feeling inadequate and their teachers are wondering how they will ever be able to help them "reach the standard." When will the government realize that one standard does not fit all ten year olds? What happened to the true meaning of "developmental?"