To the editor:

How terribly sad it was to read the comments of the bright-faced students in your photo essay regarding the state English Language Arts exam ("State test jitters," School Desk, Jan. 10).

A third-grader said she and her classmates are "nervous." A fourthgrader said, "We've been studying real hard. I've written more than nine essays … After the test is done our teacher will start calming down on all the work." Another fourthgrader said, "I'm kind of nervous because I can't focus well."

Making third- and fourth-graders this nervous is outrageous. The high-stakes testing mania that has taken over this country is clearly harming our children. Locally, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is a very willing collaborator with this madness. A national study by the Center on Education Policy found that 71 percent of the nation's school districts have reduced hours of instructional time devoted to history, music and other subjects in order to "teach to the tests." How sad that teachers (like the teacher of the fourth-grader in your photo essay) are taking time away from the true art of teaching in order to run students through test prep.

No doubt we need to assess the progress of students, but it is simply insane to rely so heavily on standardized tests, especially with young children. Children this young first need to love learning. I have to believe all this nervousness goes a long way in the opposite direction.

It is also clear that one size does not fit all. Children learn in different ways and display their knowledge in different ways. Real assessment of progress needs to accept this fact and not try to pretend that a 50-minute test tells more than a very small part of the story.

Jack Marth