The issue of lost time due to bathroom, coffee, or lunch breaks is one that many industrial work places combat on a daily basis. From a management perspective breaks to meet human bodily needs represents lost time and money. In schools, the testing mania has taken this same concern down to our children’s classrooms. As reported on “Where the Blog Has No Name,” some Washington D.C. area students are earning grades for holding it in. They are able to redeem their unused bathroom passes for extra credit to bump their grades up (read the full entry here).

Want to see who else blogged the Washington Post story on bathroom breaks vs grades? Take a look here

Students aren’t the only people in schools who are forced to forego bathroom breaks. Teachers’ working conditions often make it difficult –if not impossible- for them to take a break in the course of the day (see, for example, article in Vancouver Courier). Reports from accross North America document the problems in working condidtions for teachers. In a recent (May 9, 2006) Dayton Daily News commentary it was reported that 50% of new teachers quite the profession within 5 years. A related Washington Post article describes the situation that confrounts the teaching profession. For a list of links discussing the Washinton Post article look here.

Previous Testing Mania Enteries

Foundational Skills. May 9, 2006
Testing as mechanism of social control. March 17, 2006
Article on the ‘Promise and Peril of High Stakes testing.’ February 10, 2006