Are tests the only objective assessments of student learning?

Sometimes I wish I could sit down with the creators of standardized tests and ask them how many years they spent as an educator.  State and National Standards are trying to rate teachers on their students performance from standardized testing.  As an educator, I believe that some value can be found from standardized testing, but at the same time I believe that some of the research has to be bogus.  Since when did education become a business, and why is funding being cut from our future leaders?  Without the proper resources, our students are being set up to fail.  Should we teach our students the knowledge they need to be successful and insightful human beings, or should we continue to teach them how to properly take a test?  I wonder how much money businesses that say they understand education are making from our funding to create exams that do not measure the many different learning styles of our children.  I wish I had up to date resources, but instead money is constantly being wasted trying to meet the beliefs of those that have not set foot in a classroom since their own graduation.  If I had enough money, I could open a school named ex public school teacher charter school, and many would want to attend because charter is in the name of my school.  Current public schools are being closed and funding is being put into alternate schools. It is only a matter of time before all of our current public school students are forced to go to these schools and then everything will start over.

When are we going to start looking forward?  The fact is that our children are unique and each and every one of them learn in different ways.  A quality teacher is constantly assessing their students, both formally, and informally.  As students work with their peers, the teacher is asking the student questions, and in turn assessing what they have learned.  Discussions, projects, participation, collaboration,  and classwork are only some ways teachers are constantly assessing student achievement.  As teachers, we understand the needs of our children and will do whatever we can to make sure their performance levels increase.  I believe in each and every one of my students.  When I step foot I my classroom, I am ready to prepare my students for the future.  When I am in my car driving home from school, or when I am at home, I am constantly thinking about my class and what I can do to help my students achieve.  I am even often wide awake in the middle of the night, or waking up to an idea that can help me help the future of our country.  As I work on furthering my education, I only hope I can utilize the many new ideas that I have received within my graduate program.  With a technology background, I can teach and assess my students with the materials that they crave.  I can assess and monitor the success of my students with a vast amount of resources.  Technology will continue to evolve, and the same thing must happen with the views of education.  We have a wall in front of us as teachers and sometimes we may seem stranded.  I will work as hard as I possibly can with the resources I have to meet the many needs of my students.  I will at least paint a mural on that wall to show that we are creative.  We will come up with ideas of how to get over the wall in small groups.  We will create a presentation of what we have come up with and share it with the world.  Toss us a rope and we will do whatever it takes to get over that wall.