A terrible place to teach: too many students, too little time and too many tests are ruining schools today. .

It seemed funny at the time. I was in junior high school, seventh-grade Spanish class, to be exact. It was mining outside, so I brought my squirt gun to class. I held it in my lap, hidden from the teacher's view, and strategically squirted the ceiling when she wasn't looking.

I then dutifully raised my hand and pointed out to the teacher that water was dripping from the ceiling. She studied it momentarily and then called the office to report that the roof was leaking. I wish I hadn't done it, but at the time it seemed like a great experiment.

"That's a great one!" one friend told me as three of us traded such stories during a recent lunch. Then we got talking about teaching. It was fun reminiscing about catching students who tried our old tricks, but my focus quickly turned to how much I loved teaching. My mind's instant replay kept calling up experiences with specific students and classes, and the mixture of successes and challenges that make teaching so rewarding.

As I enthusiastically told story after story to my friends, one of them finally asked, "So, how come you left?"

My immediate, almost involuntary response was, "Because school is a terrible place to teach."

As soon as I said it, I knew I had the topic for this column. These aren't just empty words. After 20 years of reform in earnest, little has changed. Sure, we've moved from a junior high school model to a middle school model, but has there been any significant increase in middle-grade student achievement? We've tinkered with block scheduling, but let's face it: school is still mostly what it was; 25 little desks and one big desk. The bell still waits for no one--forget teachable moments, just keep moving because you've only got four minutes to get to your next class. We talk about interdisciplinary curriculum, but content is still divided into discreet subjects and the day into fixed periods. That's just the way we do it.

IT MIGHT BE WORSE TODAY Unfortunately, some of our attempts at reform may actually have made things worse. One veteran high school history teacher told me he's never been more frustrated. His gripes: too many students, too little time and too many tests.

He argues that for achievement to go up, teachers need more time with fewer students. That would allow him to set higher expectations and implement accountability that's grounded in deeper and more effective interactions. Today, he has so many students for such short periods of time that accountability, rarely goes any deeper than basic classroom management, where students meet the standard simply by not being disruptive.

MORE IS MORE, AND LESS IS ... Today his curriculum focuses almost exclusively on test preparation. The steadily increasing emphasis on objective measurement has forced him to put aside the role playing that is his favorite teaching method. According to this teacher, studying history through role playing gives students a deeper understanding into the unfolding of history, and more practical insight into current events. It's a classic example of the "less-is-more" principle promoted so heavily in the early days of reform. But now, more is more, and less won't help you pass the test.

Having to change classrooms several times per day compounds his problems. Without a permanent classroom, it's nearly impossible to create and maintain lessons and projects that continue over several class periods. Several limes each day he has to pack up all of his materials and move to the next class. A shared desk (and shared computer) in the faculty room just doesn't cut it.

He still believes good teaching is the key to academic achievement, but has come to the conclusion that his school is a terrible place to teach. Then he watches his students. Like him, they have to gather all of their things every 50 minutes or so, and hustle to another location to start afresh on another subject.

He believes it's just as hard for them to find continuity and connections in their courses. Everything is so fragmented. Maybe the typical school environment lends itself best to rote memorization and objective tests. But is that the kind of learning we want? No, and it's ... wait ... Sorry, I've got to go; I think the roof is leaking again.

Daniel E. Kinnaman, [e-mail], is publisher.