Fred Smith, a test
specialist formerly with the NYC Department of Education
(DOE) stated, “The State Education Department took a
half-step by releasing 50 percent of the English and math
questions from the April 2014 exams. It was a half-step not
just because it falls halfway short of full disclosure, but
also because SED fails to provide data at its disposal that
would enable objective evaluation of the questions, each of
which is a brick in the wall of the testing program.”
Where is our union - UFT/NYSUT/AFT? Just the other day, NYSUT Puppet President Karen Magee led a phony tearing up the Pearson contract event. I'll let Arthur over at NYC Educator make the case:
NYSUT Takes a Stand. Or Is it a Sit?
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 14, 2014
More information contact:
Parents
and Educators Reject the Tests, the Scores and Corporate
Agenda of NYSED & Pearson
Today Commissioner
John King and Chancellor Merryl Tisch released the test
scores of the state exams in 3-8th grades,
showing that, more than 68% of the state’s students were
judged not proficient in English Language Arts (ELA) and
more than 64% not proficient in Math. The overall results
were largely flat with little to no change year over year
with only small gains and drops for specific demographic
groups.
Members of the New
York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE), a coalition
of more than 50 parent and educator advocacy groups,
challenge the quality of the tests, the accuracy of the
scores, and the motives of those who have manufactured these
results. This past spring, NYSAPE estimated that at least
44,000 students had opted out of the state exams; today the
Commissioner admitted that the number was as large as 60,000
compared to 10,000 in 2013.
As the growing
problems with New York's excessive and speculative testing
reforms are exposed, parents across the state are outraged
and calling for an overhaul at the state education
department.
Lisa Rudley,
Westchester county public school parent and founding member
of NYSAPE said, “Though Commissioner John King assured us
that the new Common Core state tests would be a much better
reflection of the skills students will need for ‘college and
career’ success with the release of 50% of the questions
last week, we learned what educators were forbidden by law
from telling us: these were flawed tests, riddled with
vague questions, inappropriate reading passages and multiple
product placements. In its new Pearson contract signed
amidst a financial crisis, NYSED doubled annual spending on
testing and even worse, eliminated the transparency of the
previous McGraw-Hill contract. Where is the management from
NYSED and the oversight from the Board of Regents?"
Dr. Carol Burris,
principal of South Side High School on Long Island said,
"Considering the more than $28 million taxpayer investment
in curriculum modules, this paltry increase in scores is one
more indication of the ineffectiveness of State Education
Department's reforms, and the inappropriateness of the
Common Core tests. Parents should take heart in knowing that
the ‘college readiness‘ proficiency scores have no
connection with reality. My high school and many other
well-resourced high schools in NY have proven records of
preparing students for college success that are no way
connected to the state's newest measure of proficiency."
Eric Mihelbergel,
Erie County public school parent and founding member of
NYSAPE said, "If the released questions are this bad, you
have to wonder how much worse the other half were. I have
no confidence in the results released today. Parents
now demand new leadership for a Board of Regents and
Commissioner of Education who repeatedly fail to adequately
respond to their legitimate concerns.”
“Many of the
multiple choice questions required up to five steps and
compelled 8 year olds to flip back forth between numbered
paragraphs. The question becomes more of a measure of
attention, memory and test taking skills rather than their
deep understanding of a text. The commissioner has stated
that education should not be about test prep, but these
tricky assessments all but ensure that test prep will
continue -- to the detriment of real learning,” said Bianca
Tanis, an Ulster County public school parent and special
education teacher.
Jeanette
Deutermann, Nassau County public school parent and founder
of Long Opt Out said, “This past spring, 55,000 to 60,000
New York State students were spared from yet another year of
test scores that were designed to show a large majority of
failures. The number of opt outs will steadily grow until
NYSED takes the concerns of parents seriously and makes the
necessary changes to our children's excessive high stakes
testing regimen. High stakes testing and the Regents
Agenda have hijacked our classrooms, and every day more
parents become aware of how they too must protect their
children from these harmful policies.”
Jessica McNair,
Oneida County public school parent and educator notes,
"Until the NYSED acknowledges that these developmentally
inappropriate exams take time away from instruction, cost
taxpayers, and set kids up to fail -- in an attempt to
perpetuate the false narrative of Governor Cuomo’s ‘death
penalty’ for schools -- parents will continue to refuse to
allow their children to participate in these state tests.”
“The test content
was not sufficiently disclosed and there was no quality
assurance or mechanism for parents or educators to obtain
valuable feedback. The bottom line is that students are
getting hurt, money is being wasted and precious time is
being spent on high stakes testing at the expense of more
meaningful instruction. The system surrounding the NYS
testing program is dysfunctional to say the least,” said
Anna Shah, Dutchess County public school parent.
Fred Smith, a test
specialist formerly with the NYC Department of Education
(DOE) stated, “The State Education Department took a
half-step by releasing 50 percent of the English and math
questions from the April 2014 exams. It was a half-step not
just because it falls halfway short of full disclosure, but
also because SED fails to provide data at its disposal that
would enable objective evaluation of the questions, each of
which is a brick in the wall of the testing program.”
“Like many other
parents, I see how flawed the tests are as a measure of
learning, and fear for all those millions of students who
are told, unjustly, and at an early age, they aren’t
‘college and career ready’. These tests which ask our
children to prove the existence of Big Foot and expose them
to numerous and inappropriate product placements are the
furthest from rigor one could imagine. I question the
motives of the bureaucrats and the testing companies who are
forcing these inappropriate exams onto our children – to try
to prove to the public that our schools and children are
failing, so they can better pursue their privatization
agenda and the outsourcing of education into corporate
hands,” said Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class
Size Matters.
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