Leading Educators Support Teacher Test Boycott
Date: January 21, 2013
Contact: Brian Jones, Teacher and Doctoral Student, bjones2@gc.cuny.edu
Wayne Au, Professor of Education, wayne@rethinkingschools.org
LEADING EDUCATORS SUPPORT TEACHER TEST BOYCOTT
By now there have been several posts here about the teachers in Seattle who have refused to give a state test. They are now beginning to gain widespread support.
Yesterday there was a Press release, the heading of which is above, and which reads as follows:
Contact: Brian Jones, Teacher and Doctoral Student, bjones2@gc.cuny.edu
Wayne Au, Professor of Education, wayne@rethinkingschools.org
LEADING EDUCATORS SUPPORT TEACHER TEST BOYCOTT
By now there have been several posts here about the teachers in Seattle who have refused to give a state test. They are now beginning to gain widespread support.
Yesterday there was a Press release, the heading of which is above, and which reads as follows:
In a public statement released today, more than sixty educators and researchers, including some of the most well-respected figures in the field of education, pledged support for the boycott of the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test initiated by the teachers at Garfield High School in Seattle, calling the action a “blow against the overuse and misuse of standardized tests.” Among the signers of the statement are former US Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, author Jonathan Kozol and professor Nancy Carlsson-Paige. While the MAP test is used exclusively for rating teachers, “the test’s developers (the Northwest Evaluation Association) have noted the inappropriateness of using tests for such evaluations” the educators wrote.“We’ve had more than a decade of standardized testing,” Ravitch said, “and now we need to admit that it’s not helping.” She added: “By signing this statement, I hope to amplify the voices of