February 6th: National Day of Action to support the MAP Boycott
On January 10th, 2013 the entire teaching faculty at Garfield High School (with only three abstentions) voted to support a boycott against administering the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). The staff cited the following reasons for doing so:
- MAP does not test students on curriculum taught in classroom.
- Teacher evaluations will be partly based on MAP outcomes.
- Many students, knowing that the MAP test is not a graduation requirement and will not impact their grades, don’t take it seriously.
- The MAP, specifically, is a waste of time and money, and monopolizes limited school resources (such as computers) during the weeks the test is administered.
On January 21, 2013 Seattle School Superintendent José Banda sent a message to all staff members, defending the exams and asking principals to make sure the tests are
