Fair Test: Testing Resistance & Reform News: April 18-23, 2013
Every week seems to set a new record for coverage of the rapidly expanding national movement against high-stakes testing overkill. -- Fair TestExcept at Gotham Schools.
Read the idiot Gotham Schools piece supporting Pearson tests by Jennifer Borgioli who actually cites George W. Bush to support testing and makes other nonsensical points or as one activist states: it is one of the worst edited pieces I have ever seen. It is illogically constructed, badly written and the arguments are so weak as to be laughable, and read NYC Educator's piece critiquing it (Gotham Schools Defends High-Stakes Testing)
Let's show some muscle. Change the Stakes RALLY Friday, 4PM: CLEANING UP the MESS of HIGH STAKES TESTING
Check this list from Fair Test's Bob Schaeffer:
Every week seems to set a new record for coverage of the rapidly expanding national movement against high-stakes testing overkill. In addition to stories about resistance to standardized exams from a dozen states, many excellent commentaries were published in the past few days.
Remember that back issues of these updates are online at http://fairtest.org/news -- click on the red button at the top of the page to Donate to support FairTest's work making testing reform news and distributing it.
Overuse of High-Stakes Tests Feeds Cheating Explosion -- USA Today editorial response by FairTest
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/04/22/standardized-tests-cheating--editorials-debates/2104923/
High-Stakes Testing Exposed . . . Again
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=11240#more
Education "Reform" Missing Another "R" -- Results
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/education-reform-missing-another-r-word-results-rf9hgtc-202854471.html
How Do You Evaluate Teachers Who Change Lives? (not by "value-added" test scores)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/04/17/28cella.h32.html
New York Parents: My Kids Not Taking Another Standardized Test
http://news.yahoo.com/york-parents-kid-not-taking-another-standardized-test-025008171.html
Parents Outraged by Common Core Testing
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/education/common-core-testing-spurs-outrage-and-protest-among-parents.html
Error by Testing Giant Pearson Shuts 2,700 NYC Students Out of Gifted-and-Talented Classes
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exam-error-shuts-2-700-gifted-talented-programs-article-1.1322573
Chicago Students Plan Boycott of State Test
http://www.wbez.org/news/students-want-boycott-state-test-106735
In Bid to Pare Exams, Texas Targets Pearson
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/04/21/taking-aim-testing-firm-quest-pare-state-exams/
State Tests Impede Learning
http://www.statesman.com/news/news/opinion/westerlund-state-tests-impede-learning/nXQR3/
Crash Test: A History of Texas Testing and the Growing Resistance
http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/history-of-standardized-testing-in-texas
Portland Students Protest High-Stakes Testing
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/04/cleveland_high_school_students.html
Ohio School Administrators Under Investigation in Another Cheating Scandal
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/04/17/ohio-new-school-cheating-scandal
Testing Regime Fails Georgia Students
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2013-04-20/blackmon-testing-regimen-failing-georgia-students
Only Bubble-Headed Zombies Rely on Standardized Testing in North Carolina
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/13/2821145/our-bubble-headed-zombie-creating.html
Testing time: Anxious Kids. Angry Parents. Approaching Revolution
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/apr/20/testing-time-anxious-kids-angry-parents/
Teaching to Test Takes Away From Education
http://www.seminolechronicle.com/vnews/display.v/ART/516ffd6a3ad3b
School Uses Bribes and Threats to Make Students Take Tests
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/22/school-warns-students-no-test-no-sports/
Standardized Testing: The Great Deception
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-rhonda-joy-edwards-vansant/standardized-testing-the-_1_b_3118062.html
Testing Addiction is Real School Scandal
http://www.toledoblade.com/Keith-Burris/2013/04/21/The-real-school-scandal-is-our-testing-addiction.html
How High-Stakes Testing Transformed My Job From Great to Infuriating
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/21/teacher-how-my-job-went-from-great-to-infuriating/
The First Race to the Top
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/opinion/sunday/the-first-testing-race-to-the-top.html
Change the Stakes RALLY Friday, 4PM: CLEANING UP the MESS of HIGH STAKES TESTING
MORE teachers will be joining with Change the Stakes parents this Friday at 4PM. Following this event some MOREs and ICEers will be going out to dinner for informal election return analysis.
Note the editorial pages and cartoons of the papers are jumping on parent opt-outers as coddling their kids. Just shows you how threatening this movement is to ed deformers.
Whether or not your children took the state tests, please join a rally in front of Tweed on FRIDAY 4/26 at 4pm to protest the ways that high-stakes testing is robbing our children of a decent education! BRING THE KIDS!
Like this on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/121996241329636/?notif_t=plan_edited
Note the editorial pages and cartoons of the papers are jumping on parent opt-outers as coddling their kids. Just shows you how threatening this movement is to ed deformers.
Whether or not your children took the state tests, please join a rally in front of Tweed on FRIDAY 4/26 at 4pm to protest the ways that high-stakes testing is robbing our children of a decent education! BRING THE KIDS!
RALLY
CLEANING UP the MESS of HIGH STAKES TESTING and
Putting Back the 'PUBLIC' in Public Education
Our children are NOT a test score!
WHEN: Friday, April 26 at 4 pm*
WHERE: TWEED NYC Department of Education
52 Chambers Street
(4, 5, 6 to Brooklyn Bridge. N, R to City Hall. J to Chambers Street)
WHO: Families, Teachers, Children and Supporters of Educational Justice
WHY: Because private schools already said "NO!" to high stakes testing!
Because WE demand 180 days of learning!
Because schools should foster a love for life long learning.
Because positive relationships between schools and families are at the core of learning.
BRING SIGNS with YOUR VISION and DEMANDS for the SCHOOLS
we want OUR CHILDREN to be in.
Bring Mops, Brooms, Scrub brushes,
Buckets and cleaning supplies to Mop UP the MESS!
Bring #2 Pencils for us to transform them into a new vision of Public Education
JOIN Change The Stakes (www.changethestakes.org)
and Time Out From Testing (www.timeoutfromtesting.org)
*Rain Date: Tuesday, April 30 @ 4 pm
Like this on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/121996241329636/?notif_t=plan_edited