How Mass Civil Disobedience at a Seattle High School Catalyzed the 'Education Spring'
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Our jazz band is a perennial winner of the Essential Ellington national completion, our track and basketball team are perennial state contenders, our drumline just took the top place in the end of the year regional competition, and we have award winning clubs such as Junior State of America debate team and the knowledge bowl. But this year we scored a whole different kind of victory: Not a high score on the test, but a defeat of the test itself. Not a win for a competition, but a victory for the solidarity of students, parents, and teachers in the struggle for authentic assessment over standardized testing.
On January 9, 2013, teachers at Garfield held a press conference announcing their unanimous vote to boycott the Measures of Academic Progress test. At that press conference Garfield's academic dean and testing coordinator, Kris McBride explained, "Our teachers have come together and agree that the MAP test is not good for our students, nor is it an appropriate or useful tool in measuring progress. Students don't take it seriously. It