Educators air academic alternative to increased student testing - NorthJersey.com

Educators air academic alternative to increased student testing - NorthJersey.com:

Educators air academic alternative to increased student testing

SUNDAY JANUARY 12, 2014, 10:09 PM

BY  GEORGE WIRT

STAFF WRITER

THE MONTCLAIR TIMES

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Montclair public schools could take a different route in assessing their students' academic achievement.

STAFF PHOTOS BY GEORGE WIRT

Above, at left, teacher Avram Barlowe describes his experiences with students at a school using performance-based assessments. Below, Ann Cook of the New York Standards Consortium fields questions from some of the more than 100 people who attended Sunday's Montclair Cares About Schools forum.

Members of the New York Performance Standards Consortium said the Montclair School District and other districts in New Jersey don't have to lock themselves into an expanded regime of standardized testing to gauge whether their students are meeting the recently adopted Common Core State Standards.
"The performance-based system allows students to show what they know and what they can do without resorting to high-stakes testing," Ann Cook, the Consortium's director told The Montclair Times. "I don't think there is any comparison between a high-stakes testing system and a system that uses performance-based assessment."
Cook's comments came following the Montclair Cares About Schools public forum Sunday afternoon on alternatives to student testing programs.
The nearly three-hour long session was cosponsored by MCAS, the Bloomfield Board of Education, the Montclair Education Association and by Save Our Schools New Jersey, and drew an audience of more than 100 from Montclair and several surrounding towns.
Increased student testing has become a controversial issue in Montclair since the Board of Education adopted a new strategic plan last

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