DEAR COMMISSIONER HESPE: THE FLOODGATE OF REFUSALS ARE BREAKING OPEN
Dear Commissioner Hespe,
It’s 11:00 on a Monday night. I have my student teaching tomorrow, so I promised myself I would log off my computer and get some good sleep tonight. But before logging off, I ran across an NJ.com article in which you were quoted reacting to the PARCC test that began in many districts today. In part you stated:
“We had some district problems, but not many,” Hespe said of technology issues. “Far fewer than we expected to be completely candid with you.”
THIS IS FAR FEWER THAN YOU EXPECTED? With all due respect, the blatant dismissal of reality is astounding here. Students sitting for hours in some cases waiting for the tests to start working, glitches all during the testing window, and even district having to completely shut down the test only a few minutes in because the system was not performing. This is far fewer technology issues than you expected?
Here is a little summary of what happened in one district today, reported by students:
At start of day, 11th graders (approximately 740 students) were set to take the test in the two different school cafeterias. They were set up with 4 -5 kids at each table. Each kid received their own set of headphones. It is our understanding that the test started 45 minutes late in one cafeteria due to connectivity issues. The other cafeteria started few minutes late. Block 1 (the high school runs on a block schedule of 4 blocks a day, A days and B days – this is when testing was for juniors) was to be released out of testing at 10:30ish, but students were not, and therefore late for next set of classes (Block 2). Approximately 1/2 of the kids in the one cafeteria refused the test (that’s approximately 90 students). Kids who refused were listening to music and reports say kids were talking to one another the entire time. Apparently students were to test only 1 section, but many kids did all 3 sections because they were given codes to 3 sections. This raises the question of whether the test would be invalidated or not. Kids were also supposed to read district provided material but many kids read what they wanted to read. Many students are angry, and some were crying because parents forced them to take the test. Regularly scheduled Dear Commissioner Hespe: The Floodgate of Refusals are Breaking Open | The Education Activist: From Student to Teacher:
