Failing the test
Smarter Balanced assessment does more harm than good
My high school son will not be taking the Smarter Balanced assessment this spring.
According to the Oregon Department of Education, parents may request that their children be exempted from state testing based on either disability or religious belief, which means any personal ethical standard. My ethical standard includes the view that schools should implement research-based practices that will help all students, regardless of background, achieve success.
Further, it goes against my ethical standard to capitulate to a conspiracy that apparently involves the richest man on the planet, a company that has made billions on high-stakes tests that have failed to improve achievement or equity, cohorts of a woman who wants to destroy public schools, and a secretary of education who forces schools to hold teachers accountable for factors that are entirely outside their control.
Lastly, I believe it is a grievous sin to intentionally set young people up for failure.
Instead of addressing the underlying concerns of poverty, its harmful effects on student achievement, and school funding inequities and inadequacies, our nation has tried for more than a decade to raise student performance by testing students and then using the results to shame them, their teachers and their school leadership. The No Child Left Behind Act has failed to improve student achievement.
As a result of the primary focus being placed on tests, schools today are less creative and engaging, while instruction in physical education, music and art has been reduced. Schools don’t have time to focus on things like helping students learn how to cooperate and resolve relationship problems.
Schools have become test factories. Teachers are forced to spend time teaching students how to take tests, instead of helping them learn more about the world around them.
A recent open letter to President Obama and Congress signed by more than 2,000 education researchers and professors stated: “We are researchers and professors in colleges, universities, and other research institutions throughout the United States with scholarly and practical expertise in public education, including education policy, school reform, teaching and learning, assessment, and educational equity. ... (W)e strongly urge departing from test-focused reforms that not only have been discredited for high-stakes decisions, but also have shown to widen, not close, gaps and inequities.”
The underlying idea of the Common Core was to identify what students need to learn so they can be successful in the 21st century and ensure that students are better able to engage in critical thinking and problem solving. This is actually a good idea. The problems emerge when you look behind the curtain of the idea’s implementation.
Contrary to what the promoters say, the Common Core was not initiated by states or educators. The Gates Foundation kick-started this venture by providing more than $200 million to the various organizations supporting the idea. Microsoft will reap huge financial benefits from the investments in technology. Pierson Corp. has made and will make billions off the sales of high-stakes tests and low quality curriculum designed to teach to the test.
The lead writers of the Common Core standards, David Coleman and Jason Zimba, were also the foundational board members for StudentsFirst — an organization created by Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of Washington, D.C., schools whose perspectives on education and lack of respect for public school teachers are abhorrent. The Common Core standards were not created with significant involvement by educators, and there has been insufficient professional educational review.
A joint statement by over 500 early childhood professionals stated: “We have grave concerns about the core standards for young Failing the test | Opinion | The Register-Guard | Eugene, Oregon:
