You won’t believe what New Mexico teachers aren’t allowed to say to students - The Washington Post

You won’t believe what New Mexico teachers aren’t allowed to say to students - The Washington Post:

You won’t believe what New Mexico teachers aren’t allowed to say to students

South Valley Academy students protest after leaving class on March 2 in Albuquerque, N.M. New assessment tests that have angered parents and teachers across the nation prompted the walkouts by hundreds of high school students in New Mexico who had been set to take the exams. (AP Photo/The Albuquerque Journal, Roberto E. Rosales)

Put this in the you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff category: The New Mexico Administrative Code prohibits teachers and other school staff from saying anything negative to students about standardized tests. Or, to be more precise, they are not allowed to say anything that might  “disparage or diminish the significance, importance or use of the standardized tests.” (The word “disparage” is bold-faced on the code’s Web page, which you can see here.)

Veteran teacher Peter Greene wrote about this on his blog, Curmudgucation, calling the implications “chilling.”

What can happen to teachers and other staff who are found to be disparaging the tests, or who violate any of the other more common-place prohibitions in the code relating to test security (not releasing any part of the test, permitting the test to be unsecured in an unlocked room, etc.)? The code addresses this, too, with penalties for “testing irregularities” ranging from ordering the violator to stop, to having their professional license revoked.

Here are the relevant sections of the code:

6.10.7.11         STAFF RESPONSIBILITY:

A.        All school district staff, including administrators, teachers, volunteers and office personnel who come in contact with standardized tests, shall familiarize themselves with basic principles of standardized test security. Any specific questions should be directed, first to their school or district test coordinator, then to the assessment and evaluation unit of the PED.

B.        Test examiners shall:

(1)     administer the standardized test according to the directions and specifications in the standardized test examiner’s manual and during the designated test administration window;

(2)     return the standardized tests to the school or district test coordinator after testing each day during the test administration window for secure overnight storage;

(3)     use test monitors in the hall to gather additional materials or deal with medical situations; and

(4)     review the standardized test examiner’s manual so that administration procedures are understood.

C.        It shall be a prohibitive practice for anyone to:

(1)     photocopy or reproduce in any other fashion including 

You won’t believe what New Mexico teachers aren’t allowed to say to students - The Washington Post: