Resistance To Standardized Testing Not Going Away
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Does populist outrage matter anymore? Anyone following the growing resistance to unpopular standardized testing in the nation’s public schools may soon see.
Thousands of teachers, parents, students, and public school advocates poured into the streets of New York City to call attention to the plight of public schools and to protest new proposals considered by the state legislature.
As a report from progressive news outlet Common Dreams recounts, the protestors’ demands ranged across an array of threats to public education – including lack of resources for schools and the rapid expansion of charter schools – but chief among the complaints was the increased emphasis on high-stakes testing.
The protests echo demands that rang through the halls of the state capital in Albany two days earlier when, according to a report from a local Fox News outlet, teachers “stormed” the building to express their opposition to a new state budget that puts “more emphasis on testing.” Teachers oppose the testing not only because of the effects over-testing has on student learning but also because the tests will be used in teacher evaluations, placing 50 percent of their performance assessment on student scores.
For these reasons and others, teachers across the state are increasingly advocating for parents to resist the influence of standardized tests by opting their children out of the exams. The head of the state’s teacher union endorsed a boycott of the tests. And for the first time, Randi Weingarten, the leader of the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second largest teacher union, spoke out in support of parents who opt their children out of tests, according to a blog post by education historian Diane Ravitch.
Many parents are taking the advice. As education journalist Valerie Strauss reports from her blog at The Washington Post, “New York state has been at the forefront of the opt-out movement, with some 60,000 parents last year deciding not to allow their children to take these tests. Activists say they expect more this year.”
Strauss turned the rest of her post over to New York educators Carol Burris and Bianca Tanis who write, “New York is on the leading edge of a growing national Opt Out movement – a movement that galvanizes the energy of parents, teachers and administrators who are pushing back against the Common Core tests and standardized test-based reforms.”
Burris and Tanis point to a recent survey showing, “by more than a 2 to 1 margin, New Yorkers trust the teachers union more than the governor, and less than 30 percent want test scores to determine teacher pay and tenure.” They point to “a coalition of pro-public school, anti-testing advocates” sponsoring forums across the state to encourage parent to oppose testing.” The forums, they contend, “have drawn hundreds of parents and teachers.”
The opt out movement is becoming so strong, Burris and Tanis maintain, many district school superintendents are taking steps to discourage opt outs for fear of being noncompliant with directives from state board of education.
So after all this outpouring of populist demand, how did state lawmakers respond?
A quick recap in The New York Times notes that negotiations between Governor Andrew Cuomo and state senators produced a bill that enforces “tying teacher evaluations more closely to students’ state test scores.” The resulting legislation will ensure, according to an Albany news outlet, public education governance that “continues to rely heavily on standardized test results.”
Testing mandates sailed through the state Assembly as well, where according to state news outlet Capital, lawmakers passed a bill which “creates a new educator evaluation system” based on a 50 percent wieght from the scores.
New York-based teacher Daniel Katz writes, “The governor’s education agenda only enjoys a 28 percent approval rating. 65 percent do not want tenure tied to test scores. Yet, despite overwhelming disapproval, the Assembly was unable to hold fast with the voting public.”
What’s worse, the legislation that passed ensures test scores will not only become 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation but Resistance To Standardized Testing Not Going Away: