Can anti-testing bloc swing the 2016 election?
A candidate who embraces the anti-testing movement in education can draw support across party lines
Public school teachers and other opponents of high-stakes testing won a significant, if partial, victory when Congress agreed to revise the No Child Left Behind act on Wednesday. The new law greatly reduces federal penalties on schools that don’t raise standardized test scores quickly enough, even though it leaves many of those tests in place. Most important for teachers, it stops their evaluations from being tied to student test scores. The test-and-punish regime that disappoints and discourages many teachers could soon be a thing of the past.
The No Child Left Behind act, adopted in 2001, brought a battery of tests intended to measure the successes of public schools against a uniform national standard. But as the testing regimen steadily ramped up, consuming more and more school time, a countermovement has grown across the country. This anti-standardized-testing sentiment proves that there are few subjects that get parents as riled up as the education of their children.
The new law, while a welcome change, has not ended the fight against overtesting; it has merely moved the contest back to the states, which will now determine their own policies around testing. As the campaign season continues apace, there is reason for candidates to use their bully pulpits to ride the surge of local discontent over the state of public education in their communities. But it remains to be seen which of the 2016 presidential contenders will decide to champion the effort and tap its momentum.
Too many tests
It’s not hard to see why tests cause many parents to dread sending their kids to school. An August study from Mother Jones found that the average American student takes 10 to 20 standardized tests per year, and a 2013 study from the American Federation of Teachers found tests take up 50 hours a year, and test preparation, 60 hours. Recess, imaginative teaching and socialization are all compromised in favor of cramming for exams. According to a 2014 PDK/Gallup poll, 2 out of 3 public school parents surveyed said they think “standardized tests are not helpful” in teaching students, and 69 percent of public school parents polled said they oppose using student test results in teacher evaluations — up from 58 percent in 2013; PDK/Gallup polling released this summer showed 44 percent said they believe parents should be able to opt out of having their children take standardized tests.
The opt-out movement began in New York, where more than 200,000 pupils, or 20 percent of students, opted out of at least one standardized test in the state during the 2014–15 school year, The New York Times reported. Opt out is now spreading across a diverse array of states, including other populous states such as California and Texas.
In September, Seattle teachers went out on strike for the first time in 30 years to advocate for better conditions for teachers and students — and less testing. As with the 2012 Chicago Teachers Union strike, these union members were demanding not just wage increases but also benefits for their students, including a more balanced school day Can Anti-testing Bloc Swing the 2016 Election? | Al Jazeera America:
