More testing madness: DOE bidding out 408 new standardized exams for our kids
I recently examined the contracts being bid out by DOE for new “local assessments” that they intend to use to evaluate teacher performance. Though back in May, this plan was reported in NY Times as “more than a dozen new standardized tests,” it really is far more. Looking at the “performance based” and “computer adaptive” assessments, each to be given in at least four subjects twice a year, a typical elementary, middle and high school student will now be asked to take at least 16 more standardized exams annually – not counting the state tests or the Regents.
Here is the RFP spreadsheet for the performance-based tests and for the computer adaptive tests.When added together (see chart below), the total number of tests DOE is ordering appears to be a startling 408; or 136 new exams per year for three years.
The RFP is also supposed to include online professional development for teachers, principals, school-based assessment coordinators and central staff, planning meetings and other associated expenses, printing costs,
IN A nation as politically and ideologically riven as ours, it’s remarkable to see so broad an agreement on what ails public schools. It’s the teachers. Democrats from various wings of the party, virtually all Republicans, most think tanks that deal with education, progressive and conservative foundations, a proliferation of nonprofit advocacy organizations, right-wing anti-union groups, hedge fund managers, writers from right leftward, and editorialists in most mainstream media—all concur that teachers, protected by their unions, deserve primary blame for the failure of 15.6 million poor children to excel academically. They also bear much responsibility for the decline of K-12 education overall (about 85 percent of all children attend public schools), to the point that the United States is floundering in the global economy.
The Parent:
