New Jersey parents joining nationwide boycott of state standardized tests - NorthJersey.com

New Jersey parents joining nationwide boycott of state standardized tests - NorthJersey.com:

New Jersey parents joining nationwide boycott of state standardized tests

THURSDAY APRIL 4, 2013, 12:13 AM

BY  LESLIE BRODY

STAFF WRITER

THE RECORD

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A handful of New Jersey families will join an increasingly vocal national group boycotting state standardized tests this |spring, in the belief that they hinder true learning, fail to measure students’ skills, waste time and squander money.

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Jean McTavish of Ridgewood is a New York City high school principal who is boycotting state tests in New Jersey for her two children, Zac, 10, and Ian, 13, as part of a nationwide movement.

This fledgling revolt comes at a time when education officials in New Jersey and elsewhere are relying more heavily on test scores to evaluate teachers, principals and schools, with the strong backing of President Obama and the vehement opposition of powerful teachers unions.
Jean McTavish, a Ridgewood mother and principal of an alternative high school in New York, said her 10-year-old son, Zak, used to stress out simply seeing the owl in the logo of the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge test, or NJ ASK. Zak and his 13-year-old brother, Ian, won’t be taking the tests this May.
“After 27 years in education, I can’t imagine a