Thursday, October 11, 2012

TOO Much Testing!!

Have you all noticed there was a new sweep of testing on your children this year.. I believe part of it is for Pearson Publishing to evaluate their tests, and part of it is to evaluate the teachers. It was explained to me that in the future there would be Pre-testing of a subject and then post testing as well. This is to ensure that  the teachers are teaching. Unfortunately it holds no baring as to whether you child has learned. For example: If a child's pretest yields a score of 20% and post test he gets a 60% then it is assumed the teacher has taught as the student has "improved", however it does not say if the child has had any mastery of the subject. (in this case clearly not). Tests which do not benefit students and are using hours of precious class time which could be otherwise used for... Teaching?!
Please review these websites and sign the time out from testing petition to help fight NY States new testing requirements.

http://timeoutfromtesting.org/nationalresolution/

http://changethestakes.wordpress.com/

http://timeoutfromtesting.org/

Thank you, suzala, editor.

2 comments:

  1. The followng email was sent to some concerned partents at Old Bethpage Elementary School:
    Plainview Old Bethpage Board Members:

    As you may know, the Old Bethpage PTA is launching an after school drama club. This is in response to an unfair situation that has been occurring in our school for over 15 years. Only one third grade class and one fourth grade class collaborate and participate in what has become an elaborate school play. It is elaborate enough that children look forward to this when they are first and second graders. But a good number of them never get the chance to participate because they are in “the wrong classes.”

    The after school drama club that is now in place is a great solution to the problem that students have faced for many years. We are asking for the after school drama club to be in lieu of the current play that is done during school hours for various reasons. The after school drama club will allow those children who are interested to have the freedom to choose whether they want to participate and allows those who don’t to opt out. It removes the inequity of chances for creative expression, and creates an equal balance amongst our children. It also takes away the feelings of exclusion and disappointment for many of the children who do not get placed with the two specific teachers who “do the play”. Furthermore, many of the children with lead parts who perform in the third grade play are coincidentally moved up to the fourth grade class that participates in the play. This provides them with a second opportunity to take part in the play while many other students are never offered the opportunity. The drama club would allow all children to have the chance to perform in a play year after year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. here is the rest:
    Although many children would like to participate in the play, there are also some parents that are concerned about academic time being taken away from their children during rehearsal time. The drama club would solve this problem. The drama club also alleviates the disruption for other students that is caused by the rehearsals, set development, stage set up, painting of signs and numerous other activities involved for those in the play while they are taking tests and working hard on their academics.

    In addition to the play, these two classes hold a walk-a-thon. This occurs during the day on school grounds, while all the other students are observing as they are working hard in the classrooms. While the walk-a-thon is a great endeavor, it just exacerbates feelings of being left out. The play and walk-a-thon are great opportunities when offered to all students however that is not the case.

    We would like to see equity with the programs in our schools. There is no justification for creating programs for some children while excluding others. Excluding children hurts children. Should this be what we do in elementary school? We hope that you will replace the in school drama school production as it currently exists with this after school program. If you decide to keep the in school drama production intact, we ask that you take immediate actions to alleviate the inequality it creates. We propose that all students be allowed to participate in the walk-a-thon. In addition, we ask that students who have the opportunity to be in the play in the third grade not be allowed a second opportunity in the fourth grade (with an understanding that there may be some exceptions regarding targeted collaborative children). We also ask for the creativity of our teachers to remain within the confines of the classroom, rather than widespread throughout the school.

    We hope that we can use this as a lesson to show our children that we embrace inclusion not exclusion. We believe the after school drama club is a step in the right direction. We would like to see all the children in our school focus on a productive, happy year. We appreciate your consideration and support in making sure each and every one of our students are offered equal opportunities in all aspects of the curriculum.

    Sincerely,
    The concerned parents of Old Bethpage Elementary Students

    ReplyDelete