Across New York State, a small if vocal movement urging a rejection of standardized exams took off this year, maturing from scattered displays of disobedience into a widespread rebuke of state testing policies.
At least 165,000 children, or one of every six eligible students, sat out at least one of the two standardized tests this year, more than double and possibly triple the number who did so in 2014, according to an analysis by The New York Times.
… At the same time, some education officials and advocacy groups fear, the opt-out movement will reverse a long-term effort to identify teachers and schools — and students — who are not up to par, at least as far as their test performance goes. Of particular concern is that without reliable, consistent data, children in minority communities may be left to drift through schools that fail them, without consequences.
Parents interviewed in the article say that they’re not trying to avoid low test scores, though children’s scores did plummet last year after the new Common Core standards were instituted. Rather, parents said “they felt [tests] put too much stress on students, for example, or because they wanted to make a statement on behalf of teachers.” Under Common Core, teacher evaluations and tenure are both tied to test performance scores. This has resulted in a strong reaction from teachers’ unions and parents throughout New York.
Critics of the campaigns against testing, including many state and local education officials, say the unions are not acting out of concern for children but are trying to undercut efforts to institute tougher evaluations. They argue that annual testing is critical for tracking how effectively schools are educating poor and minority students and that evaluations based only on subjective criteria like observations typically fail to identify weak teachers.
But the other lens we must consider is a positive one: for those with more libertarian inclinations, this development could be good. It removes educational power from the state, and instead vests it with parents and teachers, who one might argue are a better judge of students’ needs and performance than any test can be. It is worth noting that tests are not always a good judge of a student’s abilities: much depends on the learning style of the student. Many parents and teachers are cautious of standardized tests because they believe that, while tests may quantitatively measure a students abilities, they cannot take into account the qualitative growth of that student.
Homeschoolers have been “opting out” of regular standards for decades. Though many take standardized tests, depending on the requirements of their state, many also avoid such testing whenever they can—as do many private schools.
We must also carefully consider whether tying teacher performance to test scores will truly improve students’ classroom experience. While it may have a positive effect, it may also propel teachers to stick solely to test-related material, thus significantly narrowing students’ learning possibilities. The fear of losing one’s job over standardized tests may even motivate teachers to cheat, as NPR reported last year. Thus, the idea that high-stakes testing provides accountability is tenuous at best. It largely depends on the situation and the teacher. A one-size-fits-all education model may in fact result in less learning and less accountability.
Interestingly, this latter view—that standardized testing can be unproductive or even damaging—seems to be shared by many on both left and right: it appeals to unions, to “parents who object to testing,” and to “Republicans who oppose the Common Core standards as a federalization of education,” as Kate Taylor and Motoko Rich note in their Times piece.
But both pros and cons should be taken into account—as The Onion reminds us in this piece on standardized testing (albeit humorously), there are two sides to the story.
Tagged Common Core Standards, standardized testing, New York.
Our children go to parochial school in the Archdiocese of NY, which has imposed the Common Core in all of its schools. We sat out the state Common Core tests this year because it was the only way we could think of to register our oppostion to the Common Core curriculum (the Archdiocese responds to letters by sending a pre-printed postcard, so it was clear that writing would not have any effect).
I can’t speak for what goes on in NY but I can speak for Texas. This article hit home because my wife just got her 4th grade class STAAR test results and they were not good. You could visibly see the deflation of morale in her eyes and posture. All the time (her own and the school’s) that was put into the children’s education was declared by two tests to be a waste of time. In a few days, that depression will change to anger. Anger at the parents, the school, the state. It is because of nonsensical articles like the NYT article that focuses on teacher performance and test results when there is no coorelation between the two.
My wife went from a high socioeconomic school to a lower SE school with a lot of the same administration. Almost all passed the STAAR at the former. So what changed? Not teacher performance. If anything, performance increased, hours put in increased. I know how much my wife spends out of her own pocket on her classroom (over $1000/year) We, as a culture, hold teachers accountable, administrations accountable, students accountable. However, the one group we never hold accountable is parents. And that is where the problem lies. We have children who have to find their own way to school (and younger siblings as well), who are not fed (yes, there is free breakfast, but the kids have to get to school on time to eat it).
I could go on but I doubt anyone will listen. Everybody thinks they are an expert because they once went to school.
And, BTW, Texas doesn’t have teacher’s unions.
As much as pain STAAR testing is to the students, I still opting in as being measured 10 different ways is great ‘real world’ training for corporate America.
Curious how the Asian kids who go to those same public schools do so very well. Why? Could it be the families they come from? Duh. The schools could be better, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that we have so many lousy families. All this testing is masking the problem. Children who come from families who care, and who make them do their homework, demand good performance and invest the time and energy with their children, will be more successful, irrespective of Common Core, testing, and all educational mumbo-jumbo.
RE: your last paragraph. I clicked through to the Onion piece – it is really just the thinnest veneer of humor laid on top of points that are sadly all too close to the actual truth.
Teachers should not be judged on their students’ test scores. They should be judged on the CHANGE in their students’ test scores – how well they do at the end of the year compared with how well they did at the beginning. And no Common Core nor nationally standardized tests are needed to accomplish that. The school systems, the teachers themselves, can draw up their own tests, based upon what they want their students to achieve, and thereby set their own standards and a measure to see if they meet them.
The fact is, most efforts now being made to improve education by improving student test scores, particularly for those, minorities, the poor, single parent homes, etc., most likely to score low, are a waste of money. That which is holding these children back is not their teachers, not their schools, it is their life outside of school, in their homes and neighborhoods. All the furor over school performance is not going to change that, and we should stop making schools scapegoats for societal problems.
Opting out of unnecessary and redundant testing is probably a positive development, but if these parents’ children continue to sit in classrooms where the teachers “teach to the test” their other students will be taking, instead of teaching course material or, even more significantly, teaching the skills of study and work which will be more important to success in life than the knowledge of any course material, the “opt out” may not be of much benefit.
American students are doomed to fail not because of poor teaching practices or poor parenting, but because your education system simply doesn’t focus on core competency; math, language and science.
European children can run circles around your “education” given most American kids (except immigrants) can’t speak more than one language, few can barely get through basic algebra and fewer yet are required to know classic literature or history.
It’s all about “feeling good about themselves” regardless of whether or not they can read or write a basic sentence, let alone understand it. And to compensate for their dismal lack of academic ability, you push them into sports so at least they can feel good about playing with a ball.
The American educational system is a joke, worse than some third world countries. But since you moved all your industry to China, your kids only need to be as smart as the average Wal-Mart greeter, since that’s where they’ll end up working, trying to pay off their college loans for their useless degrees.
I teach a STAAR tested high school subject. The Onion also mentioned the tests honing the cheating ability of teachers. Cheating is rampant at my school, but it’s not the (or just the) teachers, it’s the school. They do not promote cheating directly but there is no incentive for cheaters to be caught because it creates paperwork and could prevent the school from getting “distinctions” and other awards from the state, which would slow down the career advancement of the administrators.
I teach some truly wonderful people and some truly great students, but I also teach a lot of kids who are functionally illiterate (in 11th grade!), who skip consistently, who have no positive role models in their lives outside of school and who couldn’t care less about tests. People talk about accountability, as of yet my district doesn’t have any true accountability. If all of my students failed, I would still have a job next year if I wanted one, no doubt; perhaps I’d get moved to a non tested subject. BUT, there is still pressure on me for all of my students, even the ones who don’t come, to perform well and when it’s time to fail students, only teachers have to do any paperwork, not the 18 year old 10th graders, not the parents. The system is designed to turn a blind eye to cheating and to give people who can’t really read high school diplomas. The saddest part for me is the students who care and who think they are on their way to success in life because they compare themselves with their unmotivated peers.
There is a movement in Texas to provide more school choice. My coworkers are against it. I think there will be some really crappy charter schools, but it’s difficult for me to believe it’s going to end up being any worse than the system as it stands, plus low income parents who care can opt their students into a quality charter program where the focus is on true education.
Just to say that in the U K there are many headteacher jobs unfilled. Teachers are walking out of school careers after one term.
Parents can sue a teacher after any accusation at all by a child. Your reputation is shattered even if proved innocent.
Who wants a life like that?