Comments on: Small but determined band of families sitting out the state tests

By: Andrea

Andrea — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:28:00 +0000

Please consider signing the petition to demand that NYS give parents the right to opt out of these exams: http://signon.org/sign/give-new-york-state-parents.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=322644 You can learn more about the Change the Stakes Campaign at http://www.changethestakes.org or follow us on Twitter @changethestakes:twitter

By: Network Schools

Network Schools — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:54:00 +0000

I commend these parents for standing on principle and their Principals for supporting them. Testing is reinforcing the factory model of schooling at the very time when we need to move in a new direction. If you have enough like minded parents, you could create your own charter school, get funds from the mayor, and open an alternative school that accepts students based on teacher recommendations and student exhibitions of work.

By: Rahart

Rahart — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:54:00 +0000

There is a better way to “passive protest” standardized testing by predatory testing companies than not taking the tests. Beat them at their own game.A discussion of how “Smart Wallpaper Testing” works is posted at http://richard-hart.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html.Click on “the same option” in the first paragraph for a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdX5dXGjFAI on how individual fish and birds protect themselves from predators.Use the test to report what you actually know and can trust. Record your own score. Then wallpaper the rest. The more students who select a wallpaper pattern prior to the test, the more effective the result, as is the case for fish and birds.Someday multiple-choice tests will be scored for both knowledge and judgment, just as is done on essay tests, projects, and reports, rather than just counting right marks as is currently done. Multiple-choice contains much more information than just a meaningless rank.

By: Richard Hart

Richard Hart — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:44:00 +0000

There is a better way to “passive protest” standardized testing by predatory testing companies than not taking the tests. Beat them at their own game.

A discussion of how “Smart Wallpaper Testing” works is posted at http://richard-hart.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html.

Click on “the same option” in the first paragraph for a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdX5dXGjFAI on how individual fish and birds protect themselves from predators.
Use the test to report what you actually know and can trust. Record your own score. Then wallpaper the rest. The more students who select a wallpaper pattern prior to the test, the more effective the result, as is the case for fish and birds.

Someday multiple-choice tests will be scored for both knowledge and judgment, just as is done on essay tests, projects, and reports, rather than just counting right marks as is currently done. Multiple-choice contains much more information than just a meaningless rank.

By: Matthew Levey

Matthew Levey — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:15:00 +0000

Interesting that you term the portfolio approach to evaluation as “far more subjective” than the state tests. I’m not saying portfolio is without flaws, but I think there is far more subjectivity in the state tests than your phrasing acknowledges.

By way of example, in 2008 Jennifer Jennings of NYU found that just 50% of the state standards in math were actually tested on the state test. When I looked at the 2010 test, that had risen to about 70%. Improving, but still far more subjective than one would expect.

And you don’t have to talk to more than a handful of parents to understand how subjective the short reading passages on the ELA test are.

The primary challenge to portfolio assessment is that is is very hard to scale up to hundreds of students and selective middle schools would probably still want a single number by which to ‘rank’ the child. But I don’t think you should let the state tests off the hook that easily. At the same event in Brooklyn which you cite, Shael also said the state tests are “not where we would like them to be” in terms of quality.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:37:00 +0000

We are proud members of the Opt Out Movement here in Texas. Our son is only in 4th grade, but he knows why he won’t be attending school on testing days next week. Unlike the school, we have taught him all about civil disobedience, constitutional rights and non-violent protests. Check us out on FB @ Texas Parents Opt Out of State Tests. And keep up the great work, New York!

By: Tory Frye

Tory Frye — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:35:00 +0000

When I asked Polakow-Surnasky, at the March 19th forum on high stakes testing in Brooklyn, how fourth graders could be evaluated for admission to middle school, if they chose to opt out, he did not say that the schools would do portfolio reviews. He said that did not know. A portfolio review would occur to assess whether the child could advance to the next grade. He suggested that parents call the middle schools and ask them how they would evaluate a child who opts out in fourth grade for sixth grade admission. There is no DOE policy in place to make sure that these children do not suffer (more) from these high stakes tests.

By: TeachmyclassMrMayor

TeachmyclassMrMayor — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:44:00 +0000

Imagine the smell of the fear coming from Tweed, if a bunch of higher potential scorers stayed home causing scores to drop all over. What would they say to those Williamsburg parents decided, I would rather have my kid judged on his actual work, and not some ed company’s test. Imagine that lawsuit…My kid has 90s in all of his JHS grades, what do you mean that his lack of test scores is keeping him out of school X. Why is their ability to take a standardized test more important than the actual work? Why is “potential” more important than actually showing an ability to do the work?