Jesse’s Journey: Boycott in Seattle
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Support Chicago teachers refusing to give the ISAT standardized test
[via Pauline Lipman]
Colleagues,
Please sign attached letter of support for Chicago teachers refusing to
give the ISAT standardized test. Teachers at Saucedo elementary school in
Little Village (serving mainly Mexican children) took the courageous stand
to support parents who are opting out of the test by refusing to
administer it. CEO Barbara Byrd Bennet sent teachers a threatening memo
threatening any teacher who boycotted the test with being fired and having
her license revoked. Nonetheless, teachers at a second school have just
joined the boycott. Please add your name to this letter. We need a strong
national showing now. Testing will begin next week so we need to move on
this now. The letter will be posted on numerous websites and may be read
at press conferences at the schools. (more background below)
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS LETTER WIDELY
TO SIGN, PLEASE SEND YOUR NAME, TITLE, AND UNIVERSITY AFFILIATION TO:
gutstein@uic.edu
Thank you for your solidarity.
Pauline
Pauline Lipman
Professor, Educational Policy Studies
College of Education
University of Illinois-Chicago
1040 W. Harrison, MC 147
Chicago IL 60607-7133
312-413-4413
BACKGROUND
CPS has announced that this year the ISAT test has no impact on students’
grade promotion or admission into selective programs. The ISAT is no
longer part of the “school performance policy” nor will it be used to
evaluate teachers. CPS’s claim that the ISAT is aligned to Common Core
standards is dubious at best since the PARCC exam, which is being designed
to measure performance on those standards, has been years in the making
and has yet to be released. The ISAT will not help teachers understand
their students or improve instruction for them. Because CPS has not
provided any valid reason to give this test hundreds of parents have opted
their children out of this test.
LETTER
February 28, 2014
STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR CHICAGO TEACHERS REFUSING TO ADMINISTER THE ILLINOIS STANDARD ACHIEVEMENT TEST
FROM UNIVERSITY EDUCATION FACULTY
As university faculty whose responsibilities include preparing future educators, we support the action of teachers at the Saucedo Elementary School in Chicago who are refusing to administer the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT). Over a decade of research shows that an over emphasis on high-stakes standardized tests narrows curriculum, creates social and emotional stress for students and families, drives committed teachers out of the profession, and turns schools into test-prep factories with principals forced to comply as overseers—especially in low-scoring schools. We understand assessment as the process of gathering evidence about learning, from multiple sources, so that teachers can better support student learning. The ISAT, in contrast, contributes virtually nothing. CPS no longer uses the ISAT for promotion, graduation, or eligibility for selective-enrollment schools and is phasing it out after this year. It is not aligned with Common Core State Standards—which, regardless of how one sees them, Illinois has already adopted—and does not help teachers improve student learning. The pre-service teachers with whom we work are demoralized about a future of teaching in such a test-driven atmosphere. We teach our students—future educators—to stand up for their students, families and communities, and to take principled stands for social justice. That’s what the Saucedo teachers are doing. We applaud them and stand with them.
Signed
Pauline Lipman, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
Rico Gutstein, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT REFORM LEADERS ENDORSE SEATTLE TEACHERS’ SCHOOL TEST BOYCOTT; CALL FOR MORE EDUCATORS, PARENTS TO “JOIN IN”
FairTest
National Center for Fair & Open Testing
for further information:
Dr. Monty Neill (617) 477-9792
Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773
for immediate release Monday, January 14, 2013
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT REFORM LEADERS ENDORSE
SEATTLE TEACHERS’ SCHOOL TEST BOYCOTT;
CALL FOR MORE EDUCATORS, PARENTS TO “JOIN IN”
The country’s leading testing reform organization today announced its support for the boycott of Seattle Public Schools’ Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) exam launched by teachers at Garfield High School. National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) Executive Director Dr. Monty Neill said, “Children across the U.S. suffer from far too much standardized testing that is misused to judge students, teachers and schools. We applaud Garfield High educators who refused to administer these useless exams and urge others to join in.”
Dr. Neill explained, “Seattle requires administration of the MAP tests three times per year. This eliminates days of valuable teaching time and ties up the school’s computer labs for weeks. The tests are used to judge teachers even though they are not aligned with the state’s standards and not instructionally helpful. The Northwest Evaluation Association, which makes the test, says the MAPs are not accurate enough to evaluate individual teachers. No wonder some Seattle parents began opting their children out of these pointless tests even before the teachers’ boycott.”
“Nationally, students are inundated with tests far beyond the ‘No Child Left Behind’ (NCLB) requirement to assess students annually in reading and math in grades 3-8 and once in high school,” Dr. Neill continued. “States and especially large city districts have piled on many more tests. For example, Chicago tests kindergarteners 14 or more times per year. Many of these tests were added to obtain federal NCLB waivers, which force states and districts to impose more exams so they can judge teachers by student scores.”
According to FairTest, the high stakes attached to tests have led to narrowing curriculum, teaching to the test, score inflation and cheating scandals. Despite the focus on tests, scores gains on the independent National Assessment of Educational Progress have slowed since the 2002 start of NCLB and are well below pre-NCLB score increases. Score gaps between whites and African Americans and Latinos have stopped narrowing.
“High-stakes testing is undermining the quality of U.S. schools and the education our children deserve,” Dr. Neill concluded. “Teachers and parents who boycott standardized exams are taking the lead to reduce over-testing and the consequences attached to it. President Obama, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the Congress, governors, state legislators, and local school officials need to heed these voices and stop imposing unnecessary and educational harmful testing.”