Policies Which Create Massive Stress
in New York Schools
(Notes for a Talk to Southampton
Democratic Club)
A.P.P.R-
requiring that all teachers in the state must be evaluated with 40 percent of
their evaluation coming from student test scores.
Requiring
that teachers rated “low performing” two years running must be removed.
Alignment of
Tests; many already burdensome (6 days of testing for 3rd graders)
to Common Core Standards
Scoring of
such tests according to a standard that virtually guaranteed that almost ¾ of
students in the state will fail
Closing of
schools rated as persistently low performing, and removal of 50 percent of
their teaching and administrative staffs
Replacement
of closed schools with new schools, with preference given to charter schools
Sharing of
student data without parental permission by a company called InBloom.
All of these, other than the scoring of the tests, and the data sharing, were conditions of receiving Race to the Top Money from the Federal government. However the speed with which they were introduced were unique to New York State, the result of the top down manner which they were introduced to the legislature by Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the my way or the highway approach to implementation of the New York State Education Department, led by Commissioner John King, and Regents Chair Merryl Ticsch who are now widely despised by teachers and parents in New York state
Symptoms of
the Test Catastrophe in New York State
Widespread demoralization
among teachers, leading to many to be
treated for depression and anxiety. In Upstate New York there is now a medical
condition known as the APPR Flu
Retirement
or departure of some of the state’s best veteran teachers who feel they are
being micromanaged and forced to commit educational malpractice
Pushing out
of creative instruction for test prep as teacher fear for their jobs
Cutting of arts,
music, spots and school trips to pay for tests or make sure kids perform well
on them
Students
starting to hate school because all they do is prepare for tests
And, with
the imposition of Common Core Aligned tests
Humiliation,
and some would say actual abuse of special needs and ELL students as they are
forced to take tests that are developmentally inappropriate for them.
Teachers
forced to abandon best practices to teach to a Curriculum that has never been
field tested, leaving large groups of students demoralized, confused, and in
some cases, totally alienated from school
Declaration
of 70 percent of the students as “failing” upwards of 90 percent in high
poverty districts.
The Results-
An Uprising
The largest
parental test revolt in US, history, with more than 10,000 families in the
state opting out their Children last April. It should be five times that size
this coming April
A massive
statewide movement against the Common Core Standards with participants who
cross the political spectrum
Demands for
the removal of New York State Education Commissioner John King and New York Regents
Chair Merryl Tisch
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