OP here:
For those who are interested in the whole "State Testing" thing and how it impacts the education of our children, read the following, warning, it's long.
From a Principal to parents about the new APPR...
Dear Parents,
On behalf of the teachers and staff of the Wantagh Elementary School,I
would like to welcome you back to school. I anticipate that the
2012-13
academic year will prove to be an exciting year.
We are all enthusiastic about the arrival of our new
superintendent,Mr.
DAngelo,and the promise of a fresh vision for the academic
well-being of
our school district. Also,Mrs. Chowske will be joining our WES staff,
functioning as our schools Elementary Supervisor [aka,Assistant
Principal]. The future is bright as we move forward with the
implementation
of our Writers' Workshop program expanding into our fourth grade and
kindergarten. This year we will also initiate a new K-5 math program
called
enVisionMATH. This program not only meets the national Common Core
standards for Math but does so with enhanced technological experiences
for
our children.
One significant issue as we move into this new school year is that we
will,at times,find it difficult if not impossible to teach authentic
application of concepts and skills with an eye towards relevancy. What
we
will be teaching students is to be effective test takers; a skill that
does
not necessarily translate into critical thinking a skill set that
is
necessary at the college level and beyond. This will inevitably
conflict
with authentic educational practice true teaching.
Unfortunately,if educators want to survive in the new,Albany-created
bureaucratic mess that is standardized assessments to measure teacher
performance,paramount to anything else,we must focus on getting kids
ready
for the state assessments. This is what happens when non-educators
like
our
governor and state legislators, textbook publishing companies (who
create
the assessments for our state and reap millions of our taxdollars by
doing
so),our NYS Board of Regents, and a state teachers' union president
get
involved in creating what they perceive as desirable educational
outcomes
and decide how to achieve and measure them. Where were the opinions of
teachers,principals,and superintendents? None were asked to
participate
in
the establishment of our new state assessment parameters.
Today,statisticians are making educational decisions in New York State
that
will impact your children for years to come.
Standardized assessment has grown exponentially. For example,last year
New
York State fourth graders,who are nine or ten years old,were subjected
to
roughly 675 minutes (over 11 hours) of state assessments which does
not
include state field testing. This year there will be a state mandated
pre-test in September and a second mandated pre-test in January for
all
kindergarten through fifth grade students in school. In April,
kindergarten
through fifth grade students will take the last test [assessment] for
the
year.
Excessive testing is unhealthy. When I went to school I was never
over-tested and subsequently labeled with an insidious number that
ranked
or placed me at a Level 1,Level 2,Level 3 or Level 4 as we do today.
Do
you
want your child to know their assigned Level? What would the
impact be on
their self-esteem and self-worth at such a young age?
Of additional concern to me is the relationship between children and
their
teacher as we move into an era where teacher job status is based upon
student assessment scores. Guess what,some children will become more
desirable than others to have in class! And,conversely,others will be
less
desirable. There, I wrote it! That concept is blasphemy in our school
where
teachers live to prepare children to be productive learners and
members
of
society. Teachers state-wide are worried that their relationship with
students might change when they are evaluated based upon their
students
test scores. Teachers want to educate students,not test prep them for
job
security.
Additionally,what should be shocking to you as a parent is that state
and
national databases are being created in order to analyze and store
students test scores your childs assessment results and your
childs
school attendance! Do you realize that the state has mandated that
classroom teachers must take attendance during every math,ELA,social
studies and science lesson everyone,every day for the entire school
year!
Those records are sent to the state and become statistically part of
the
teacher evaluation process. It will no longer be enough that your
child
was in school. Rather,if he or she was at a band lesson or out
of
the
room for extra help in reading and a math lesson was taking place in
class,he or she will be noted as absent from that instruction. That
will be
factored into the teacher evaluation. Thinking of taking your child to
Disney World for a week during the school year or leaving a day or two
early for a long weekend skiing? Think again! Those absences will be
recorded as illegal,missed seat time and sent to the state as
mandated by
the state.
This is all part of the massive,multi-million tax-payer dollar teacher
evaluation processes started by our Commissioner of Education,our
governor,and our state legislators and fully supported by
statisticians
employed by the state and assessment-making companies. No one in
Albany
is
selecting to see the end of the journey; that 98 percent of the
students
graduating from Wantagh Schools go on to two- and four-year colleges.
Their
myopic view is focused on the parts,not the whole. Who will
eventually
suffer? Your children!
The balance must now be struck between maintaining the special nature
of an
elementary school setting and the cold and calculating final analysis
rendered by statistics. The use of assessment data to drive
instruction
is
a tenet of good educational practices. The use of assessment data to
render
a yearly prognostication of teacher competency is ridiculous.
You have the greatest impact on your childs school performance.
Each
teacher only has your children for 180 days per year and for less than
six
hours per day [minus lunch and recess times,art,music,and physical
education classes]. It is our expectation that as partners in your
childs
education,you will be doing your part as well. As part of any
evaluation of
student performance,Albany must simultaneously be asking parents the
following questions:
Does your child read at home each day for at least twenty minutes?
Do you read to your child every day?
Are math facts gone over daily until they are known automatically?
Is there a quiet location in the house for homework time and do you
check
your childs homework each night?
Is your child sent to school ready for the day with a good breakfast
following at least eight hours of sleep?
Are after school activities monitored so that your child is not
overbooked and their stamina compromised?
Is your child in school daily [except when they are sick] and not
taken
out
of school for any reason other than illness?
We will continue to have field trips, assemblies,and special school
events
but some events will be curtailed or rescheduled with an eye toward
prudent
times during the school year to maximize student seat time. However,it
is
unmistakable that we have entered into a new era of educational
practice
with higher stakes than ever before.
I look forward to working with you and your child as we start our new
school year because
.together we make a difference.
Thank you.
Don Sternberg,Ed.D.
Principal
Scott L.
Social Studies Dept.
Batavia High School
One student gets valedictorian, the other hundreds do not. That's just the way it is. I really don't see an issue with it. Just like "student of the month". My DD has never received it. Oh well....I think it's still great to recognize the student of the month. I agree with the PP that stated this is like the everyone gets a trophy mentality. I signed up my DD for competitive swim not only because she loved it but because she could learn to lose as well as win. I believe they are both imporant life lessons.
) and she stopped after the first page. She said she just sat there and read her book and never noticed that the other kids were working for much much longer than she had. So she basically ended up missing an entire huge section of the test! Later in the day when they turned to section 2 to start she realized what she had done and told the teacher but it was too late. The teacher said it was a timed state test and there was no way to go back and re-do it. So she had a giant section of her scan-tron blank! Her score fell from the 98th percentile in 3rd grade to 48th percentile in 4th 
I have never heard anything from anyone about this but I would have thought the school would check into a child falling that far! I'm sure it makes the school/teacher look bad, not to mention DD, all because she wasn't paying attention to the instructions!!
