The One about Silencing Teachers, Retribution and the Smell of Fear from the Reformers...

By:  Dr. Mitchell Robinson

I received the note below from a former student who is now a teacher. For obvious reasons, I won't identify her or where she teaches, but--shockingly--her story is becoming all too common...

"We had a union meeting yesterday where they warned us that the governor is going after the certificates of teachers that opted out their kids (of the state tests). The governor says it breaks our contract agreeing to protect and follow educational laws. Is this legal? Teachers are being targeted and warned to be extremely careful, especially on public media. I was just curious on your thoughts."

This theme of administrators and elected officials threatening teachers if they speak out publicly against tests, the Common Core State Standards, or other education policies seems to be growing stronger and louder recently, with reports of similar stories popping up in New Mexico (http://dianeravitch.net/2015/04/19/audrey-beardsley-the-silencing-of-the-educators-a-dangerous-trend/), Louisiana http://www.westernjournalism.com/teachers-district-facing-retribution-criticizing-common-core/), New York (http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/city-teacher-lost-fellowship-revealing-administration-fudged-regents-exam-court-papers-article-1.1990734), Arizona (http://www.azcentral.com/story/ejmontini/2015/03/27/legislature-arizona-school-board-association-sb-1172-free-speech-elections/70556134/, Missouri http://www.stevenlin83.com/teachersfreepress/this-is-why-teachers-need-tenure-missouri-teacher-suspended-for-speaking-out/, and Michigan http://stopcommoncoreinmichigan.com/2014/03/teachers-silenced/.

In Rochester, NY, an email from an administrator to the city's principals asked them to keep a list of teachers who might have shared information on testing for possible disciplinary action:

"An email sent from a high-level Rochester City School District official to principals is causing concern among teachers.

Chief of Schools Beverly Burrell-Moore sent the email Monday afternoon to principals she supervises. The email asks them to share names of teachers who have encouraged parents to refuse to allow their children to take state exams.

"Per your building, please identify teachers who have sent letters or made phone calls to parents encouraging them to opt out their children from the NYS Assessments.  Also, identify teachers who you have evidence as utilizing their classrooms as 'political soap boxes.'  I need this updated  information no later than Tuesday morning for follow-up," the email states. http://www.rochesterhomepage.net/story/d/story/rcsd-official-give-me-names-of-teachers-encouragin/69585/t4V1RVAqHk-lhmvN3pcetA

Audrey Amrein Beardsley, a professor of education at Arizona State University, and the author of one of my favorite education blogs on the web, VAMBOOZLED, reports: "New Mexico now requires teachers to sign a contractual document that they are not to 'diminish the significance or importance of the tests” or they could lose their jobs. Teachers are not to speak negatively about the tests or say anything negatively about these tests in their classrooms or in public; if they do they could be found in violation of their contracts.' Beardsley wonders about the legality, and even the constitutionality of this sort of action: 'As per a related announcement released by the ASBA, this “could have a chilling effect on the free speech rights of school and district officials' throughout the state but also (likely) beyond if this continues to catch on. School officials may be held 'liable for a $5,000 civil fine just for sharing information on the positive or negative impacts of proposed legislation to parents or reporters.'”

While there is no doubt that these moves are indeed a "chilling" development in the education "reform" movement, I believe that they also reveal a quickly growing sense of fear and confusion among those in the reform community regarding the viability of their agenda. Indeed, the surprising strength of the "Opt Out" movement in New York, where as many as 200,000 students have reportedly refused to sit for the state's tests, has led to calls demanding the resignation of Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the NYS Board of Regents.

If there is a silver lining to these threats it may be the impending crumbling of the reform agenda under the increased scrutiny from the public, the media and teachers. For far too long, policy "leaders" like Chancellor Tisch, Governors Cuomo, Kasich and Snyder, and Sec. of Education Duncan have responded to criticism of their agenda with either deafening silence or dismissive pandering, such as accusations that "painted parents as confused patsies of a labor action." Now, these feeble rejoinders are being exposed for what they have been all along: weak and arrogant responses to the legitimate demands for accountability from those so negatively impacted by these destructive policies.

These "leaders" are clearly scared, and they have every right to be. Now is the time to step up the pressure, and not let our voices be silenced. We are fighting for our students, our colleagues and our profession.

Let students learn, let teachers teach, and get the politicians out of education.

In Response To Peter Goodman
By:  Jamy Brice Hyde and Marla Kilfoyle

 On April 17th Blogger Peter Goodman wrote a piece where he called the new New York State evaluation system a significant improvement.  

We disagree!

This is not better and to even entertain that anything remotely associated with 2015 Education legislation in NYS to be couched as an improvement is to neglect the facts.

The new plan has removed any control we had to locally and collectively bargain on behalf of our members APPR. This MATRIX sets up teachers of special needs or poverty stricken schools with poor test takers for a two to three year exit from our profession with a 3020a/3020b that is mandated by the state! Even if a district would like to keep a teacher they are not given local control over personnel issues. Unions have even lost the ability to fight for them.

This Matrix will destroy the joy of learning creativity and innovation in our classrooms. Frankly most teachers will teach to the test in order to reach retirement.

The reports of the contents of the ELA exams last week provide evidence that the tests are designed for massive failures.  For example,  a 6th grader is expected to read a 1415 on the Kincaid scale! We must ask what are we measuring? We are measuring nothing of value for the children except creating enormous anxiety among children and preparing for the mass exodus of teachers from the profession, specifically our veteran teachers.

 Parents have been provoked to massively opt out their children from these tests due to the apparent insanity of current public education policy. Social Workers are reporting that their largest growing demographic is elementary school age kids with anxiety issues. Teachers are humbled by the number of parents that opted their children out of testing in support of locally controlled classrooms that are run by their highly qualified teachers.

 The toxicity of education policy in NYS is systemic. WE cannot entertain anyone that refers to an improvement here in NYS. That dialogue belongs nowhere near the abhorrent policy being pushed upon  public education in NY. This is creating a system to privatize education and DESTROY our unions. On first “blush” this policy made teachers convulse, on second read it made many ill on the third read it made teachers very angry and mobilized them to fight harder against these reforms.

 Don’t give props to anything that tries to sanitize one of the most toxic education policies in the country - the Cuomo Education Transformation Act of 2015.

The Re-Education of Merryl Tisch

By:  Marla Kilfoyle

Merryl  Tisch is the Chancellor of the Board of Regents in New York State.  The Board of Regents “ are responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within the State, presiding over The University and the New York State Education Department”    

   

Chancellor Tisch has been on the Board of Regents since 1996 and was selected to lead the Board of Regents in 2009.  She has sat on the Board of Regents for close to 20 Years.  “From 1977 to 1984 Chancellor Tisch taught first-graders at New York City’s Ramaz School and the B’nai Jeshurun School. She received a B.A. from Barnard College, an M.A. in Education from New York University, and an Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University.”     

On April 15^th Chancellor Tisch agreed to debate Dr. Diane Ravitch on All in With Chris to respond to the historic, and massive, parental test refusal movement that was going in in New York.

The statements made by Chancellor Tisch during that debate were, for lack of a better word, quite perplexing.   Let’s examine a few

  Tisch  claimed

“The intent of the test is to give a snapshot of performance and allow parents to know where their children are at any given point in their educational career as compared to their peers.”

“It is natural for parents to want to know how their kids are doing. And as for the diagnostic nature of these tests and the amount of information that is gleaned from them, school districts report to us all the time that they design curriculum around the results of these tests.”

Parents want a detailed report of how their children did.  One NY parent, who has a child with disabilities, agreed to share their son’s ELA score report with me. Their child received a score of 1 on this test.  Here is what was sent to their home in mid-October (6 months AFTER he took the test) . 

 Score of a 1 says:

 “Students performing at this level are well below proficient in standards for their grade.  They demonstrate limited knowledge, skills, and practices embodied by the New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts/Literacy that are considered insufficient for the expectations at this grade.”

Let’s return back to Tisch’s statements and words –

“the amount of information that is gleaned from them”

“diagnostic nature”

Here is what  the test report  statement told these parents about their child:  He is below proficient, he has limited knowledge, skills, and practices.  When the mother looked at the report she said - In what is he limited?  Where are his limits in ELA?  Are his limits in writing, reading, or comprehension?   Does our child have poor spelling or grammar?

Let’s compare the results of the NYS ELA test to one that does give great information and is diagnostic.  Their child is given an exam called the WIAT-III.  It is a clinical report of  his yearly progress.  Here is a sample of his subset breakdown for the WIAT-III in January of 2015 ( his scores are covered to protect his privacy but do show  what is reported  in terms of information) .  An important fact to note  is that the test was administered on 12/17/14 and  the results were given to the parents on 1/5/15. 

The information was given back to the parent and teacher in 19 days!  This assessment  is teacher administered and teacher scored.   It gives grade level reports in the following areas:

Listening Comprehension

Reading Comprehension

Math Problem Solving

Sentence Composition

Word Reading

Essay Composition

Pseudo-word Decoding

Numerical Operations

Oral Expression

Oral Reading Fluency

Spelling

Math Fluency – Addition

Math Fluency – Subtraction

Math Fluency – Multiplication

What the parents and teacher  were able to do with the early results of this testing was to get him remediation in areas that he was appearing to struggle.  They were able to line up additional speech therapy and extra math support.   Do we see a distinct difference in a test that does have diagnostic value and one that does NOT?

Tisch’s statement that the test reports give parents and district great information to help kids and build curriculum is wrong.   If in fact Tisch thought these tests were so wonderful, why is she suggesting that the top performing districts in New York State be exempt from a teacher evaluation system that uses these same tests to evaluate their teachers? 

Let’s move on to more of  her  statements in that debate.  Tisch  further stated

“Well, I would say that the tests are really a diagnostic tool that is used to inform instruction and curriculum development throughout the state.”

“But the ability to glean information from these tests and use them in very direct ways to inform instruction and curriculum in classrooms is actually really important.”

 For the purpose of this writing 50 NYS elementary teachers were asked if they use the NYS  ELA Exam results to inform their instruction or develop curriculum.  Here is what a sampling of them said:

1.  Of course not, we don’t get the results back until after the children have left and moved onto the next grade.   All we get is a number.  We do not get a detailed report for each child or even an overall report for our class.

2.  I have never used the state test scores to inform my instruction or to develop curriculum.  All we get is a number.  How do you use just a number to help inform instruction?  Where are the kids weak?  Where are the kids strong?

3.  The only thing I have seen my school use the test scores for is to determine Academic Intervention Services.  That is only based on the number.  We do not get a detailed report back as to how the children did to even create a plan for them in AIS.

4.  We get a list of kids who were and were not proficient.  Often times that report is flawed because it will say a child is proficient but they got a 1.  We do not get a detailed report .

Tisch further states in the debate:

“New York State spends $54 billion a year on educating 3.2 million schoolchildren. For $54 billion a year I think New Yorkers deserve a snapshot of how our kids are doing, how our schools are doing, how our systems are doing.”

 NYS  taxpayers should be enraged.  NYS gave Pearson close to  $32 million  to create tests and materials for New York State Schools.    This would be the same tests in which parents do not get a detailed report such as outlined above and in which teachers  report they do not get a detailed report to help the students they have.   Tests that in fact have been failing miserably in many parts of the nation  this year.   In fact, as noted in the attached article, Pearson wins these contracts because it is cheaper not because they are better.  NYS does not want to create exams in-house because it costs more money to pay real educators the wage rate to write them.  So, instead we waste our taxpayer dollars on contracting out for a shoddy product that really doesn’t diagnose how children are doing and is not used by educators to help them.  

Tisch ends the interview with perhaps the greatest insult.  Let’s go back a bit and examine where she, and then New York Education Commissioner John King, dismissed enraged New York parents.

 

Tisch says in the final minutes of the debate:

“Actually, I would say to our parents that our kids have got caught in the labor dispute between the governor and the teacher’s union.”

Time for the re-education of Merryl Tisch. 

Remember all those angry parents who met you at Town Hall meetings last year?  They are NOT a labor dispute, they are parents who are angry that you still allow chaos and testing abuse in their schools.

 They are parents like Jeanette Deutermann who began this fight in 2013 and who led the largest testing boycott in the nation’s history.  She has lead this fight as a parent that became gravely concerned about how these tests were affecting her son's attitude towards school in negative ways, as she stated in her testimony before members of the New York State Senate.

They are parents like Karen Sprowal who spoke out in advocacy for student privacy. 

They are parents like Lisa Rudley who testified to the New York State Senate at 4:38:08  for the  Autism Action Network and discussed concerns she also had for student privacy, as well as concerns for students with disabilities.

They are parents like Edith Baltazar who question what is going on in her child’s school. 

They are parents who you ignored and marginalized so horrifically that they called for your resignation in May of last year  

So, to set the record straight, Chancellor Tisch, the largest test refusal movement by PARENTS in the nation is NOT a labor dispute.  It happened under your watch.  When will you be accountable to the public?  To set the record straight, the tests you claim are gleaned for amazing information, are a diagnostic tool, and are used to inform instruction in our schools and classrooms is blatant misinformation.  

Time to get educated Chancellor Tisch or

Resign!

Marla Kilfoyle has been a public school teacher in New York for 28 years.  She is National Board Certified and the mother of a 12 year old boy who attends public school.  She is the General Manager of The Badass Teachers Association and is on the steering committee for New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE).  You can follower her on twitter @marla_kilfoyle 

I CRIED TODAY!

By:  Robyn Brydalski

I cried today. Tears streamed down my face as I entered the sterile hallway to walk the dreaded tests to the secure return location. I cried for my students. For three solid days and over two hundred minutes, these bright eyed eight year olds gave it their all. I cried for the teaching profession. In the fifteen years I have dedicated to this profession I have experienced many changes to curriculum, grading and assessing, but never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined education could have evolved to this current state of disorder. I cried tears of anger because had I been given the professional trust and freedom to implement units and lessons of days gone by, my students would have been far better prepared for the impossible tasks they were expected to complete this week. My Language Arts program would have incorporated a variety of genres and author studies, multiple ways to respond to reading, guided reading, Readers Theater and lessons designed on (gasp) student interests, all while interconnecting the arts, music and theater into a well-rounded learning experience. 

I complied with district and state expectations by teaching a scripted module. These modules were supposed to prepare our students for the test. The over 50% focus on non-fiction text would better prepare our students for their futures. The scripted lessons were to create cohesiveness among a grade level, a district and a state. Instead, it set us further behind. NYSED knew exactly what it was doing when it presented ENGAGENY’s modules to districts. The modules that were written because of the Common Core would be a perfect, inexpensive way to cover our bases. We all ate the forbidden fruit and now we will suffer the consequences. 

My blood boiled and anger seethed from the deepest parts of my heart when I saw the confusing passages and misleading questions. This test played on an eight year old mind taking advantage of these literal thinkers full knowing, on their own, very few students would be able to analyze, synthesize and evaluate an author’s message. The sheer volume of passages was exhausting. One of my brightest students was so confused by a question that she shut down and gave up. She looked at me and said, “I’m just stupid, I guess.” She is eight years old. No eight year old deserves to feel this way. I cried tears of pain when many of my students looked to me for guidance and clarification. I encouraged them but I knew without a teacher guiding them, they would not be successful with the expected question and my students knew this. How is this right? How is this just? How is this a true measure of good teaching? My students persevered through day one, toughed it out for day two but by day three could not demonstrate any evidence of learning. They were academically beat, physically exhausted and morally defeated. 

I am surrounded by amazing teachers who give their hearts and souls to this profession. These veteran teachers are the backbone of every building. They lead, they share, they guide, they teach and they love their students. My final tear shed today was because I did a disservice to my students. Our children deserve only the best educational experiences. These tests will never show the tremendous strides each child can make over ten months.

NY TESTING HORROR STORIES
ELA TESTS - DAY 3


THANK YOU TO LONG ISLAND OPT OUT FOR SHARING AND ALLOWING BATs to PUBLISH AND GET THE WORD OUT.  

You can join LIOO here  https://www.facebook.com/groups/Longislandoptout/
You can get NY test refusal information here at NYSAPE  http://www.nysape.org/
You can get National test refusal information here at United Opt Out   http://unitedoptout.com/

My district wanted me to go to scorer leader training at Boces next week, but because our district sends out the tests to be graded, Boces sent me an email explaining that I cannot be trained on how the test is graded because as a non-grader it would hurt the "integrity if the test". Obviously, this is another example of the lack of transparency that surrounds these tests, but it also is contradicting to Tisch's false point last night that teachers can build curriculum around these results. If how to score an essay for the ELA is something teachers can't even be trained for, how can we help the students who still have to take these tests. Obviously, I am passionately against these exams, have rallied against them in several locations and opted my own children out. But I am still trying to do my job.

As teachers, we keep trying to get ahead of these standards and find a way to attack these tests fairly and they keep upping the game. It's another example of their obvious lack of transparency and the "gotcha" factor that are destroying the art of teaching.

Dear Colleagues,

I regret to inform you that we will need to cancel your registration in our Scoring Leader Training for ELA (April 20-21) and/or Math (April 28-29) due to the fact that your district is sending the tests out to be scored. The state has confirmed that this training is ONLY for those involved in directly scoring the tests. This is necessary to maintain the integrity of the test. Your superintendent and assistant superintendents have been notified. We will take care of cancelling your registration here at SWBOCES.

We recognize the need for professional development around the test and the state expectations. We are committed to providing you with multiple professional development opportunities in these areas as soon as the state releases approximately 50% of the test this summer. Once this release occurs, courses will be made available in My Learning Plan for both the summer and 2015-2016 school year.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused for you, but look forward to learning together soon! Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Supervisor of Literacy and Learning

Center for Professional Development and Curriculum Support

Southern Westchester BOCES

Grade 6 Day 3: Open the booklet to see an article titled " Nimbus Clouds: Mysterious, Ephemeral, and Now Indoors". The word ephemeral was also used in the text and there was no footnote! I know several adults who could not define this word! After reading this painful article, they were then asked again how a photograph helps them understand certain lines of the text! The paired passages were both focused on the relationships between dogs and their owners. Here are more vocabulary words - paroxysm, sufferance (footnoted) clamorous, furlong, "queer throw back trait" (not footnoted). The children were very confused because people did not have names in the story, but the dogs did. The second paired passage was "That Spot" by Jack London, written in 1908. Again, very confusing with a lot of old English and extremely complex sentences. Vocabulary included "beaten curs", "absconders of justice" (in the same sentence) surmise, "savve our cabin" , and "let's maroon him". Students were asked to determine how the author's use of the word "that" repeatedly in front of the dog's name shows the narrator's relationship with the dog. Think of how difficult this must've been not just for general Ed students, but also for our ELL's and Students with Disabilities! They were then also asked to determine the theme of a paragraph! Most English teachers will tell you that theme is the message the author is trying to convey throughout a WHOLE text. Asking the theme of one isolated paragraph is ridiculous! The essay was a comparison of the challenges of both dogs, which isn't a poor question. However, the texts were both so difficult for the kids to understand that it made it difficult for them to organize their thoughts. Throw in the fact that they once again had a time limit of 90 minutes and you guaranteed frustration, anxiety, and many not finishing. Thank goodness this test is over!

Book excerpt from 4th grade test today:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/hattie-big-sky#cart/cleanup

I think it is safe to make an assumption that multiple versions of the ELA test are given. That being said, is it reasonable to question IF all the tests are equal? Do all districts receive tests with the SAME number of passages ? Are some students burdened with MORE READING than others to obtain the same number of answers? Are lexiles equal? Is the totality of all the words read in the passages the same for all students? How can a test be standardized if there are multiple versions? Could there be a purposeful distribution of tests so that districts continue to maintain certain standings?

Fourth grade day 3 passages from WHICH WAY TO THE WILD WEST BY STEVE SHEINKIN Lexile 940

HATTIE BIG SKY by Kirby Larson Lexile 700 but lists interest level grades 6-8

IF WISHES WERE HORSES BY NATALIE KINSEY WARNOK Lexile 796

6th grade test was ridiculous and frustrating to all. Some passages were readable, but the majority of the questions focused on text structure and specific lines of the text. Students were forced to continuously return to the text to analyze lines for almost every answer choice, which made it virtually impossible to finish in 90 minutes. Most of the selections were science based and a poem was two pages long and way too advanced for sixth graders.Vocabulary was so far over their heads in several passages as well. There were some questions where teachers could not determine the correct answer. It was heartbreaking to watch students struggle and give up. By the end, many were randomly bubbling just to "finish". This test is no where close to bring an accurate measure of skills taught in any 6th grade ELA classroom!

The extended response yesterday had to do with the architectural design of roller coasters and their height and why cables are used instead of chains as they were in the past. I forget specifically what the bullet points the kids had to hit on to answer the extended response but they had to talk about how cables are better than chains, also something about how the architects work together to plan out these designs, and something else that I can't remember. It was ridiculous though and very difficult for a 4th grader. None of the kids that I tested were able to answer this hitting all of the points they asked for. They knew that the cables made the roller coaster go higher than it would with chains but could not tell how they worked together in planning and building these newly designed roller coasters for height.

6th Grade ELA VOCABULARY WORDS-

Ephemerality. Transitory. Hailing. Faux. Plinth. Aerogel. Latter. Sufferance. Paroxysm. Veriest. Trifle. Merits. Furlong. Tramps. Inordinately. Prowess. tutelage. .....

4th grade test: Two short responses for Hattie Big Sky. The first question was describe Hattie's personality and give two examples to support your answer. The 2nd question was "How were the chickens presented as characters in the passage. Give two examples from the text." The second question was so abstract that none of the kids I tested were able to answer it correctly. The extended response was a written comparison of those two stories. Pure torture today.

I work in a poor neighborhood. A student of mine, a little boy, lost his dad in the fall. I gather his mom either doesn't work or doesn't make enough money and they lost their housing situation as well, recently. They are now living in a shelter. In its infinite wisdom, NYS requires that children take the state assessments in the last school they were registered in. So this kid travels from a shelter in Brooklyn to Queens to take the ELA tests. How absolutely ridiculous. As if this kid stands even a remote chance of being successful. What's more important here? How about some compassion?

My son said the third day of third ELA had an excerpt from a book called an American army of two. I googled it but found nothing

He said the content was hard and it had rhetorical questions in it. They were asked why they thought the author asked questions of the readers.  He read at a fourth grade level in first grade. He gets 4s on reading in report card.  He was so frustrated that his eyes well up with tears. The teacher said she was so sorry but couldn't help him and he understood. He said he felt like they were not real questions?? He took the test alone with a teacher away from the rest of his class. He does have an IEP.

He said a few class members that were strong readers cried that day.  He had anxiety about refusing and begged us to  take it. Now we feel awful.

When a friend of mine first expressed her resentment towards the state assessments, in the fall after the first year they were administered ( we are in the throws of our third year), my thoughts were the following, some of which I was vocal about, some of which I was not: Okay, you are very disappointed that your child didn't do well. You are upset that there's nothing you can really do about it. Kids have to take tests. That is what we did. It's part of life. My son didn't do well either, but I know these tests, in particular, don't mean anything.

I always went to a Catholic school, I have always been a rule follower. Nothing wrong with that. You trust that the powers at be know what 's best. It has always been the case for me, and it worked. However, I have also learned that not only can you be weary of those you trust, but that sometimes you have to question things a little. I understand, fully, the attitude of the parents who's child has no reservation about taking the test, and does reasonably well. I also understand not really caring one way or another, especially if it doesn't affect my life. Writing this now, I can shamefully say I have no idea about what is going on in Iraq! This particular topic hit a nerve with me. That's all.

Are we lazy as a nation? Don't we want to keep up with everyone else? Forgive me for being redundant if you've heard it, but it really is like comparing apples to oranges. We are being compared with other countries who don't have pockets of poverty like us - areas that can't afford tutors, and resources that pay for little science kits with a special tool and magnifying glass to study rocks! It should be okay if we are ranked a little lower as a country. Let's get over ourselves. It's too much of a price to pay to literally torture many kids and their families.

The test has many grammatical errors. I have a bachelor's degree, but would never consider myself qualified to write the content of a test that goes in the category of " high stakes." The applicants for these jobs don't have to have a master's degree, let alone any experience teaching or raising children. A section of the ELA portion of the test this year has had British references (honouring, recognising) , which is confusing. You have heard it - the fourth graders who took the test had to answer questions based on literature that was on a 6.8 reading level. I am in the East Williston School district, in which extra help is always available, and the teachers are phenomenal. Right now, we could hire a tutor, should the extra help my son is offered after school twice a week not be enough to prepare for a Math test. Many families in less fortunate districts, being taught by teachers who aren't as helpful, cannot afford the "extra help," (a new household term). All the extra time sitting and doing work takes away from extra curricular activities, exercise, and socializing. My son plays sports and has friends. He gets it all in. We are fine! Still, it's the principle of it.

Last year, the first year we refused the test, my son questioned ,"Why? We get gum." Clearly, his confidence was not shot by all the questions he got wrong the spring before, and would prefer, like everyone else, to be placed in the majority, with kids who are taking it, not with the few who were not. He was not biting down pencils out of nervousness, or getting stomach aches. He was fine with all of it. Again, it's for the principle of it!  The test is about eight hours in length, which is longer than the bar exam. Students with IEP"s have extended time for tests. My understanding is that schools in other parts of the country have closed down because their scores were not up to par. So, these children either get bussed, or don't go to school. The poor get poorer. Crime rate goes up. This reality doesn't change my little world in East Williston, but I can't feed a system that leads to such horrific circumstances.

More than half of the children fail. The results are mailed at the end of the summer, when they are weeks away from having a new teacher. Corrections on the test are never made, yet once the new school year begins, we will begin cracking down, spending valuable classroom time, to have the kids take a test that will be more than two to three grade levels above them, again. "It's a vicious cycle, " as I quote another supporter. That's how it goes, right? They'll just take it and move on, right? Am I trying to shield my child from a little extra work? The state tests never killed me. The tests I took were much, much shorter, and they were not used inappropriately. Parents who refuse are saving their children from the potential harmful data that can follow them right up until their first job interview. It's a different world now - all out there for everyone to see - so creepy!

I proctored the 5 th grade. Day 1 and 3 were awful. So labor intensive. The 3rd grade post was accurate it was so hard. There was a passage about swagger. Yes, swagger. Also a part about the drive thru bank. How many city kids even know what that is? One of my co-workers eyes filled with tears when her students left the room

It's About Taking a Stand!
By:  A LI school psychologist

My 2 cents about why this "opt out" movement is so important. 

Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation, with the media leading the way. If I see one more ad thanking Cuomo, I might implode. This whole issue is not about *a* test. It is not about how any particular child performs on a test. And it is not about teachers not wanting to be evaluated or held accountable. It is about an untested, unproven curriculum that is supposed to get our kids "college and career ready" with no data indicating that this is an appropriate way to do so. This "Common Core" was not piloted and studied for efficacy. It is not based on our understanding of human development. It was developed primarily by business people FOR business people.

 The developers of the Common Core did not look to the highest achieving countries and ask, "What are they doing right?" "How can we do that?" No, that's NOT what they did. Instead, big business (i.e., Pearson) said "Here's a curriculum. We, the business people, think it's good. It's going to cost you all a ton to get the teaching materials but we think it's good. Don't worry if your students don't do well with it...we'll SELL YOU remedial materials and practice test materials. We'll SELL YOU the tests and you'll PAY US to score them. Don't worry...we'll hire people with NO EDUCATIONAL expertise to score them..If your kids don't do well, we'll SELL YOU MORE remedial materials" and so on. And in turn, we'll make a hefty campaign contribution to your Governor. See, WE all win. Well, not the kids but so what? They'll just continue to use our kids as pawns to feed their greed machine.

 I am NOT a teacher. I am a psychologist who holds a dual doctorate degree in school and clinical psychology. I can tell you that in my educated opinion, the Common Core needs a lot of work and we are going about teaching in the wrong way. One size does NOT fit all. Children learn in different ways and have different strengths. There is no singular path to success. Albert Einstein would not have performed well on an ELA assessment. He was learning disabled but brilliant. But if he had been tested today, he would not have been identified as "college or career ready". 

Every person has value and a place in society. An individual's value can't be determined by a score nor can their future contributions to the world be determined by a score. So this is NOT about making a kid take a test because "you can't opt out of life". It is about taking a stand...an act of "civil disobedience" to prevent our schools from being turned into factories. It's about stopping ignorant business people from limiting the creativity of our future generation. It's about doing the RIGHT thing for this generation as well as future generations of learners.

NY TESTING HORROR STORIES
ELA TESTS - DAY 2

THANK YOU TO LONG ISLAND OPT OUT FOR SHARING AND ALLOWING BATs to PUBLISH AND GET THE WORD OUT.  

You can join LIOO here  https://www.facebook.com/groups/Longislandoptout/
You can get NY test refusal information here at NYSAPE  http://www.nysape.org/
You can get National test refusal information here at United Opt Out   http://unitedoptout.com/

Today's third grade ELA had passages from Drag Racer. Grade level 5.9 and interest level 9-12th grade.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/drag-racer%23cart/cleanup#cart/cleanup

The second reading in 6th grade exam given today was titled A Master Teacher by Helen Bledsoe. It was a story about Confucius and how he was credited with the exam system in China.

Printed in bold letters on the second page was: Let exams do the ranking

It spoke about how people had to take exams and how those that did well received positions in government based on the results.

We were appalled and angry that this found its was onto the exams today. To us it spoke to how little NYSED and Pearson care about parent wishes, students and the testing climate and quietly "attacked" it yet again.

Today's 4th grade assessment had a passage from "The Clay Marble" from Mingfo Ho. Jeanette Deutermann googled it. Here's the grade level:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/clay-marble%23cart/cleanup#cart/cleanup

Grade 7: Excerpt from Under the Lilacs by Alcott. Published in 1878. Included 10 footnoted vocabulary, some with 2 in one sentence. It also included "old" English such as "recognising", "humourous" and "attind". There was also Gaelic dialogue mixed in with the vocabulary to really add to students' confusion. It was extremely difficult overall and most did not finish on time.

3rd grade test. 3 passages. 7 mc, 3 short response paragraphs. I extended response which is an essay. First passage why do animals play. Fair and mc was ok. Second passage about a girl coming over from China separated from her parents etx. Questions required time and thinking. Higher level. Third passage about drag racing short response was really tough kids god stuck and many siding get to finish test and last question which was ok. Not enough time and many tears again. I feel like an imbecile. Quote from smart student.

A third grade story was called Honeysuckle House- grade equivalent 4 age level interest 11-15! Short answer Questions were inferential and way over the head of the majority of kids