The New York State tests will be administered to public school students in grades 3-8 this week. That is, if any of them will actually be sitting for it. I have been a teacher for 18 years and am a parent of three children. My oldest, a fourth grader, will not be taking the tests. This was a decision that my husband (also a teacher) and I have made based on our beliefs as educators and as parents. We believe the tests are wrong on so many levels.
We believe that school should be about learning. Not testing.
We believe our children should be educated by teachers. Not testers.
We believe our children SHOULD be tested. On a regular basis. By their teacher. Spelling tests, math tests, science and social studies tests. My kids take 2-3 tests per week. My kids study and prepare for tests. We take the time to do it right. They learn test-taking strategies and when they receive the test back, we talk about questions they got wrong and why. They learn from their mistakes.
We do not believe that SAT practice for "college readiness" is developmentally inappropriate for a 9 year old.
At the risk of sounding melodramatic, this is a sad time for public education. I am sad for my kids because all they come home with are EngageNY handouts to practice for tests. These kids are in elementary school for goodness sake. They should be learning, yes. But having fun too.
I am sad for my profession. I don't blame elementary school teachers for all of those EngageNY handouts. They want the kids to do well on the tests. Their job depends on it. In a nutshell, Governor Cuomo's message to teachers: "Teach to the test. Your students must do well or you will lose your job."
I don't know what will come of the NYS ELA tests this week and the math tests scheduled for next week. What will the end result be of all of the kids opting out? I hope, I really hope, that positive change will happen.
Why? Because in all of this talk of testing and teacher evaluations and opting out NO ONE is talking about the heart of the matter: the kids. Our governor is talking about testing kids as a means for evaluating teachers, not as a tool for helping kids and helping teachers to drive instruction. I wish he would visit our schools to get a first-hand look at what is going on. I wish he would elicit teacher input when creating curriculum. I hope he gets a wake-up call this week. I hope our legislators get a wake-up call this week. Enough is enough.
