NJ ASK, No Respect 1

The Proposal:
Implementation of a school board policy stating that any standardized test imposed by the the state or federal government will not be used for student evaluation in terms of placement or grouping within the Oakland school district.

The Premise:
Standardized tests suck.

The Back-story:

The fact that Oakland cancelled parent-teacher conferences in 2013 is a warning sign that Oakland is headed in a very dangerous direction.

While it is easy enough for a parent to arrange a parent-teacher conference to address specific concerns, the scheduled parent-teacher conferences held twice a year are important reminders that parents are integral partners – if not the leader – in the education of their children.

For many parents it might just be a warm and cozy meeting about how their child is the best thing since sliced bread; and, for some parents they might need to hear that their imagined angel is hell on wheels. In either event, it’s a responsibility on both the parent and the teacher to have these meetings if only to remind each other of the partnership intrinsic to education.

There was no explanation as to why parent-teacher conferences were cancelled in Oakland, but a good reason might have been that this time was better spent preparing for standardized testing – that’s a guess and a perfect segue.

The NJ ASK tests do next-to-nothing for Oakland, and yet they consume invaluable classroom time in terms of preparation for weeks, disruption of normal school instruction, and impose needless pressure and anxiety on students.

There has never been any factual, or even anecdotal, evidence proving the NJ ASK tests have improved education in Oakland. It is more logical to assume that Oakland is a “control group”, and that the results are used to “set expectations” for failing school districts rather than deliver any tangible benefit to Oakland students.

Examining the 50+ page booklet recently sent home to parents in order for them to help children prepare for the NJ ASK, I searched for the reason why these exams were important to my child. The primary reason appears to be that, “…the experience from taking this test will help your children when they take the state’s test at other grade levels.”

This is both an honest and perverse reason.

As far as I know, professional test-takers have opportunities in a limited growth industry since it is illegal. While in the days of the American Civil War one could opt-out of the draft for $300 – it is doubtful that new laws allowing one to pay for a professional test-taker will be enacted in the 21st century.

The debate on the value of standardized testing continues to grow despite billions of dollars are being poured into the industry. Students, teachers and parents across America continue to protest, opt-out, or refuse to take/administer standardized tests they consider counter-productive to the learning ecology of schools.

Teacher unions have successfully lobbied to limit the weight attached to standardized testing when it comes to teacher evaluation – rightfully; these same protections have not been given to students.

Until Oakland can prove that standardized tests do anything for local students outside of providing a benchmark for failing school districts elsewhere – we should reject their validity, their credibility, and spare our children being reduced to statistics.

Oakland schools have had a great reputation for decades, long before the bandwagon of standardized testing began trolling the nation’s byways. Oakland’s reputation will only increase by taking a stand that cookie-cutter, snap-shot, standardized tests are accorded the respect they deserve – which is little.

As the Oakland Recreation program promotes sportsmanship, our Oakland school district should promote scholarship – and good scholarship has nothing to do with state mandated testing.

Human beings are born, not made; human beings are nurtured, not manufactured. The education of a child, the growth of a child, should be measured by those with boots on the ground, skin in the game.

We should expect that, after 180 days of interaction, our teachers know our children better than what the scores of one test on one day will indicate. We should expect, after 180 days of interaction, a teacher will know a student’s strengths and weaknesses.

Technology has not just opened doors for the testing industry with plans for NJ to expand it’s standardized testing – but also innovative methods for assessing student achievement and progress.

Concepts such as e-portfolios for students which provide a more tangible record of a student’s accomplishments, or digital badges which reflect achievement of a specific skill – these are newer methods that offer an opportunity to  assess growth, measure ability, and more importantly – inspire students.

We can, as we do everyday, encourage our children to do their best. We can also say that, inside of the Oakland school district, we don’t give a damn about standardized tests, manufactured students, or cookie-cutter solutions. We can say Oakland has it’s own standards that reflect the effort of parents, teachers, coaches, friends, families and volunteers who work to nurture a human being, not a thing.

Oakland can continue to participate in standardized testing, but we need not subject our children to the results, the snap-shots, and the use of these test scores within the district.

The NJ’s teachers’ union has been successful in limiting the value of standardized testing in terms of teacher evaluation….their students, our children, are deserving of the same…even more.

The Oakland school district should prohibit the use of all state or federal standardized testing for local student assessments.

We can abide by state and federal law, we don’t have to respect it.

Submitted by Charles McCormick, Oakland parent