New Common Core Testing Requirements Cause Consternation in Education Communities

 As promised in my blog post of Friday, January 9^th, the text below contains the entirety of the comments delivered to the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education at its reorganization meeting on Monday, January 6^th, by Mr. Steve Beatty, President of the Bridgewater-Raritan and Somerset County Boards of Education.

Mr. Beatty emphasizes a point in in his address to the BR-BOE.

They contain strong objections to the new academic testing process soon to be introduced into the school district under federal mandates, as a part of Common Core requirements.

Mr. Beatty’s remarks are presented in their entirety and have not been edited.  However, I’ve taken the liberty to add headings to facilitate the reader’s segueing from one sub-topic to the next.  In the first paragraph, I’ve also added a description of the term “PARCC” for those who may not be familiar with this acronym.

Mr. Beatty’s Comments as Delivered on Monday Evening

 Introduction and Initial Critique of PARCC:  I would like to open the conversation on the implementation of the Common Core, and more specifically, the PARCC tests (Partnership of Readiness for College and Careers assessment) and their impact on the students of the Bridgewater-Raritan School District.

This orchestrated movement, with it its obsessive testing system, has clearly taken us away from time-tested, expert-developed standards and measures and replaced them with a punitive regime of poorly designed, confusing, unproven tests with no real diagnostic value. Further, this regime encourages teaching to the test, a narrowing of curriculum, and widens the achievement and gender gaps, ultimately turning kids off to learning.

In this testing obsession, we have turned our schools over to what Diane Ravitch calls the “educational-industrial complex” of for-profit corporations, hedge funds, self-proclaimed pundits, and fly-by-night charter schools looking to do no more than unlock the doors to the vault of funds earmarked for public education.

The power brokers have now fomented a movement that increasingly demoralizes students and demonizes teachers. This holds both accountable for progress defined by mouse clicks, disregarding both the students’ true grasp of the subject matter and any other factors that may impact on their ability to learn.

No other nation on the planet tests their children as much as we do. We are over-testing our students and consequently leaving behind the incredible value that comes from curiosity and investigation, play, and peer interaction - both in and out of the classroom.

Every credible education expert agrees that the process used in developing the PARCC tests and implementing the final product is fundamentally flawed. Common Core itself was written by a small group of “experts” that largely excluded educators in a manner that was anything but transparent.

Impact of PARCC on the Bridgewater-Raritan School District:  At a time when we are trying to raise the self-esteem of our children, we are now subjecting them to this flawed testing scheme where vast majorities are predestined to failure and the tests are designed to support a self-fulfilling prophecy of failing public schools.

Now let me address the time and money spent. Politicians, local boards and administrations such as ours have made their mantra increased rigor, more time on task, and meaningful pupil contact time, coupled with fiscal responsibility.

Yet, here in Bridgewater-Raritan and across much of the state, the plan is one of revised schedules resulting in weeks of lost classroom instruction. Vast amounts of money are being spent on technology - hundreds upon hundreds of computers, broadband infrastructure, and the other various test preparation materials and tools – money that would be much better spent on the basic materials and excellent educators and education support professionals

.

Clearly, these two paradigms are incongruent.

Who Pays & Who Should Decide on Test Criteria?  We often hear that upwards of 75% of district expenses are for personnel costs – somehow implying that we are spending our money unwisely. We don’t produce products for public consumption; we educate our children for the sake of our society and the future of our nation. Isn’t that where are resources should be spent, rather than test preparation and implementation?

As politicians, boards and administrations sing budget woes, we are spending millions in tax dollars on unfunded mandates foisted upon us by educational amateurs – most of whom have never spent a day working in any public education setting, but stand to profit handsomely at the expense of our students.
 

In what other arena would this pass as acceptable? If you were a lawyer, doctor, or CEO, would you allow those with little to no experience in your field to impose a set of nonsensical and inflexible standards that would fundamentally change a system of proven exceptional results? I think not.

Responsibility Properly Belongs at the Local Level:  This paradigm of testing is at odds with what I know you to believe is in the best interest of the students that you have been elected to serve. Look at your own mission statement that hangs above your head at these meetings. Clearly, the two are in conflict, and you must do everything in your power to stop the madness that threatens the proven success of our great district.

You have the power in this case. When I speak, I am painted as one of those interested parties who are summarily dismissed as self-serving, clinging with all of my might to the shutters that keep out the antiseptic of test scores.

But you are an elected body – a constituent group to the New Jersey School Boards and the State Board of Education. I have never known this board to shy away from pursuing what they believe is in the best interests of the students that you have taken an oath to serve. You need to look deep within yourselves and resolve to join the growing chorus of local boards and lobby the state on behalf of what you truly believe is the best way to educate our children.

Somerset County Education Association Plans a “Parents take the PARCC”  Test:  And as President of the Somerset County Education Association, I am working with our Hunterdon affiliate to set up a “Parents take the PARCC” January 28^th and February 2^nd which will entail taking sample tests followed by a discussion on what their children will be facing. This is part of our effort to educate and enlist community support in the fight for educational sanity. I invite all of you and hope you can attend.

We all need to take a breath and remember an important fact: that New Jersey public schools rank in the top five of every measurable category of student achievement. I submit to you that the poorly-designed and confusing PARCC tests lack any real instructional value and are a step backward for our students.

I think the facts speak for themselves: these tests are nothing more than a blueprint for disaster, consuming invaluable instructional time and money. We are counting on you to stand up for our students, rather than sitting back fiddling while Rome burns.