Educators Keeping Their Kids Home During State Tests
Former Bergen school administrator says enough is enough with standardized tests.
As hundreds of thousands of New Jersey schoolchildren sit down for state testing over the course of the next month, NJ Spotlight came upon at least three families who are sitting this one out.
Particularly notable: They are teachers and administrators themselves, past and present. And each said that's part of the reason they've decided to opt out their kids, having seen how pervasive testing has become in schools where they’ve worked.
“Educators have to be first with this,” said Maryann Reilly, a Ringwood mother, education consultant, former school administrator in Newark, Hackensack , and most recently assistant superintendent in Morristown.
“If people on the inside aren’t doing this, how can we expect our neighbors to,” she said.
In her case, Reilly said it was a growing sense that enough was enough that led her and her husband -- a Franklin Lakes English teacher -- to keep their 13-year-old son at home for this week’s NJ Assessment of Skills and Knowledge, better known as NJ ASK.
Every student from Grades 3 to 8 goes through four days of NJ ASK over the course of the next month, being tested on language arts and math.
“He has taken it since third grade, and we just decided this year, it was enough,” Reilly said. “We don’t value the measure, and we don’t get anything useful from it.
“We’re hoping people will wake up and see it is just not appropriate anymore,” she said.
Will Richardson, a prominent consultant and blogger on technology and education and former teacher at Hunterdon Central High School, has long espoused that testing has gone overboard. He said it is not just judging kids on misguided notions of learning, but also schools and even teachers in ways never intended. And this year, his 12 year old son will also be opting out.
“The research shows us that it is just not a valid measure of what is happening in the classroom,” Richardson said. “We just felt it was time to take a stand “
Nationally or in New Jersey, there is no reliable estimate of the number of families who hold back their children from testing for philosophical and educational reasons. But with the help of the Internet, it is an idea that certainly has stirred the passions and garnered attention with a National Opt-Out Day in January and a range of websites and Facebook pages dedicated to the cause.
In New Jersey last year, about 1,800 out of the 600,000 students enrolled in the NJ ASK -- or roughly 0.3 percent -- were marked absent for at least one section. But the reasons aren’t tabulated, officials said -- whether it's a conscious decision, an illness, or even error.
When contacted for this story, state and local districts had little to say, not wanting to promote the idea too much.
A spokesman for the state Department of Education said there is no statewide protocol for sitting out the tests. Although the testing is required of schools, it is a local decision whether a student receives an excused or unexcused absence, said Justin Barra, the department’s communications director.
Both Reilly and Richardson said their children received excused absences.
The one exception is the state’s high school test, now given in 11th grade, which students must by law pass if they are to graduate. Otherwise, it’s more that the law doesn’t speak to it, rather than prohibits it.
“There is no provision in federal or state law in New Jersey for students to voluntarily not take the test,” Barra said in an email.
He and others maintained that the assessments are part of a child’s education, and that there could be consequences if enough children sat out. Under both federal and state laws, a school is required to have 95 percent of its students taking the assessments, a move that was taken to keep schools from purposefully excluding students who may not test well.
“This data is a crucial resource for all of us as we work to ensure that all of our students are on track to graduate from high school college- and career-ready,” Barra said.
And that's the problem for the parents who have decided to opt out: the tests have been misused to gauge students for their test-taking skills but not learning.
Reilly, a former literacy director in Newark and then assistant superintendent in Hackensack as well as Morristown, said it has clearly led to a narrowing of curriculum that is only harming students. She is now a consultant in coaching teachers, including in New York City.
Keith Kaplan
9:36 am on Friday, April 27, 2012
Considering the questions on these exams, I can't say I blame the administrators at all -- unfortunately, the exams prepared by TEACHERS are equally abysmal. Like this one: http://teaneck.patch.com/articles/educators-keeping-their-kids-home-during-state-tests
or this one: http://www.teaneckschools.org/cms/lib2/NJ01001582/Centricity/Domain/56/11_summer_reading/math/hs_discrete_math.pdf
Oh and one more thing - to the "teacher" that created the second, link -- I couldn't take it seriously when you claim that PI is less than 2 in the first question......
zizi
10:24 am on Friday, April 27, 2012
Whats wrong with the testing...... It at least shows what a kid knows and what not...... I guess school teachers and administrators don't want to face the realities that they are failing and failing miserably in educating our kids......
Jenne
7:51 pm on Sunday, April 29, 2012
Actually, what's wrong with the testing, in my opinion, is that it gives schools that are not turning out kids with educations, just good test-taking skills, the false veneer of having succeeded in educating the kids.
Andy Schmidt
11:06 pm on Sunday, April 29, 2012
I certainly agree that teaching test taking skills can improve testing results - including the state test.
However, the teaching of test taking skills will only make sure that your knowledge will come through. No amount of testing "technique" will let you PASS a test if you LACK the knowledge.
So - NO - schools who turn out kids with "just good test-taking skills" would NOT fair well at all.
jp1
12:54 pm on Friday, April 27, 2012
All we seem to do is teach to the test.
Justice
2:48 pm on Friday, April 27, 2012
Teaching to the test has been happening for a long time. Look at the PSAT's, SAT's, GRE's, LSAT's, etc. They all teach to the test. Looks like it is now happening at all levels. It is sad. Anyone who has taken any exam prep course knows what I am talking about. The course does not teach the subject matter; only how to pass the standardized testing. It is not accurate of someone's knowledge, only their ability to follow instructions. Definitely, not good for society. Students can no longer think, just re-act. Dangerous. Some of the most intelligent/well-educated people I know cannot score adequately on these standardized tests. Furthermore, I believe there was a scandal several years ago involving this.
Wayne's World
3:23 pm on Friday, April 27, 2012
I have to disagree, Justice. As someone who has taken every one of the tests you mention, I don't believe there is such a thing as teaching to pass standardized testing. Yes, the review courses (Kaplan, Princeton Review) are adept at helping test-takers strategize a bit and identify some common logic pitfalls, but at the end of the day, you either know the material or you don't coupled with the ability to pass these tests under intense time pressure. These tests are designed so that you have roughly 60-90 seconds to answer and move on. The bar exam is the same way, as are other professional licensing exams. I think the perception of these tests is skewed because so much emphasis is placed on them for admission to higher learning institutions. Given all of the other subjective factors that can be brought to the table, the tests remain the ONLY OBJECTIVE measurable factor that is truly equal for every applicant. The perverse result is that as schools have faced more and more applicants each year, the test scores have become more important in admitting the student body. It's not that the test is a predictor for intelligence or success in life but rather it is the only way to separate the herd. As kids have learned to do more extra-curriculars for the sake of having a good record, it turns out that what really matters is having better test scores than in the past. Which, of course, means more studying and mastery of the material and less of everything else.
Wayne's World
3:25 pm on Friday, April 27, 2012
As for the scandal you referred to, there were claims that SATs in particular were racially biased against African Americans. I believe after much political wrangling the test was modified somewhat in the 90s to somehow address these claims. It was political theater to distract attention from the fact that public high schools in this country are by and large not producing literate graduates qualified to go to college.
Journey
3:34 pm on Friday, April 27, 2012
Are talking about the cheating scandals, Michelle Rhee?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/03/29/michelle-rhees-cheating-scandal-school-test-score-irregularities.html
Andy Schmidt
5:24 pm on Sunday, April 29, 2012
Don't know why these would be considered "excused" absences?
Sounds like someone is plaing the insider game and the school's playing along.
I can't imagine that "regular" kids would be considered "excused" absent 4 or 5 days in a row from 8 till 11?
My daughter has been taking the tests, I have seen the test preperations, I have seen the sample questions in booklets and parent orientation meetings and I have no objections whatsoever. About 2 hours a day for 4 days is nothing traumating and the test questions were about things that I certainly would WANT any student at that age to be able to handle.
If THOSE questions caused some teachers to "teach to the test", then they were NOT teaching enough before. If that caused some teachers to not just "lecture the material" but actually "teach" (meaning there is actual COMPREHENSION on the other side) then, again, they were not teaching before.
My daughter gets annoyed at the disruption of the regular school schedule during test week and the "formality" if the "hush" testing environment, and she does find them challengning - but they SHOULD be. Properly prepared pupils who have mastered the material, CAN and actually DO "ace" these tests.
Redrider765
5:27 pm on Sunday, April 29, 2012
There is a simple solution. Flunk any kid who doesn't take the test and if they miss the test, make them take a makeup.
Jenne
7:47 pm on Sunday, April 29, 2012
Basically, the emphasis on testing has caused schools to teach NOTHING but the test. If that's all you want your kids to know, fine. But frankly I don't think it's ok that you can be 12 years old and be unaware that the Revolutionary and Civil Wars were not the same?
Our schools get high marks in those tests, but even the other stuff they do teach gets neglected: they say they teach foreign language in the elementary schools but when a new kid moves into a class that's had 2 years of language, they don't thing it's necessary to offer the new kid tutoring to catch up.
pied piper
12:11 am on Monday, April 30, 2012
One has to question the reliability/validity of tests and the indication of test outcome data. Would a national test (SAT type of test) vs local test (NJASK/HSPA) be a more reiable/valid assessemnt of a school's achievement?
Most states develop their own tests. Data is based upon norms within each state, thus testing outcomes do not indicate comparisons of national achievement. Further, what adaptations are made for handicapped students?
Should data be disagregated for determining the testing outcomes for the achievement of a school?
How reliable/valid is a test for the performance of a special education school? A (non physically) handicapped student must be 2 or more years behind in one or more subjects to be classified as special education student. In most cases a vast a majority of handicapped students are 2 or more years below in many subjects. Therefore, passing a test for such a student would indicate that said test was not grade appropriate- yet the national standard is aking for 100% of students to pass at grade level by 2014.
Further, How reliable/valid would these tests be as indicators for achievement in schools with high percentages of handicapped students or for that matter any handicapped students (by 2014, 100% requirement)? Local state testing aligned with NCLB has become so difficult (hovering around 85% pass ratio), nearly 50% of districts have schools that failed.
There needs to be a better widget.
Andy Schmidt
9:33 am on Wednesday, May 9, 2012
You get your wish. There is only 3 more years of NJ Ask (state testing) left. After that ALL states will be using a nationally standardized test and all schools are already working to adjust curricula to the national "Core Standard".
Carla M Rosado
12:02 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
I don't mind the testing process, what bothers me the most is the stress put on our children about these exams. Everything is build around this exam and just builds more anxiety on our children. Some children are not good test takers and and so don't do well and feel discourage when results come home during the end of their summer vacation. Another bummer to beginning a new school year.