Office of Assessment Policy, Development and Administration (APDA) develops and administers tests that are aligned with the New York State Learning Standards and Core Curriculum, are consistent with State and federal mandates, are statistically and psychometrically sound, and yield valuable information that enables the State Education Department to hold schools accountable for the education of all students.
Children Should Not Be a Number
If the purpose of the State Standardized Test is to “hold schools accountable” why is it that our children bear the brunt of the accountability process?
If it is schools, or school districts, or teachers, or school administrators that are to be evaluated, why not make them take the standardized tests instead of wasting the valuable learning time of our children?
Why not make these entities sit for hours taking mock tests, practice tests, benchmark tests, and pre-test tests in order to increase their test taking stamina?
According to educational research, children require real life, meaningful experiences in order to engage their desire to learn. In what area of real life do adults sit and take test after test, year after year, for no other reason than to assess the capabilities of their employer?
Standardized testing should be relevant. They should be used to determine certain benchmarks that a child should reach according to their mental and physical rate of maturation, much like the APGAR Score given to babies at birth.
Standardized test scores have nothing to do with the educational progress of the child. They have everything to do with the bottom line of test creation companies, Pearson, correctional facility businesses, CCA, charter school hopefuls, and politicians.
While some would proffer that our children are being used as guinea pigs for the testing companies, that analogy is naive.
Our children are being enslaved by business, in a system of mis-education, whose profit margin increases as the child’s education decreases.
Parents must put a stop to this childhood carnage by refusing to let their children participate in state standardized testing until its motives are clearly child centered.
Join the Movement to Save Our Children!
*In yesterday’s blog, Sandy Parker was referred to as Ms. Jordan instead of Ms. Parker in a subsequent statement. The correction has be made.
