Field tests’ start comes with a hoax letter and anti-testing protest
At least one city principal was duped by a fake letter that made it look like the State Education Department wants schools to make sure parents know they can opt out field testing.
After Sandra D’Avilar, the principal of P.S. 9 in Prospect Heights, distributed the letter last week, parents of almost every student who was supposed to take this month’s field test responded saying that they did not want their children to take the field test, according to parents at the school. The state is requiring schools to administer the 45-minute test, whose results do not count, so test-maker Pearson can pilot questions for future use.
But after D’Avilar learned that the letter, whose origins are unknown, was a hoax, she told the parents that she cannot honor their requests, parents said.
“We were ready to go and we did all this work to mobilize everybody and it all came crashing down at the 11th hour,” said parent Jane Harnick, who is a member of ParentVoicesNY.
The group is one of several trying to marshal opposition to high-stakes testing. It announced today during a
After Sandra D’Avilar, the principal of P.S. 9 in Prospect Heights, distributed the letter last week, parents of almost every student who was supposed to take this month’s field test responded saying that they did not want their children to take the field test, according to parents at the school. The state is requiring schools to administer the 45-minute test, whose results do not count, so test-maker Pearson can pilot questions for future use.But after D’Avilar learned that the letter, whose origins are unknown, was a hoax, she told the parents that she cannot honor their requests, parents said.
“We were ready to go and we did all this work to mobilize everybody and it all came crashing down at the 11th hour,” said parent Jane Harnick, who is a member of ParentVoicesNY.
The group is one of several trying to marshal opposition to high-stakes testing. It announced today during a
