Plan to curb boycott of NY standardized tests creates a backlash
Aug 27, 2015 — The New York State education commissioner’s plans to quell the testing opt-out movement is getting some backlash from some Republicans in the legislature, including a former teacher.
At a recent conference held by the teacher’s group Educators for Excellence, State Education Commissioner Mary Ellen Elia said she plans to try and convince parents not to have their children boycott the tests associated with the Common Core learning standards. Because of this year’s boycott, 20 percent of students statewide did not take the tests. “I think opt-out is something that is not reasonable,” Elia told the conference.
Elia told the group that schools with very high opt-out rates are at a disadvantage, because they don’t have the data to help children who may be struggling with specific learning skills. The commissioner said she hopes she can explain that to school leaders, teachers, and parents over the coming months who might not be “aware” of that.
Elia told Politico New York that she is putting together a “tool kit” to help school superintendents reverse the boycotts in their schools. She had also talked to the education department’s legal staff and asked them to provide the school administrators with more information on laws that require the exams be administered. Those remarks set off some lawmakers.
Assemblyman Jim Tedisco spent a decade as a special education teacher in the Schenectady school system. “I call this the goon squad,” said Tedisco. “They are going to intimidate the parents.”
Assemblyman Bill Nojay, a Republican from the Rochester area who described himself as libertarian leaning, was never a teacher, but his mother was one. He said education officials should be listening to the parents instead. “The parents, the teachers and the students have got more than enough information,” Nojay said. “They don’t need somebody who is new to New York State to say ‘Listen to me, I know better than you do.’”
A spokesman for Commissioner Elia said the "tool kit" has been misunderstood and it will not be a means to coerce parents into having their children take the tests. Spokesman Dennis Tompkins said it will instead provide suggestions and information school superintendents can use to better inform parents about the value of the assessments. The materials might include, for example, a sample parent report to show parents the kind of feedback they would receive if their children take the tests.Assemblyman Tedisco is the sponsor of a bill to allow parents to opt their children out of Common Core associated standardized tests. He said the larger issue is whether New York has become too reliant on the exams for students and to evaluate teachers. “Use Plan to curb boycott of NY standardized tests creates a backlash | NCPR News:
