The below resolution was adopted by Community Education Council District 1 on June 10, 2020.
WHEREAS,
We are deeply concerned that New York State Education Department’s use of test scores to rate and rank elementary and middle schools stigmatizes public schools and school communities.
WHEREAS,
Standardized testing is inadequate, unreliable and often developmentally inappropriate to measure student learning. As the State recognized last year with the passage of Senate Bill S1262, such testing is also unreliable and inadequate to assess educator effectiveness.
WHEREAS
The over-emphasis by policymakers on standardized testing has caused considerable collateral damage in too many schools, including narrowing the curriculum, teaching to the test, reducing love of learning, pushing students out of school, driving excellent teachers out of the profession, and undermining school climate.
WHEREAS
High-stakes standardized testing has negative effects for students from all backgrounds, and especially for low-income students, English language learners, children of color, and those with special learning needs.
WHEREAS
Many students do not have 4th or 7th grade Math and English Language Arts (ELA) test scores for reasons including a choice to opt out from the exams, or attendance at a non-public elementary or middle school, or their recent arrival to New York State from another state or country.
BE IT RESOLVED,
We call upon the New York State Education Department (NYSED) immediately cease the use of standardized test scores to rank and classify public schools, and rescind the Targeted School Improvement (TSI), Comprehensive School Improvement (CSI) and receivership designations that have so far been assigned to public elementary and middle schools;
BE IT RESOLVED,
We endorse New York State Assembly bill Assembly Bill A7744A, co-sponsored by Assembly Member Epstein and Senator Jackson, to support the rights of parents to opt their children out of state tests without penalty to themselves or their schools; and
BE IT RESOLVED,
We call upon New York State leaders to allow for school districts and schools to adopt alternative methods to assess student learning.
BE IT RESOLVED
As parents, educators, and community members, we defend the rights of parents to opt their children out of state tests for any reason, in accordance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). We support the use of alternative assessment measures, created by the schools in which they are employed, to measure student progress when the majority of their families choose to not test their children. And we believe true accountability can be achieved only when parents, teachers, and schools have meaningful control over how their children and schools are assessed.
