To: Dennis M. Walcott, Chancellor, NYC Dept. of Education
Chancellor Walcott: Let NYC teachers serve their students, not standardized tests
NYC Department of Education should hire professionals to grade tests outside of school hours and let teachers serve our students, not tests. NYC school teachers should not be pulled from their classrooms for days or weeks to grade standardized tests. Leave NYC teachers in the classroom where they belong!
Why is this important?
Every spring, thousands of teachers across New York City are pulled from their classroom, and their teaching responsibilities, to grade standardized tests. Rather than pay qualified professionals outside of school hours to do this tedious work, NYC schools, teachers, and students are forced to bear the burden of preparing for, administering, and finally grading these tests. Although many parents are aware of the great deal of time lost preparing for and administering standardized tests, many do not realize that students continue to lose valuable instructional time after the test, when their teachers are pulled for days and weeks at a time in order to grade for the city.
Here are some facts that you may not know about standardized testing in New York City:
*Schools are obligated to send content-area teachers to grade the tests, and to pay for substitutes to replace each teacher while they are gone. One typical middle school is obligated to send 8 English teachers to grade, for five days a piece, and 4 math teachers, for 6 days each. At a price of $150.00 per substitute per day, that school will pay $9,600 out of their limited budget, just to cover missing staff who has been pulled to grade exams.
*Much of the recent controversy over a new teacher evaluation plan has centered around the use of student test data to rate the effectiveness of teachers. Simply put, most educators don't believe that standardized test data should be used to judge the effectiveness of teachers and students, although many bureaucrats disagree. Ironically, pulling teachers from their classrooms to grade tests sends a contradictory message - if teachers are so vital to a child's education that they can be ranked and graded according to test scores, then why can they be pulled from their classrooms for upwards of 5 days, and replaced by non-certified substitute teachers who know neither their curriculum nor their students?
*Pearson Education, Inc. is currently in possession of a 5-year, $32 million contract to administer standardized testing in the state of New York. Their contract also includes an inside track to selling curriculum and textbooks within the state. A cloud of controversy has shadowed both the circumstances of this lucrative contract and the content of the actual tests, many of which received negative publicity in 2012 for their ambiguous and confusing wording and answers. These tests were developed completely independent of NYC public school teachers and their classrooms; yet the onus and price of grading them rests squarely upon the shoulders of public schools and their teachers.
In a public school such as my own, the large population of special education students is serviced by a team of trained educators. My class has two teachers, one certified in special education, so that we can align curriculum and work in small groups to meet the needs of all students. Each year, when I am pulled to grade standardized tests for a minimum of five days at a stretch, I am replaced by a substitute who is not certified in my content-area, and does not know my students or the curriculum. Students whose teachers are pulled to grade often end up engaging in inferior classwork, watching movies, and generally slacking off while their classroom teachers are off grading tests, whose data is used to determine everything from the success of their principal to whether they will pass seventh grade.
As a teacher, my job is to instruct and administer to the needs of my students, not grade standardized tests. Teachers, schools, and students should not be obligated the bear the burden of excessive standardized testing. Please leave teachers in the classrooms with their students, where they belong.
Here are some facts that you may not know about standardized testing in New York City:
*Schools are obligated to send content-area teachers to grade the tests, and to pay for substitutes to replace each teacher while they are gone. One typical middle school is obligated to send 8 English teachers to grade, for five days a piece, and 4 math teachers, for 6 days each. At a price of $150.00 per substitute per day, that school will pay $9,600 out of their limited budget, just to cover missing staff who has been pulled to grade exams.
*Much of the recent controversy over a new teacher evaluation plan has centered around the use of student test data to rate the effectiveness of teachers. Simply put, most educators don't believe that standardized test data should be used to judge the effectiveness of teachers and students, although many bureaucrats disagree. Ironically, pulling teachers from their classrooms to grade tests sends a contradictory message - if teachers are so vital to a child's education that they can be ranked and graded according to test scores, then why can they be pulled from their classrooms for upwards of 5 days, and replaced by non-certified substitute teachers who know neither their curriculum nor their students?
*Pearson Education, Inc. is currently in possession of a 5-year, $32 million contract to administer standardized testing in the state of New York. Their contract also includes an inside track to selling curriculum and textbooks within the state. A cloud of controversy has shadowed both the circumstances of this lucrative contract and the content of the actual tests, many of which received negative publicity in 2012 for their ambiguous and confusing wording and answers. These tests were developed completely independent of NYC public school teachers and their classrooms; yet the onus and price of grading them rests squarely upon the shoulders of public schools and their teachers.
In a public school such as my own, the large population of special education students is serviced by a team of trained educators. My class has two teachers, one certified in special education, so that we can align curriculum and work in small groups to meet the needs of all students. Each year, when I am pulled to grade standardized tests for a minimum of five days at a stretch, I am replaced by a substitute who is not certified in my content-area, and does not know my students or the curriculum. Students whose teachers are pulled to grade often end up engaging in inferior classwork, watching movies, and generally slacking off while their classroom teachers are off grading tests, whose data is used to determine everything from the success of their principal to whether they will pass seventh grade.
As a teacher, my job is to instruct and administer to the needs of my students, not grade standardized tests. Teachers, schools, and students should not be obligated the bear the burden of excessive standardized testing. Please leave teachers in the classrooms with their students, where they belong.