To: The New York State House, The New York State Senate, and Governor Andrew Cuomo
Demand for alternative assessments over standardized tests
Do whatever is necessary to encourage and promote unfettered opportunities for demonstrating in public schools the efficacy and procedures of alternative systems of assessment and evaluation of educational outcomes.
Why is this important?
Public education in New York State and across this land is being subjected to a movement that demands the acceptance of an arbitrary set of common core standards and the use of one-size-fit-all standardized tests. In spite of claims to the contrary, these standards and tests do not address the higher level cognitive processes of synthesizing and critically/creatively evaluating required for problem solving in today’s world. (Bloom et.al.)
The products created by these higher level intellectual processes are unique to every individual; therefore, they are not measurable with a standardized test.
Using the legislative process, decision makers responsible for this movement have deliberately prevented effective alternative assessment and evaluation strategies from being demonstrated in our public schools. There are examples of tested alternatives available that accurately measure higher level thinking such as The Constructive Assessment, Recordkeeping and Evaluation System (CARES) prepared and field tested by Robert L. Arnold, SUNY Professor Emeritus of Education.
The common core and an arbitrary version of standards must be challenged to enable our citizens to make intelligent judgments about the most effective strategies available for their schools, before any further damage by current versions of standardization is done to the lives of our young citizens. Alternative assessment and evaluation strategies must be allowed to demonstrate their superiority over the existing strategies of testing, testing and more testing.
For further elaboration, access on-line: AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com, January 7, 2014, “Guest Commentary” by Robert L. Arnold, SUNY Professor Emeritus of Education.
The products created by these higher level intellectual processes are unique to every individual; therefore, they are not measurable with a standardized test.
Using the legislative process, decision makers responsible for this movement have deliberately prevented effective alternative assessment and evaluation strategies from being demonstrated in our public schools. There are examples of tested alternatives available that accurately measure higher level thinking such as The Constructive Assessment, Recordkeeping and Evaluation System (CARES) prepared and field tested by Robert L. Arnold, SUNY Professor Emeritus of Education.
The common core and an arbitrary version of standards must be challenged to enable our citizens to make intelligent judgments about the most effective strategies available for their schools, before any further damage by current versions of standardization is done to the lives of our young citizens. Alternative assessment and evaluation strategies must be allowed to demonstrate their superiority over the existing strategies of testing, testing and more testing.
For further elaboration, access on-line: AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com, January 7, 2014, “Guest Commentary” by Robert L. Arnold, SUNY Professor Emeritus of Education.