To: The Illinois State House, The Illinois State Senate, and Governor J.B. Pritzker
Stop Toxic Testing in Illinois
Park the PARCC in Illinois. Stop toxic testing by placing a moratorium on high stakes testing that negatively impacts direct instruction time.
Why is this important?
We the undersigned educators, parents, and concerned citizens recognize the need to educate the whole child. We believe that children are individuals, and that differentiated instruction should occur to meet the needs of students. Valuable instructional time is being lost in order to teach to the tests. Weeks of direct instruction are being lost to prepare and administer the PARCC assessments. Many educators feel that these tests are two full grade levels above students comprehension levels. Moreover, there were no wide scale public hearings held to allow for educator input.
Have we learned nothing from the failed mandates of No Child Left Behind? We must stop the reliance of high standards tests as indicators of students future success. We must stop toxic testing!
Have we learned nothing from the failed mandates of No Child Left Behind? We must stop the reliance of high standards tests as indicators of students future success. We must stop toxic testing!