This weekend I finally spent some time getting my thoughts on paper to send to some of our state legislators. It was a challenge, to speak as a parent despite the precarious position I am in as a teacher. There are many strong feelings among teachers right now, and I wanted to express some of them... but carefully, in a way that makes it clear that I support my district, my colleagues, my administrators even as I disagree with the practices we are obligated to engage in right now. Even so, I 've omitted here paragraphs referencing my role as a teacher, to avoid any potential conflict.
I'm putting my letter here, because I want to encourage all of you to write letters as well. If you have children, grandchildren, neighbor children whose education is being affected by high stakes testing; if you believe schools and teachers deserve respect and support and the ability to exercise creativity and flexibility to meet the needs of all learners; if you believe time should be spent teaching and not just testing; if you think educational decisions should be guided by educators and not a for-profit testing company-- you should write a letter too. Make your feelings known. To your school board, to your state representatives, to your Senators. Something's gotta give, and soon.
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Representative ______________,
I am writing to you this evening in advance of your committee’s hearing on primary and secondary assessment. I have so many thoughts on this topic that it is hard to know where to begin. But today I will write and do my best to express my thoughts on this issue because it is my responsibility as a parent, educator, and citizen to speak up for what I believe is in the best interests of our children.
Put simply, the continued over-emphasis on standardized high-stakes testing is NOT in the best interests of the children of Ohio.
I will speak as a parent when I say that yes, I do want my children -- Jack, age 7 and Ivy, age 4-- to be well-prepared citizens of the 21st century. I want them to be challenged to think critically and work to their full potential. As their mother, I fully intend to hold my children accountable to high standards of learning. As an involved parent in my children’s school district, I do and will continue to hold their teachers accountable as well. I monitor my second grader’s progress continually as I help him with homework, communicate with his teachers, network with other parents, and talk with him about his day.
This is my job, as a parent. I am a very important stakeholder in the public education system of Cleveland Heights, as I both pay into the system and entrust it with my most precious possession. I take my job seriously. And so I can say with confidence that I am more than satisfied with the process and the outcome of my son’s education so far.
I do NOT need a high-stakes, profit-driven, standardized assessment to tell me this.
My son has been blessed with truly amazing educators for these first three years of his educational career. His teachers have all been consummate professionals who put their hearts into their teaching; they are kind and caring and firm at the same time. I have watched my son flourish within truly diverse classrooms, where each child is met at their level and guided upwards. His teachers are creative, intelligent, well-trained and experienced. They are well-spoken, confident problem-solvers. They have helped Jack emerge from anxiety and perfectionism and move towards leadership. They have taught him to read three years above grade level and to apply the scientific method in his daily life. He’s also learning how to sing and is so very excited about his spring concert. Since starting school, he’s fallen in love with art and has become more creative in the ways he expresses himself, each year.
I do NOT need test scores, school report cards or punitive teacher evaluation systems to tell me that my son’s school is performing well for him. It is my job, as a parent, to find my own evidence for this, and I do find it, in abundance. If I am looking for data on my son’s progress, his teachers have it for me, in the form of curriculum-based formative and summative assessments. True assessments, with results received in real time and used to inform instruction NOW.
But here’s the thing. The best barometer I have for the success of my son’s education is the fact that he skips in to school each morning. Skips, with the joy and abandon of a happy 7 year old. This is what tells me all is well with the world. Because more important to me than all that data, more important to me than my son’s college readiness, is his happiness. I want for him to grow up to be happy and confident and kind. Thankfully, his school experience thus far has kept him on track towards that goal.
I worry, though, about third grade. Testing year, that’s what third grade is. My sweet smart boy is prone to anxiety and I am heartsick to think of what the pressure will do to him. I am also worried that his well-rounded school experience will be suddenly narrowed down to the sliver of life that can be assessed by the PARCC. As teachers and schools, with the heavy hand of evaluations, job security and federal funding hanging over their heads, are forced to focus more and more time and energy into training my son and his classmates to answer “Select all that apply” questions and enter answers electronically, what will happen to art and music? What will happen to creative and spontaneous projects tied to student interests? Time for deep, real, meaningful projects?
What will happen to my son’s skipping?
I already know the answer, though I hate to think about it. All of those things will disappear. For my son and for children around the state, of all ages.
I do not blame the “Common Core.” A set of standards is not so diabolical. To tell the truth, I am a fan of the idea of digging deeper, raising the bar. All students should be challenged to truly think, and to learn to express themselves well, at their own individual level and pace.
The irony is that by over-emphasizing the TESTING of these standards, expecting ALL students to reach the same goal at the same time, and placing such incredibly high, fear-inducing stakes on the results, it will become MORE difficult for educators to truly implement the standards.
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Nothing like a little terror to kill the joy, creativity, and passion in a team of educators. People who are working under fear of penalty, trying to achieve a potentially impossible goal, are not at their best.
As a parent, I want my son’s teachers to be at their best. I want them to be free to take risks, to flex and change. I want them to come to work with energy and inspiration and a sense of efficacy.
High-stakes testing tied to teacher evaluations will NOT accomplish this.
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High stakes testing does NOT provide useful information about learning and progress of students as unique individuals, and it will continue to have particularly harmful and demoralizing effects on students with disabilities and their teachers.
I am a stakeholder in the Ohio public school system and I do NOT want this future for my children. High-stakes standardized testing will NOT improve our schools. Support and resources WILL improve our schools. Trust in our teachers WILL improve our schools. Programs that address the pervasive problem of income inequality WILL improve our schools.
As a citizen of Ohio I ask that you work to END this destructive, profit-based system of high-stakes testing and instead work to find positive solutions that engage and involve TEACHERS, PARENTS, and STUDENTS. Standardized tests will never give you a true picture of a school. Listening to teachers, parents, and students WILL. Please listen to us. There has to a be a better way. I want Jack and Ivy to be able to skip to school next year and every year to come. Do not allow high stakes tests to do any more damage to our schools and our children.
Thank you,
Amanda Cobes
