The relief came in part from the statement by NYSED that teachers would be more involved in the creation of state tests under the Questar deal than they were with Pearson, though details about that remain scarce.
Pearson had a tumultuous tenure as the state's 3-8 grade test creator - the infamous Pineapple and the Hare debacle cystallizing it all into one big mess.
But as many parent and teacher activists have been pointing out since Questar Assessment was announced as the new state 3-8 grade test vendor, the problem with the Endless testing regime in New York State isn't which company is overseeing the test creation - it's the Endless Testing regime itself:
Sorry @highachieveny,parent concerns about NYS Assessment program do not stop at Pearson's missteps,#optout continues http://t.co/utlU2Wltgt
— Chris Cerrone (@Stoptesting15) July 10, 2015
Pearson or Questar, testing will still drive & narrow instruction to ELA/math as long as educator & school evals are tied to tests. #optout
— Chris Cerrone (@Stoptesting15) July 10, 2015
@leoniehaimson @SOTHVNY @perdidostschool @NYSAPE Important Q: what's in contract in terms of student data collection, privacy, security?
— Allison M. White (@allionthemove) July 10, 2015
NYSED having Questar Assessment replace Pearson is not a change to the Endless testing regime - it's simply a change to the face of the Endless Testing regime.
This is a "rebrand" of the Endless Testing regime, a (perhaps) more friendly face to it with Questar taking the reins from Pearson - but make no mistake, not much is really going to change.
As Chris Ceronne put it so well, so long as evaluations and school ratings are based upon the scores, high stakes testing will drive and narrow classroom instruction to only what is tested.
Of course, all very try.
ReplyDeleteOur 'victories' come so rarely that I think we can take one day to celebrate the overthrow--perhaps no more than replacement--of a despised foundation stone of the reformista movement.
Maybe nothing will change. But maybe something, small, will change.
Unrelenting cynicism that no change can possibly be a 'good' change without reserving judgment for even some short period can lead only to despair.
I predict nothing but I hope for something while assuming that until there is a fundamental change in governance or this particularly frightening period in education lunacy exhausts itself very little will change in the day-to-day reality of our schools.