Executive director of FairTest weighs in on standardized testing reform Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! The Nation’s Report Card As I prepared to interview Harry Feder, the new executive director of FairTest, the latest Nation’s Report Card was published. As a result, our chat felt especially timely. […]
standardized tests
Betsy Devos Need to Spend More Time In Real Schools with Real Teachers
Secretary of Education Betsy Devos needs to know more about real schools and real teachers. Hell, just real people would be good. In calling for enforcement of standardized testing policies in public schools, during a public health crisis, she once again reveals a lack of connection to the lived reality of the victims of […]
A Pandemic Brings Opportunity to Rethink Standardized Testing
Coronavirus-canceled testing brings an opportunity. As a teacher and parent in the state of New York, news that standardized testing might be canceled this year brings mixed emotions. I suspected the closures due to COVID-19 might come to this, and for many years I have been pretty open about my personal feelings about abuse-by-test. My […]
“Active Monitoring” Standardized Tests Is a Joke
Most states have a guide for how educators should properly proctor a standardized test. Chief among the list of directions is teacher behavior while students are testing. Those of us proctoring tests are bound to come across the term “active monitoring” (AK-tiv * Mahn-it-ORR-ing) N. – educational jargon-ese for teachers doing nothing other than staring at their […]
Testing Season: Prepare to be Accountable
It’s testing season In New York, the state tests are here. Technically speaking the ELA tests have gone by already, other than make-ups that need to still happen. The math 3-8 exams are still to come, and in the tiny rural school system I teach in these tests are all taken seriously by the teachers. […]
A Teacher Requests Her Students Not To Be Tested
I have had the immense fortune of being able to be in front of children in many different capacities for 25 years. It truly humbles me to know that for 25 years, parents have trusted my professionalism, training, care, creativity, and judgment when it comes to their children. My experiences include both regular/general education, and […]
2015: A Year in Which an ELL Teacher Goes from “Failure” to “Success”
By Guest Writer Jennifer Healey This New Year’s Eve, I deserved an extra glass of champagne. I toasted myself for my success as an educator. After years of “failure,” in 2015 I was deemed a “successful” teacher by the illustrious Oregon Department of Education. It all went by so fast! It seems like only yesterday I […]
Take the Test and Sit, Sit, Sit, Sit
An interesting graphic came across my screen this week. The purpose was to call attention to the hours spent testing elementary students by comparing them to the tests for college or graduate school: Standardized testing is not new to schools in the State of Connecticut. Many schools will be using the Smarter Balance Assessment (SBAC) […]