Several readers, including parents in this district, have sent me a copy of this letter written by Don Sternberg of Wantagh Elementary School in Long Island, New York.
Sternberg wrote a letter to the school’s parents at the start of the school year telling them about how the politicians and bureaucrats at Albany were messing up their child’s education.
He wrote:
What we will be teaching students is to be effective test takers; a skill that does not necessarily translate into critical thinking – a skill set that is necessary at the college level and beyond. This will inevitably conflict with authentic educational practice – true teaching.
Unfortunately, if educators want to survive in the new, Albany-created bureaucratic mess that is standardized assessments to measure teacher performance, paramount to anything else, we must focus on getting kids ready for the state assessments. This is what happens when non-educators like our governor and state legislators, textbook publishing companies (who create the assessments for our state and reap millions of our tax dollars by doing so), our NYS Board of Regents, and a state teachers’ union president get involved in creating what they perceive as desirable educational outcomes and decide how to achieve and measure them. Where were the opinions of teachers, principals, and superintendents? None were asked to participate in the establishment of our new state assessment parameters. Today, statisticians are making educational decisions in New York State that will impact your children for years to come.
Standardized assessment has grown exponentially. For example, last year New York State fourth graders, who are nine or ten years old, were subjected to roughly 675 minutes (over 11 hours) of state assessments which does not include state field testing. This year there will be a state mandated pre-test in September and a second mandated pre-test in January for all kindergarten through fifth grade students in school. In April, kindergarten through fifth grade students will take the last test [assessment] for the year.
Excessive testing is unhealthy. When I went to school I was never over-tested and subsequently labeled with an insidious number that ranked or placed me at a Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 or Level 4 as we do today. Do you want your child to know their assigned ‘Level’? What would the impact be on their self-esteem and self-worth at such a young age?
Inevitably, he said, teachers would look at students as more or less desirable because what the students do will affect the teachers’ evaluation scores.
He urged parents to do their part, but he laid the blame for this massive distortion of educational purpose where it belongs: on the State Commissioner of Education, the Governor, and the Legislature.
The new system is a mess. It is an outrage. It is a crime against education and against children. Parents need to know what the state (and federal government) is doing to their children. They need to know how good schools and good teachers are being demoralized.
Donald Sternberg is a hero of public education. He joins our honor roll.
If every principal explained to the parents what the state is doing to their children and the harm being inflicted on them, we would turn this nation’s failed corporate education policies around and let our educators educate.
Bravo to this brave principal! Keep the honor roll growing!
effective test takers … necessarily translate into critical thinking
Ohio teachers told Tommy Thompson they could do both; care to see the video?
inevitably conflict with authentic educational practice
Because your teachers are unprepared to do both? Explain your role, as principal, to minimize this “inevitably conflict” through effective professional development.
Albany-created bureaucratic mess … non-educators like our governor and state legislators, textbook publishing companies (who create the assessments for our state and reap millions of our tax dollars by doing so), our NYS Board of Regents, and a state teachers’ union president
Perhaps they don’t have the skills necessary to do a better job. High school civics would be a good first step. Can the bureaucrats find some good examples to learn from? Montgomery County, MD? Pearl River NY? Iredell-Statesville favorably impressed Secratary Locke and VP Biden; any lessons their for New York? http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/2008baldrigewinnerpix.cfm
Where were the opinions of teachers, principals, and superintendents?
Where were the voices of 866 New York soliders interred at Gettysburg National Cemetary? Do New York’s teachers, principals, and superintendents work to advance the “unfinished work” of the “great task remaining before us?”
Standardized assessment … roughly 675 minutes … state mandated pre-test in September and a second mandated pre-test in January … April, kindergarten through fifth grade students will take the last test [assessment] for the year.
OK, so what does it take to meet the literacy levels that Linda Darling-Hammond supported in her New York school funding testimony? Literate citizens would certainly contribute to advancing the “unfinished work” of the “great task remaining before us.”
Excessive testing is unhealthy. … impact be on their self-esteem and self-worth at such a young age?
How many years does it take New York educators to address the 1999 ETS publication Too Much Testing of the Wrong Kind; Too Little of the Right Kind in K-12 Education?
The new system is a mess. It is an outrage. It is a crime against education and against children.
Please elaborate with a case for impeaching President Obama. Will he “frost” RttT with a human rights whitewash?
our honor roll … let our educators educate
Do the honor role members have a plan to address human rights abuses per the Koh memos?
A beautiful letter. It’s up on FB’s SUPPORT PUBLIC SCHOOLS and has received 58 shares and 88 LIKES. The power of the internet is incredible. Now let’s see the NY press ignore this one.
https://www.facebook.com/SUPPORTPUBLICSCHOOLS?ref=hl
About the only time principals get fired in public ed is if they actually behave ethically and aren’t afraid to speak out. I am surprised he is still employed.
Diane,
You said that “…he laid the blame for this massive distortion of educational purpose where it belongs: on the State Commissioner of Education, the Governor, and the Legislature.”
I respectively disagree with you as to where the blame should be laid. In my opinion, blame is squarely on the shoulders of the USDoE and Duncan. Isn’t New York a RTTT state? Many of these ‘mandates’ are the result of that monstrosity. The same can be said of the many waivers that have been “approved.” I’m not convinced that everyone involved in state DoEs are in full agreement with the road that education is currently traveling. At least that is my take with some that I know who work in our state DoE.
Yes, of course, you are fight.
NY chased RTTT $$$$, and is now paying more than it got from DC
Don is amazing. He was one of the first to sign on and spread the principals’ letter. He is a leader and he is a hero!
Mr. Sternberg is our hero. It is so inspiring to hear an educator unafraid to speak the truth. Sadly, my kid’s school is in desperate need of leadership. The principal has been receiving bonus money based on student test scores for the past decade. She actually shuns quality learning experiences. We asked that she include an announcement about your upcoming community talk on our school’s weekly e-mail. Obviously, she’s not even interested in educating parents about what is happening to our public schools.
Stunning.
And to think, I get to work for the diametric opposite who everyday swears by f****** God this school will reach the top and if my staff doesn’t believe we will be 100 percent proficient they can kiss his a**. That is a direct quote from our last staff meeting when our special education teacher asked him about how her students were to be assessed in light of their IEP schedules. He said the district will allow him to re-define her position out of existence and they will no longer be short changed by being pulled out into a resource room, he knows from his experience that special ed kids can be proficient if we just have proper expectations and quit pampering them. He could not tell us the name of this miracle school where all special education students are proficient at grade level. The one he named was embroiled in a massive cheating scandal.
Appalling. He must of had serious issues growing up.
It’s discouraging to have principals drink this Kool-Aid. It seems that what they think can actually get done in a classroom increases proportionately to the amount of time they are out of the classroom. If I hear one more time, “Second – graders should be able to do that”, I will scream. At least principals should tell us they acknowledge the current educational insanity and ask us to do the best we can under ridiculous circumstances.
I am a principal of an elementary school. It is disheartening to hear that there are principals out there that are unsupportive and unrealistic in their expectation. Although I crossed over to the “dark side” by becoming a principal, I will never forget where I came from. Teaching is a difficult, but rewarding job. I support my teachers and know how hard it is to teach with all of these unrealistic mandates. We need to support our teachers snd encourage them- which I try very hard to do. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to kids!
Sometimes the pressure comes from curriculum coordinators. They have a passion for their subject area and, from what I’ve seen, generally little experience with younger grades. They cannot fathom why we don’t teach their subject area more minutes per day and why young children do not rapidly master concepts. Thank you for supporting and encouraging your teachers!
Brave principal, yes. Brave school committee, yes: http://www.tauntongazette.com/dcover/x5489255/LETTER-The-fighting-spirit-of-the-school-committee#ixzz25EgOC0IE
I have always been all for informing parents about education. But the opposite was true when we were told how to explain things to parents, starting with NCLB. Everything said to them was only to promote one side. Now it is teachers fault that the system is “failing,” and corporation are going to fix it. The public has been duped for over a decade and it will take sometime for the public to truly understand who are the culprits.
This is a call for Principals to honestly communicate with parents on behalf of their children. May many Principals have the strength of character to speak about the educational crises even under the political pressure they face.
Don was one of my professors in my Education Leadership cohort. He has always been an honest man, I respect him for what he wrote here. There is obviously a lot of frustration behind it, but who else doesn’t feel just as frustrated right now?
I’m from Australia and the sentiments expressed by this courageous and articulate Principal apply equally to us. The Naplan System that is used in Australia does exactly the same thing. You see the results of these systems when students hit tertiary level learning or when they land in a job that requires strong internal motivation and abstract problem solving. It is the role of educators (that’s all of us, parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, etc) to impart a love of learning so that education is an end in itself. Student will be successful lifetime learners if they are empowered to ‘think’ not simply ‘respond’. I’m sending this letter to as many people as I can. If the assessment motivated system worked, as some argue it does or can, then we would be seeing a generation of inspired, enabled learners. As for teachers, those who manage to maintain their integrity and passion whilst being forced to comply with the system, are the teachers who will make a difference in the lives of their students