NYC officials prepared a guide
for parents to help their children survive the stress and trauma of the upcoming tests.
Please read it.
It sounds chilling.
It says the state is about to subject your child to an ordeal. Here is how you should deal with it.
What do you think?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What do I think?
I think parents should call Social Services and file a complaint with the appropriate people. This truly borders on child abuse. Parents take note!
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Great Idea!
Someone needs to step up to the plate.
Anyone know of any Child abuse Testing Lawsuits?
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What a giant crock of drivel.
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EXACTLY!
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Oh my! The suggestions for helping students deal with anxiety is enough to put a student in the looney bin. The suggestions are totally INSANE. Who are these yahoos anyway? And yes, I agree with tuppercooks, “What a giant crock of drivel.”
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Yes, chilling. I find it hard to believe that we need to tell young children that the state needs to make sure they are on track for college and getting a good job in the future.
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That was the line that got me, too. Couldn’t read any more after that. Seriously? Talking to a third- grader about college and a career? Absolutely amazing. I think the title of the guide should be “We are about to emotionally damage your child, here’s what you can do to lessen the pain”.
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“Explain that these tests will help your child’s teachers understand what your child has learned so far this year and what he still needs to learn. That way, his teachers can make sure he is on his way to being whatever he wants to be when he grows up.”
How can this be true? Teachers do not get the results in time to implement scaffolding for skills and concepts that the student has not mastered. Teacher created assessments provide teachers with this information NOT state tests.
“If your child is still learning English, let her know that her teachers understand the new tests may be especially difficult for her. Teachers of English language learners will support their students to learn English as well as the content so that they are ready for these tests. Reassure your child that you and her teachers believe in her and will help her to get there.”
In how many languages did they produce this? Are parents told that their ELL is earning a low score through no fault of their own which then is reported in the school data as failing and affects the rating of the school?
“Make sure your child has a healthy dinner and a good night’s sleep the night before the test and a nutritious breakfast that morning.”
Way to go…make the parents who can’t afford these things feel deficient.
“Share what you learned through this conversation with your child’s teachers when the test results come out. Ask how you can continue to help your child at home.”
So parents should wait months to report this conversation to the teachers. This is insane.
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I don’t really understand how this new system works yet, but under NCLB, AYP depended on subgroups and it was a constant uphill battle with ELL. As they got to the place where they could pass the test, they would test out of ESOL. Thus the average in that subgroup remained low. There is no other subgroup that you are expected to test out of eventually. I know this firsthand from working at a school that seldom made AYP because we had an ESOL population and great teachers.
I remember asking the ESOL teachers why they don’t just leave them in ESOL. They explained that if the kids don’t test out, it looks like they aren’t doing their job. But needless to say, this means the ESOL group is often low-achievers. When achievement rises, they are out.
What I can appreciate is that any school with a subgroup will be forced to make sure the kids learn. However, we have gotten kids from other schools who have been set to the side because their old school didn’t have enough for a subgroup. Then we were forced to deal with that.
And in response to discussing results with teachers…
Who is to interpret? How long does it take to get an appointment?
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“…under NCLB, AYP depended on subgroups…”
Technically, NCLB is still the law of the land. This comment is the first time I have heard NCLB referred to in the past tense.
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re: Tests tell teachers what students do or do not understand
The reality, Shannon, is that any kind of state-level test will NOT be able to provide this kind of information. Well, not unless the test lasts hours and hours. There’s no way that such a test can assess every single standard, with the number of “points” that psychometricians feel comfortable with (and even that number differs, depending on which one you speak with) that students will never stop testing.
You are right that it’s the formative processes (I refuse to say “formative assessment”) that really tell teachers what their students do or do not understand.
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I am a test coordinator for a NYC public school. The test results do not come to parents until the late fall. The NYC Department of Education uses a cut score to determine promotion. In the past, students whose cut score showed they failed the state test really passed while others whose cut score showed they passed, really failed. By the way, the parent report from the state contains so much educational jargon that most parents have to idea how to help their children. That handout by the DOE is nothing short of criminal. Why destroy a child’s self concept in the first place!
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Lawsuit!!!
Parents are in the dark as they trust these Tester Leaders.
What a Joke! What a Joke!
NC just as bad!
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My first grader says she hates school. Why? She says all they do is reading and math worksheets every day and they don’t do anything new or interesting.
She did once announce loudly in class that “the governor is making us do these worksheets to practice for a test that doesn’t mean anything.” I think she has been overhearing my ranting at home.
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Alan–This brought tears to my eyes.Although she’s already most likely taken the state tests, can you start an Opt Out movement at her school whereby ALL the parents will Opt Out ALL their children
PRIOR to the start of the school year so the teaching-to-the-test will STOP? As I’m already imagining that the school will give you date parameters for opt out letters (they’ll tell you it’s too early, in accordance w/the state guidelines & other such blather), consider this: as other posters have been mentioning, this is just out-and-out child abuse, in which case there must be at least ONE parent who is a lawyer, & can start a lawsuit, injunction, whatever it takes. If not, go to the ACLU–it’s high time they got involved!
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Great Idea! Hope everyone reads this post!
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From the mouths of Babes = The Truth!
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It feels like they are telling you how to talk to your kids about drugs or a school shooting or a national tragedy. It doesn’t feel like just a test.
What happened to get a good nights sleep, eat a good breakfast, and do your best because you know this stuff? When I was little that was test taking strategy. It seems like we spend so much time preparing for the test and testing till the kids may not know it. What’s worse is that the kids are taught so many tricks so that they can pass all these tests. Then, the tricks must be untaught before they graduate high school. Do you know how many kids think all adverbs end in -ly and really don’t understand their function?
This is a quote from the tips:
“Suggest to your child that during the tests, if he feels nervous, he should:
o Close his eyes and quietly count to 10; take deep breaths and try again.”
The pervasive testing seems to be very damaging to the children. Never should you have to be concerned that your eight year old may have a nervous breakdown and need strategies about anything other than sharing and getting along during recess. And let’s not forget about the kids who have the real stress of caring for siblings and helping to provide for their families.
If the state has to send this home, might it be too much?
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Sounds like a doomsday scenario turning public education into a testing nightmare. Seems to me that terrorizing students over endless testing will result in students having a negative association between schools and a love of learning. How ironic. Just as ironic is the resegregation of public schools under the education policies of the first black president.
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More parents should find out how to join the opt-out movement. Any info out there about how to do this in NYC?
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Yes…see here:
WHAT PARENTS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OPTING OUT OF STATE TEST
Download our OPT OUT FLYER FOR PRINTING.
http://changethestakes.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/what-parents-need-to-know-about-opting-out-of-state-tests/
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Sadly many parents, including teachers, have been brainwashed into believing this is going to make their children “college/career ready”. I cannot be complicit with this any longer. I quit!
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jaded: Are you a teacher or a parent? If you’re a parent, you owe it to your child(ren) NOT to quit. If you’re a teacher, don’t agonize, organize! The only way we can stop this is to fight it! Find like-minded people and form a group. If you’re a teacher (& if you’re quitting anyway, you haven’t a fear about being fired?!), fight back!
I am not just talking off the top-of-my-head–I have been involved in this sort of struggle–our school district fought back & won!
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retiredbutmissthekids, I’m a teacher with 25 years experience. I am with you. I’ve been telling everyone I know. Most I’ve spoken to are hearing all this news for the first time. I don’t even know if parents know what CCSS is. Many of my colleagues are suffering in a very toxic environment. I just could not do it anymore. I want to help them. Many times I feel powerless. I do talk to parents with children. I’ve sent them materials to optout. I even told them I’d watch their children on testing days. I just feel like a one woman show. You are correct I need to find like-minded people. People seems so busy they are not paying attention.
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It will take the retired teachers to help with this situation as the Testers of 2013 who must keep their jobs are too afraid to vent.
They will get fired in a heartbeat.
This letter is such a JOKE.. This testing is such a Joke…
This curriculum does not prepare any student for any college anywhere…It simply teaches a student how to TEST.!!
The persons that put the first man on the moon had a couple of test.
One state tests students whose IQ is below 40 and they brag on how well some of the kids do..Test enough students and the prob that a few will pass is definitely 100%!
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The next handout will be the list of free mental health services for kids, parents and staff.
Everything about this is just so wrong.
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Oh, that’s what teachers in Chicago received after being told their school would shut down!
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How about a list of lawyers to go with the above.
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Somebody clever should come up with two lists…one a parody of how to talk to your kids and one serious one about how to talk to your kids…as in how to resist. Any takers?
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This is unreal. They are asking parents to brainwash their own children to convince them that these tests are worth all the misery they will undoubtedly cause.
Any initiative that requires this sort of “advice” to parents should alarm everyone.
Parents and students need to trust their gut feelings and opt out!
Untested “reforms” & now coercion…’just plain evil.
‘Can’t believe they put this in writing.
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Lawyers,
Take Note..Can’t you see the handwriting on the wall??
Parents
OPT OUT or are you too busy going over MC Questions that do not mean a Hill of Beans to anyone but the Testing Hierarchy…gathering $$ from the Big Testing Companies..
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This is child abuse for young children! Where are the parents voices? Why are they not on the steps of Tweed? America is sold lies so the 1% can get richer. REFUSE TO TAKE the tests, see changethestakes.org to opt your child out from this abuse. I beg parents to listen but they are ‘checked out’ or bullied by the DOE, how can we wake up the parents Diane? My voice is gone from preaching.
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The feeling is mutual.
A plea to all retired teachers to help with this as your jobs are not in jeopardy!
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“Let your child know that all students in New York City are being challenged this year to complete more difficult work in class. The work is getting harder because it’s intended to prepare them to be successful in the world beyond school.”
How did I become successful in the world beyond school without the Common Core Standards? Maybe I am a failure and and they did not teach me enough in school for me to even know it…
All joking aside, add the Common Core being implemented in Louisiana this year, my son transitioning from elementary to middle school, and the 4th grade LEAP High Stakes testing, this school year has been HELL. My son has had so much anxiety and stress. He absolutley hates school. His grades have declined all year. All of his stress has come from what he has been told and taught at school. I am searching for better options, but have not had any success. How can this not be child abuse?
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Terra: I love your second paragraph. Indeed, how DID we all survive & succeed in life WITHOUT all these tests? We must all be total ignoramuses, incapable of solving even the simplest of life’s challenges. Help!
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What can we do?
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If a certain percentage opt out, it invalidates the test.
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YES!!!! Look at Garfield H.S.–300/400 opted out, & only 97 kids actually took the test. How could they possibly derive any meaningful data for the school with that low number?
For all the schools all over the country: let’s make that test-taking number…ZERO!
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OPT OUT!!
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Magical thinking will NOT undo the damage of the Common Core NATIONAL Standards and their accompanying tests.
This document would be laughable if the writers were not completely serious.
In that case, it is disgusting.
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Gosh, they forgot to tell parents to tell let their kids know that if they fail the test, their teachers whom they love will be fired! No pressure! Oh, and they might want to mention that their neighborhood school could be closed as well. Yep, let’s put it all on the kids, just like in the real world for which we are preparing them.
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Please tell me there’s a stable near because that’s the biggest load of crap about test prep I’ve ever had the misfortune to read.
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…and they’d have to be the Aegean Stables.
And, of course, we’d need Herculean strength to clean up all of this mess.
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Oops…that’s spelled AUgean. Guess I haven’t taken enough tests to know that.
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LOL..Needed this!!
Love it!
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Again to jaded: in what city/state do you live/teach? Google ” Parents Across America” (I keep forgetting the website), go to the website, & try to find a group(s)
(Chicago has at least 3) in your city/state. Use your colleagues who are your best buddies to help find retired teachers who can help you. Go to your members in you union local (we had a GREAT union/leadership in my school district). DON’T GIVE UP!!
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Crazy, I would love to be the fly on the wall when some parent tries to do this. This would make a child even more anxious. Good going.
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The states need to untie these tests from graduation/grade promotion. Keeping them tied has not insured college/career preparedness; it has not encouraged them to do better on the tests, it just worries them needlessly.
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What do I think? My first thought was an image of the iron sign that hangs over the entrance of Auschwitz: “Arbeit Macht Frei.” (Work Makes One Free).
This is very scary stuff.
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Don’t know if you’ll read this begtodiffer–day later, but your like-minded thinking IS chilling. In conversations, I have spoken about the school closings in Chicago as being analogous to the Warsaw Ghetto–moving people from their homes into tinier apartments, even more people into one-rooms apartments, then to camps.Ridding the Aryan society of “undesirables.”
If not body killers. mind killers for sure.
I often don’t like being wrong, but I wish I were in this case, and not many people I’ve spoken with disagree.
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They forgot to include, “And if you don’t do well on these tests, your teacher will lose her/his job!” I’m telling you again people, these Rheeformers and educrats want Deltas, not Alphas!
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This is crap!!!!!! This reminds me of the airport and the TSA screening of children.
We tell our children that we will protect them and keep them from harm. Then we
go to the airport and stand there while an officer overlooking an invasion of person by the TSA inspector on our children while we are looking right into the kids eyes. Do no harm?!! For their own safety?!!
So now we send our munchkin off to take mandatory tests by giving them mixed messages. Do your best but don’t worry if you don’t do well, and
by the way, I know you can do it but if you can’t I will still love you. WHAT?!!! For real?!
And this is written advise paternalistically given to the parent for the sake of their child.
Someone tell me where the kids are in all of this?!
I am a special education consultant and I can tell you the testing of the kids I represent is in my opinion child abuse!!!! Insulting and expedient for the system that has created this travesty!
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This is meant to be chilling to parents and children. It is pure disaster capitalism as explained by Naomi Klein in The Shock Doctrine.
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