Liza Featherstone explains why her child will not take the state tests. She does not want her child subjected to endless test prep. She does not want teachers evaluated by her son’s test scores. She wants what the school offers:
“Studying ancient China, the third-graders at my son’s school made lanterns, clay plates and terra cotta masks. They learned how to write Chinese calligraphy. They wove silks.
“My son, Ivan, and his team made a papier-mâché model of the Great Wall as viewed from space. The kids displayed their works in a breathtaking “China Museum” for parents and younger children.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Congrats, Ms. Featherstone!
Poco a poco se va lejos.
Little by little one goes far.
The anti-standards and anti-testing rebellion will succeed in killing the edudeformers’ privatizing plans through a death of a million cuts. One parent, one student, one teacher acting individually adds up quickly. Slay the privatizing beast one cut at a time!!
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Well the thing is, you can opt out of the test but the test prep is an all year long at most schools. It’s in the everyday lessons.
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Exactly.
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This was my old school several years ago. We were termed the hippie school and phased out by administration. Children, teachers and parents were involved in the planning and implementation, learning was fun and all were engaged. So sad that it came to an end. Now retired and only wished I could have ended my career in what was such an incredible, creative learning environment!
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is this a public school following the CCSS?
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Yes.
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It is a public school following the state standards, but it is not a zoned school. It is open to all residents of Brooklyn, with admissions being determined by a lottery (although parents have to fill out an extensive questionnaire beforehand).
The fact it isn’t zoned and is “opt in” probably gives it a little more latitude.
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So perhaps they started with this lesson from the CC aligned curriculum? Maybe it is the testing that’s the issue and not the standards themselves? And of course a lottery school that requires an extensive questionnaire……….
https://www.engageny.org/resource/grade-2-ela-domain-2-early-asian-civilizations
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I agree with Duane Swacker. The article is perfect. It deserves a wide audience.
Here’s something to think about, though. The misguided standards, testing, and accountability push succeeded because it grew exponentially, behind the backs of the people affected the most. Whatever their motives, billionaires leveraged their money and opportunists (some of them well-meaning) leveraged their phony expertise to make that happen.
If the rebellion against these policies is to succeed any time soon, we need to go exponential, too, just like the founders of Silicon Valley start-ups have done. But instead of trying to make a billion dollars in eighteen months, like the founders of Instagram did, we’re trying to save kids and their teachers (in the nick of time) from oppressive policies that seem to have gotten entrenched overnight.
A one-person-at-a time linear attack might not be enough. Yet all it would take to make the rebellion go exponential is for one activist to inspire two more activists, who each in turn inspire two more, and so on. If that were to happen, we’d be able to turn the tide in a few years.
Among the obstacles preventing this: Teachers are busy teaching, and most parents are busy working two full-time jobs (one being raising their kids). By contrast, “reformers” make very good money waging war full time. And the moneyed interests calling the shots can hire the best media access and PR money can buy.
Still, if Liz Featherstone inspires two people to write similar articles next week, and each of those articles inspires two more writers the following week, and so on, the nation’s consciousness will be raised in a hurry. It isn’t enough for one article to go viral. The very writing of articles has to go viral, too. Diane’s blog has helped fuel the anti-testing rebellion, but we’re still in the early stages of the curve. Let’s hope it goes exponential in a hurry!
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Make that *Liza* Featherstone.
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I hope Liza feather stone will choose to write a Commentary for EdWeek, prime space to reach some of the people who need to get the message.
I noted that last week, Jack Jennings founder and CEO of the Center on Education Policy, and active in shaping much of the draconian legislation that has produced unparalleled testing and other forms of malpractice…is having second thoughts. He is a lifelong Democrat and retired in 2012. He appears to be ruminating about his work as a major policy broker and media savvy purveyor of highlights from surveys on education public conducted by CEP, many funded by Gates and other foundations.
His commentary is also marketing his book.
On the one hand he says it is too bad that policy makers did not listen to educators but to billionaires, pundits in think tanks, and so on. They create a mess, aided by Congress and the rest of the federal architecture.
On the other hand he reaches again for a federal response and two unlikely “solutions” to the current state of affairs, based on some really with faulty reasoning about the sucess of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
I kid you not, he thinks that the Supreme Court should rule that education is a civil right, and if that does not work he recommends a constitutional amendment. Problem solved.
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Impressive—-imagine what will be lost with Bill Gates rank and yank or fail and close Common Core standardized testing agenda.
Has anyone answered how BIll Gates came to rule the United States through the Obama White House?
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