Opting out is about to become the norm on Long Island, the epicenter of New York’s opt out movement.
The East Meadow, Long Island, New York school board adopted a policy of providing alternative activities for children who do not take the state tests.
Last July, the board unanimously adopted a resolution in opposition to Governor Cuomo’s teacher evaluation law, which makes test scores count for 50% of a teacher’s evaluation. This makes test scores super-important and guarantees that an inordinate amount of time will be devoted to test prep.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Congratulations to the East Meadow parents and teachers who turned around a long term repressive administration/BOE and made this welcome change happen for your students and staff.
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This is so powerful
Nyc school can learn a lesson or two from the east meadow district
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When will Cuomo kick out that Long Island school board and put himself in charge or someone he appoints?
Getting rid of community based, democratically elected school boards the oligarchs can’t buy during an election and replacing them with a dictator (major, governor or one that is appointed) is one of the tools the corporate public education demolition derby uses to achieve its agenda of more $$$$$$$$$$$$ for the few.
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Good news!
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I think this is great, but one thing bothers me. “the norm in Long Island…” That should be ON Long Island, not IN! LOL You live on Long Island, don’t you? You should know, lol! XD
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thughes, I often hit an “i” when I mean an “o”
the two keys are adjacent.
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Okay, just making sure you knew. The use of “in” instead of “on” is a pet peeve for many Long Islanders:) Sorry if my comment was flippant, it was meant to be of a humorous nature. I am absolutely ecstatic and incredibly honored hat you replied to one of my comments! XD
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“guarantees” time spent on test prep… interesting choice of words given that Gates’ MET study found the most effective teachers’ students were least likely to report their teachers focused on test prep.
Could it be that clueless administrators mistakenly require test prep and ineffective teachers hope test prep will hide their inability to instill long term retention in their students?
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One cannot instill long term retention in another.
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Mamie, want to bet? The military does it all the time. Frustrating not to be able to purge certain phrases or jingles from one’s head.
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So, how do you suggest that teachers instill long term retention in their students? Should teachers go back years later and give their former students tests? Should teachers who can make a long-term career be evaluated on the retention of information of people years and years later? Why would we want to do this? It’s really quite bizarre.
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Or it could be that teachers are afraid to not do it, particularly when principals insist. Did you not work in a field where you follow orders? So you can understand that some do.
I spent a few lessons on testing skills when in a classroom. I taught how the test makers were thinking so the students would not bring in too much background information. I also taught how test items are constructed, incorporating the information into the ongoing instruction. This provided a way for them to focus on the test. I also taught them how to spot poorly constructed items–all thinking skills when you get right down to it.
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West Coast Teacher, agreed that analyzing questions is, in itself, a demonstration of critical thinking. In fact, I’ve made this point many times before including on this blog.
When a lawyer has a case, he/she must analyze which prior cases are relevant and which are only tangential. When a software developer must code a specific section of logic, he/she must determine which APIs/code blocks are necessary among the thousands of available pieces of reusable code. When a doctor diagnoses a patient, he/she must determine which symptoms are non-deterministic and which ones are key.
Even though many on here say multiple choice tests are useless, you could teach a “life skills” class simply on how to prioritize questions on such an exam and how to determine which information is necessary and/or sufficient to answer the question. If we were not talking about holding teachers accountable, then all the teachers on here would be in violent agreement. But simply because these tests separate the effective teachers from the ineffective, Diane and teachers everywhere protest like the world was coming to an end.
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Virginia,
Another silly comment. Picking the right bubble is not a valuable life skill. In what profession is it necessary? You just can’t get beyond the idea that a child is not a bar of iron. Measuring a child requires many instruments, not one that has a checkered history as racist. Doing well on a standardized test proves you are good at taking standardized tests.
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Good news for Long Island…to the administration and parents of East Meadow for saying enough is enough!
In Nassau and Suffolk Counties, it usually takes one district to take the lead and the others slowly but surely follow.
Bellmore, Merrick, and Wantagh will predictably follow as well, but let’s do it now…so we can clearly demonstrate leadership and responsibility in the fight to save our public schools and our children from Cuomo’s authoritarian guillotine of shame and disgrace.
May the number of 500,000 be only the beginning.
We need to also make the parents of students in New York City aware of their rights, a place where the chancellor has exercised her business, political, and social obligations, thus keeping parents in the dark…rather than taking a leadership role, the way a mother would protect her children against danger, and send out letters to the homes and residences of 1,100,000 students and their parents in New York, advising them of their right, their legal stand, and the vested protection of their civil rights…to opt out.
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I went to college with a member of the board…also grew up in EM. Very happy to see that they arent just running with the mandate for once. Gotta ask ’em how this got on their radar ,- they usually aren’t headline seekers.
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I couldn’t agree more
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Suffice it to say that this year’s board is listening to the stakeholders – teachers, administrators, parents, students.
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Using test scores as a significant part of a teachers evaluation will only increase the desire of most teacher to move towards an assignment where their future in the profession is assured. Difficult learners,as well as the easy to teach, need good teachers but where is the incentive for these teachers to stay in a difficult placement when there future in education is at risk?
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