A reader made this sensible proposal. In the midst of a public health crisis, with various schools and districts closed, the state tests should be cancelled.
The writer says:
Here’s something else that must be cancelled: NYS 3-8 ELA and Math tests set to start in two weeks.
I called NYSED today to share my concern about testing amidst a health emergency. The kind gentleman on the phone said I should email him my concerns and he would pass them on.
I highly recommend everyone in New York State who cares about kids and teachers to do the same. Give NYSED a call at 518-474-3852 and follow the prompts. Or email your concerns to: emscassessinfo@nysed.gov
For now, forget everything else you dislike about testing. Let’s just focus on how terrible it is to further stress out both teachers and students on these tests at this time. We’re in the middle of an unprecedented health emergency. Schools are closing. Shows, conferences, and weddings are being cancelled. Our future is uncertain. State testing should not be a factor in how we survive this crisis.
Please call or email.
Thank you.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I have a better idea. Give them anyway. If results in all the chaos showed no difference from a normal year, this would be absolute proof that the tests are worthless. As if we needed proof.
proof apparently an irrelevant aspect of the entire make-money-though-testing agenda
Well, I wonder if administrators would be less likely to close schools for health reasons if the tests were scheduled.They might feel the pressure to continue school???
The answer to your query: “Adminimals will be adminimals” which means testing no matter what, even if a student is on his deathbed.
Great suggestion, Diane. And RT provides a clever alternative.
My thought would be to make the NYS exams–take-home tests. (Oh, yeah, I forgot they are secure tests and the gag rule that goes with them are more important to protect than health.)
Here is another “largely” BIG reason to cancel those “perfect” tests, FOREVER!
“The main types of immune cells are white blood cells. … When we’re stressed, the immune system’s ability to fight off antigens is reduced. That is why we are more susceptible to infections. The stress hormone corticosteroid can suppress the effectiveness of the immune system (e.g. lowers the number of lymphocytes).”
https://www.simplypsychology.org/stress-immune.html
“chronic stress dysregulates innate and adaptive immune responses by changing the type 1-type 2 cytokine balance and suppresses immunity by decreasing leukocyte numbers, trafficking, and function. … Psychological stress is known to suppress immune function and increase susceptibility to infections and cancer.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2869337/
However, for the same reason, Pelosi and the Democrats in the House should impeach Donald Trump a second time … to put him under more stress.
I have seen Lloyd, firsthand, as you doubtless have, how stressed the kids get about these tests. The tests are a scam, and they are criminal child abuse. And those who support them are abetting child abuse, including those whose support is only passive acquiescence. It is time for our unions to take it to the streets to end the federal high-stakes testing mandate. Until our union leaders do that, they are participants in child abuse. All praise to those few who have taken strong stances against the testing. But it’s not been enough. We need a nationwide, concerted effort, massive civil disobedience, until the testing abuse is ended.
Forget the teachers’ unions. The teachers will have to organize on their own and then walk out in every state on the same day and refuse to return to the classroom until it is a crime to be a Disrupter.
Good idea. Hear, hear!