Standardized testing, parents, and politics: The surprising link
What was the story behind a group of parents from Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences in North Philly who withdrew their children standardized testing?
Late last week a story appeared on this website about a group of parents whose children attend the Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences in North Philly. The parents sent formal letters to school officials withdrawing their children from participation in standardized testing.
When I first saw the headline, Philadelphia Parents Opting-Out of Testing, I was thrilled that local families were finally taking action to demand changes in the disastrous "high stakes" tests that became the law of the land in 2001 when Congress, at the urging of President Bush, enacted the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.
No Child Left Behind was based on the belief that by setting national standards and measurable goals for every child attending a public school, each one would receive a quality education. And there's no argument that something needs to be done about our failing public education system.
NCLB was touted by educators, business leaders, the media, and elected officials as a panacea. All children, whether they lived in urban, suburban, or rural communities; or came from wealthy, middleclass, or poor families would receive the same high level of academic instruction and be held to statewide standards of achievement which would be determined by student performances on standardized tests.
Fourteen years later, NCLB is still law and the tests are still being given to all children attending any public school receiving federal funding. The results of these standardized tests are used to determine if individual schools and individual students succeed or fail to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), a measurement used to determine how every public school and school district in the Country is performing and how future federal funds will be allocated.
The law that was supposed to be the panaceas was soon exposed as an abysmal failure.
Instead of ensuring that all children were receiving a quality education; it resulted in labeling schools, teachers, administrators and most upsetting – students as either "adequate" or "inadequate."
The "standards" by which every school and every student in Pennsylvania is judged are based on the results of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment known as the PSSAs.
In theory, giving every student in the State the same exam may seem equitable.
In reality, every single community, school, and student is different. Parents know this best of all. Each one of their own children is different from the other - even though they live in the same home with the same parents and share on average 50% of the same genes!
So why did my initial optimism about the Feltonville parents' efforts to call for a saner more accurate method of student evaluation turn to disappointment? It soon became clear that the once again, like so many times during the last 15 years, the discussions and the decisions about high-stakes testing were mostly about punishments and politics.
The politics of the Philadelphia School District which sent letters to teachers believed to be sharing information with parents about opting-out, requiring them to attend one-on-one "investigatory conferences" held by their principals. And surprisingly, the politics of some parents who are members of United Opt Out National, "the movement to end corporate education reform."
The tragedy is that once again, lost in the storm of investigations, accusations, and harassment is the real issue, the only issue that matters; making sure that all students receive the education they need and deserve.
Until that happens, the only ones not achieving AYP are the grown-ups in charge.
For more information:
Pennsylvania Department of Education: Pennsylvania Academic Standards
No Child Left Behind Overview from New America Foundation
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