More than 37 NYC principals say NO! to the Commissioner; the state exams are unfair & flawed & need to undergo public scrutiny

The day after NY Education Commissioner King in a widely-covered speech claims the state's Common Core aligned exams were "better tests" and the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan praises him, by saying under King's leadership the state has an opportunity to “help lead the country where we need to go,” more than 37 NYC principals lead rallies to say the state exams were awful & unfair to kids.  

UPDATED: here are links to news stories about the rallies (thanks to Edith Baltazar for collecting!)  NY Post ,  NY1, NY Magazine,  CBS ,  Chalkbeat , Newsday , WSJ,   WaPost,  FOX-TV, and  DNA-Info.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, April 11, 2014

Contact: Adele Schroeter, PS 59; (212) 888-7870

  Lisa Ripperger, PS 234; (212) 233-6034

37 PRINCIPALS LEAD SCHOOLS ACROSS MANHATTAN IN PROTEST AGAINST STANDARDIZED TEST

Call on Education Department, Commissioner John King, and Pearson to Provide Fairer Testing Methods

New York, NY – This morning, New York City’s District 2 schools, along with some in Districts 1 and 3 held public demonstrations to express their deep dissatisfaction with the 2014 NYS ELA exam. More than 37 principals from across the district marched along with parents, teachers, students, administrators and staff.

“We are disappointed by the design and quality of this test as well as the lack of transparency surrounding this process,” said Adele Schroeter, Principal of PS 59. “If administrators, teachers, and parents are expected to empower our students, we need to be provided with better access to the materials used for testing. Allowing the tests to undergo public scrutiny, as they were in the past, will provide the accountability necessary to ensure quality exams in the future.”

Among the concerns shared by many District 2 schools are the following:

·         The test is not well-aligned with the Common Core Learning Standards;

·         Exam questions are poorly constructed and ambiguous;

·         A strict embargo limits transparency as the full tests will never be released publicly;

·         Teachers are not permitted to use the questions or the results to inform their teaching;

·         Students and families receive little or no specific feedback;

·         Length of test (3 days) feels unnecessarily long; and

·         This year, there were product placements (i.e., Nike, Barbie) woven throughout the exam.

“The Common Core Learning Standards are about rigorous, critical thinking.  If state education officials want schools continuing to improve their instruction to better meet the CCLS, it’s critical the test makers design tests that demonstrate that approach,” said Lisa Ripperger, Principal of PS 234. “If this doesn’t happen, there’s a tremendous risk that schools will refocus their instruction on narrow, minute aspects of curricular content.”

The District 2 School Principals are calling on the NYS Education Department, Commissioner John King, and Pearson to implement more transparent methods in creating and distributing the test. These demonstrations follow similar protests in Brooklyn last week, led by Liz Phillips of PS 321.

Parents, teachers, students, and administrators from District 2 schools participated in today’s protests including:

·         Adele Schroeter, Principal PS 59

·         Lisa Ripperger, Principal PS 234

·         Sharon Hill, Principal PS 290

·         Jane Hsu, Principal PS 116

·         Lisa Siegman, Principal PS 3

·         Jennifer Bonnet, Principal PS 150

·         Kelly McGuire, Principal Lower Manhattan Community

·         Nancy Sing-Bock, Principal PS 51

·         Susan Felder, Principal PS 40

·         Tara Napoleoni, Principal PS 183

·         Robert Bender, Principal PS 11

·         Kelly Shannon, Principal PS 41

·         Nicole Ziccardi Yerk, Principal PS 281

·         Lauren Fontana, Principal PS 6

·         Amy Hom, Principal PS 1

·         Terri Ruyter, Principal PS/IS 276

·         Nancy Harris, Principal PS 397

·         David Thacker Bowell, Principal PS 347

·         Samantha Kaplan, Principal PS 151

·         Irma Medina, Principal PS/IS 111

·         Medea McEvoy, Principal PS 267

·         Jacqui Getz, Principal PS 126/MAT

·         Darryl Alhadeff, Principal PS 158

·         Alice Hom, Principal PS 124

·         Lily Woo, Principal PS 130

·         Bessie Ng, Principal PS 2

·         Ronnie Najjar, Principal PS 89

·         Maggie Siena, Principal PS 343

·         Stacy Goldstein, Principal School of the Future

·         Rosa Casiello-O’Day, Principal PS 42

·         Linore Lindy, Principal PS 33

·         David Getz, Principal East Side Middle School

·         Rhonda Perry, Principal Salk Middle School

·         Phyllis Tam, Principal MS 131

·         Henry Zymeck, Principal MS 245 Computer School, District 3

·         Monica Berry, Principal PS 87, District 3

·         Iris Chiu, Principal PS 184, District 1