Dear PARCC Protestors and Panickers
I promise you, your 8-18 year old has spent many more hours
on frustrating and pointless video games than they will on this test.
They will not be harmed in the taking of the test in any
way. If you would have seen the NJASK intimidating booklets you would see this is merciful.
Will the results be valid and useful ? We will never know if everyone REFUSES to
take it RIGHT ?
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS ?
The education world has known this was coming for 5 years
(even though social media has only erupted within the last few weeks. ) Schools
have planned and purchased technology that they probably would not have
prioritized if they didn’t have this deadline. (chalk one up for a good thing)
It is the 21st Century almost everything is
managed on computers. Student assessment should be also.
We were forced to re-examine the way we delivered and
assessed education when colleges and workplaces complained that students were
entering college unprepared and couldn’t problem solve and think for themselves.
We adopted the Common Core standards. It is NOT a subversive
national curriculum.
Please explore them if you haven’t http://www.corestandards.org/
I am sure as a parent it was much more comforting to have a
familiar looking math worksheet with one answer and one way to approach the
problem. But unfortunately mastering that, doesn’t help you when life doesn’t
present its math problems on an organized sheet for you.
And while straight memorization was predictable and
impressive, computer data bases have
made that skill obsolete and now you actually have to know how to justify with
evidence of any answers you do provide.
HOW WILL THESE RESULTS BE USED
Just like all results they will be a part of how schools
make decisions on resources . And on the larger scale how the state decides to
which schools they should give more attention ($) . There is legislation pending right now that
will postpone use of results. This is wise.
Teachers are assessed on a 4 point scale . 4 is excellent
(perfect almost) and 1 is awful. Just
statistically everyone will receive a 2 or a 3 when you average student
results. That is a small part of picture . Observations and other goal setting
are other ways to factor in what will mostly be 2 and 3 . Just like a grade
point average in high school and college… almost everyone will fall between a
2.0 and 3.5 …. If you have below a 2.0 for a few years in a row there are
sanctions. There is no great prize in most districts for higher scores.
Sadly I see many of my perfection oriented peers, inciting
parents on this issue.
I published a Keep Calm and Carry On post a few months ago. Just
thought I would revisit the issue as the panic seems to be rising…. Really KEEP
CALM AND CARRY ON…..
