Dear Friends,
As we approach testing season, indeed, it is already upon
us, many of you have asked why we here at DeSales follow the Common Core
Learning Standards and administer these assessments. This is a great question for, as many point
out, we are not a public school. If you
look back in my blog you will notice that I have addressed this very question
on a variety of different occasions. You
will notice that I have been very vocal with my concerns about the assessments
lack of accountability for all facets of a child’s life, they do serve a
necessary purpose in education. The administration
of properly formatted tests that provide generalizable and valid results allow
schools to effectively evaluate their program and tailor their programs to accelerate
student learning. With this in mind, I
would like to offer the following. Recently,
Sr. Carol Cimino, Superintendent of Education for the Diocese of Buffalo put
very succinctly, why we in the Diocese use the assessments and I wanted to
share it with all of you.
Why We Administer NYS
Testing
Rational sent on 2/12/15 by Sr. Carol Cimino
Once again, as testing season draws nigh, we anticipate that
parents will, once again, seek to have their children “opt out” of the NYS
testing. I thought it might be helpful to you to provide parents with a
rationale for why we administer NYS tests, and why it is important that our
student s take the tests.
- NYS test
results are used to analyze the effectiveness of instruction. They measure
students’ ability to express their understanding of what was taught.
- NYS test
results are exhaustively used to determine, by item analysis, the precise
areas in which our students are both deficient and successful.
- NYS test
results are NOT used to evaluate our teachers. The results help us to
design professional development programs in each school.
- NYS test
results are used to diagnose students’ academic needs. Should a student
opt out of the tests, we cannot determine what kinds of help and
remediation that student requires.
- The
administration of NYS tests allows our schools to receive from NYS,
Academic Intervention Services, which is financial aid that is used to
train our teachers to meet academic needs of students. Without at least
95% participation, our schools cannot avail themselves of this training.
- The NYS
test results are not included in the students’ permanent records, but kept
separately.
- Students
will be engaged in some kind of standardized testing throughout their
academic careers, and not giving them some experience, especially when the
“stakes” are low, does them a disservice.
- NYS test
results, on a school scale, allow principals and teachers to compare their
results with those of other schools.
- NYS test
results are not used to punish either students or teachers; they are only
one of many tools that the school uses to assess its instructional
effectiveness.
Peace,
Scott
Scott
