When testing becomes too high stakes, there are lots of unintended consequences. Officials in India are seeing that this week as images of parents climbing the outside of school buildings to pass cheat sheets to their children make world-wide news. Luckily things aren’t as bad here in Connecticut, but they are the worst in our…
Details“Parents, students, and teachers are currently rising in rebellion against the overuse and misuse of standardized tests,” Dr. Monty Neill, executive director of FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, told the legislature’s Education Committee this afternoon. Neill said, “CEA has proposed a rich, flexible yet strong set of proposals that would take the…
DetailsIn testimony before the Education Committee tonight, CEA leaders will bust the myth that the U.S. Department of Education is not open to flexibility to address the excessive testing and test prep hurting schoolchildren in Connecticut. CEA President Sheila Cohen says, “The assertion that Connecticut must have the SBAC test has assumed mythic proportions. It…
DetailsWhy do we want children to love reading? Daniel Willingham says that a love of reading isn’t essential for many traditional measures of success. Instead, the University of Virginia psychology professor hopes children will learn to love reading because of the pleasure and experiences it brings. Willingham, the author of the new book Raising Kids…
DetailsSince the dawn of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2001, federal law has required states to use annual standardized tests to measure schools. This narrow focus on standardized test scores finally seems to be loosening its stranglehold as a new pilot program in New Hampshire was recently approved by the U.S. Department of Education.…
DetailsHave you met with your state representative or state senator recently? With just two and a half months left in the legislative session, elected officials need to hear from teachers in order to get education policy right. Educators in West Hartford recently met with their state senator and representatives to discuss a wide variety of…
Details“High-stakes standardized tests are sucking the educational oxygen out of the room for teaching and learning,” CEA Executive Director Mark Waxenberg told host John Dankosky this morning on WNPR’s “Where We Live.” Waxenberg joined CT Mirror education reporter Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Jeffrey Villar, executive director of the Connecticut Council for Education Reform, for a…
DetailsMore and more people are standing up and taking notice of CEA’s proposal to reduce testing and increase accountability in our public schools. Today CEA announced that its proposal is expected to be in the legislative limelight next Thursday, when the Education Committee holds a public hearing that will include bills that address improvements in…
DetailsTeachers need to be able to build relationships with students and foster creativity, critical thinking, and a love of learning in order to ensure the success of their elementary students — but standardized testing is getting in the way. That’s what educators on a WNPR “Where We Live” panel last night on elementary education told host…
DetailsWest Hartford residents, teachers, parents, and taxpayers David Dippolino, Ted Goerner, and David Simon told state lawmakers that they and many of their colleagues have been hit hard by the state’s broken Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula. “As a resident and teacher, I am being affected multiple times due to the state’s shortfall,” said Dippolino.…
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