—STAND UP FOR KIDS—
www.standwithspencerport.wordpress.com
What is SWS?
Stand With Spencerport (SWS) began when teachers at Cosgrove Middle School in Spencerport, NY, spoke out about the confidentiality agreements they were required to sign by the State Education Department (SED) when administering and scoring the 2014 Grades 3—8 ELA and Math exams. In an April 2014 petition mailed to Governor Cuomo, Commissioner King, Chancellor Tisch, and the Board of Regents, the teachers at Cosgrove voiced their frustrations that the gag-order was absurd, offensive, and misaligned with best teaching practices.
What Gag-Order?
Annual testing in ELA and Math for students in Grades 3—8 is nothing new… However, in the past, educators could use state exams to inform and improve district curriculum and classroom instruction. In 2014, teachers and administrators were required to sign confidentiality agreements barring them from discussing anything about the assessments with their colleagues, with students, or with parents. Here is a summary:
· Students in third through eighth grade sat for six days of testing—three days in ELA and three days in math.
· Districts hired substitute teachers while classroom teachers spent several days scoring each exam.
· Educators who discussed anything—questions, student responses, rubrics, etc.—would be violating a policy that threatened to revoke their teaching license in NYS.
Are SWS Educators Against Testing?
Absolutely not. As educators, we rely on assessments to tell us what our students know and what they are able to do. Teachers use assessment results to plan and guide our instruction. Principals use assessment results to determine overall areas of success and weakness. Administered and scored under a gag-order, the 2014 Math and ELA exams do not fulfill any of the above purposes of assessment.
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