Calls for Moratorium on Grading and Punishing Schools Based on Tests
(Long Island, NY) In response to the report from the Common Core Task Force, the Alliance for Quality Education released the following statement today:
“The recommendation for a moratorium on using tests to grade teachers is very important. The Governor should move forward with this plan. If the tests are not valid for grading teachers, then they are not valid for grading schools. Therefore, Governor Cuomo should also place a moratorium on top down, punitive receivership in struggling schools,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “Don’t get me wrong, significant interventions are needed in struggling schools including investment in high quality curriculum and family engagement. They also require more supports for students, such as social workers and health clinics. These strategies will work, but they must be coupled with local control. The state appears to be learning from the error of its ways. Using high-stakes testing to grade and punish teachers is wrong, so there is no justification for continuing to use these same tests to grade and punish schools.
As recommended the state re-evaluate the standards to ensure that they are developmentally appropriate. But standards are not enough, schools need a high quality curriculum that meets the needs of the whole student and this requires state investment to improve the course offerings in our neediest schools. We see it as the wealthiest schools have great curricula and poorer schools can only offer less options. In this process it is important that the state engage all the stakeholders including teachers, parents and students.”
