Parents gathered from many different communities in New Jersey to make a short film to voice their concerns and share their stories about the effects of CCSS and the PARCC tests on their children, teachers, schools and lives. Thanks to filmmaker Michael Elliot for bringing their voices to Living in Dialogue.
Don Corley
Excellent film that perfectly captures what is wrong with excessive testing. Yes, the focus should be what’s best for kids.
Jonathan
These general statements could have been applied to any tests or standards implemented in the last 20 years. You could probably find a similar film or interview or article saying the same general things with the PARCC references being replaced by the tests/standards of that year. I don’t mind hearing objections voiced but please be specific with examples of test questions and objectionable standards. And also what you would like to see in place of CCSS and PARCC. Many other parents want to see their children pushed harder and given opportunities to learn and do things that many well performing schools take for granted.
Don Corley
I was an elementary educator for 30 years. No, you won’t find a film of parents concerned over over testing like this one because testing was never so pervasive as it is today. This testing is not what any reasonable parent would want for their children. The tests only cover language arts and math, and don’t cover everything that kids should be learning.
Curriculum has narrowed as school districts rush to raise test scores, focusing only on what they know will be tested. Social studies, science, art, and physical education receive short shrift or are not covered at all. This is especially true for schools with populations of children that have been struggling. Creativity and problem-solving are out of the door. A student who scores well on common core testing isn’t necessarily a better-prepared student because they have been exposed to a much, much narrower curriculum than students were in the past.
If you want samples of actual types of questions, I suggest you try doing an online search for “common core tests”. Also, you might try looking up one of the many fine educational bloggers, as any of them might be able to supply you with answers. Diane Ravitch and Anthony Cody are great sources.
Remember, the parents you watched in this video have experienced this testing. They want what is best for their children. That is fitst-hand knowledge and should be respected.
My daughter finished high school under the influence of a superintendent who embraced this testing big-time, and I can tell you that the curriculum was definitely narrowed. In her high school biology class, she experienced zero hands-on activities. Everything was out of a textbook; her teacher acknowledged that this was due to test-prep. My bottom line is, I would not want my grandchildren to be educated in public schools under the current circumstances.
Don Corley
One last point, all of the test prep and the days of actual testing take away from curriculum that should be covered. My school district developed its own set of practice tests to help prepare for the actual tests. These were given four times during the year, including one after the actual state testing. This was another drain on valuable academic time. If you think pushing your kids to do well on common core state tests will make them more learned, you are sadly mistaken.
Jonathan
I hear you but believe that lots of people, parents, educators, employers, would disagree. Even prior to NCLB there were complaints about testing. Readers of the CCSS tend to believe that problem-solving and creativity are large parts of the standards and what students should be able to do. It’s not all about content but process as well. A lot of which are utilized in other non-math/ELA courses. It is pretty sad when a school misunderstands the goal of CCSS and cuts other courses in order to “focus” more on ELA and math. No one wants that and there are plenty of CCSS supporters and educational agencies that would offer suggestions on how a school like that can turn things around without losing student exposure to other courses. A biology teacher saying they couldn’t teach to their standards utilizing hands on activities because of “test prep”? Something’s wrong with that statement, but what’s worse is that we would accept that as an answer without digging further. There is absolutely no reason why a science teacher couldn’t teach to their standards and yet at the same time utilize applicable CCSS. And this without there being some strained effort to fit them in together.
And just because ELA and math are always the big two that start things, don’t think that at some point science or another subject area won’t follow.
Sample test questions from CCSS are all over the net. I’ve seen them and seen the retired ones from previous state tests of years past. The new questions reflect what you would ask a student to do if you really wanted to know what they were thinking and how they arrived at certain conclusions. Totally different than just give me an answer. They more so reflect the types of questions you might ask your students in order to know where they went wrong so that you could plan next steps in your teaching. Now do we expect these tests to really do this for us and diagnose what’s wrong with a student’s thinking? NO, not a this scale, but when you find teachers that are actually teaching and questioning in similar ways, you’ll find students that will be much better at what the parents in the video seem to want their children to be good at.
I personally don’t mind the time it takes to test. I have always been a believer in the idea that it is my job to know what my students know so that I can help them move forward. I do that on a small scale in my classroom with daily activities, questioning, group work, quizzes, and tests. And I look to larger scale exams that are as well written as we can find to help give an overall sense of how my students are progressing towards a set standard. If I have to give up 25 or 50 hours to a few testing sessions each year for this, I’m fine with that. Kids are in school at least 170 days a year.
Now once the test becomes something that doesn’t provide evidence for it’s claims, or doesn’t prove to be useful at all to teachers, parents, higher education, post high school employers, or shrinks the curriculum where there is no way out, then I’ll have a problem with it. Otherwise, let my kids do the best they can with the CCSS and new science standards, participate in PARCC for the evaluation of their progress, and move on with their learning. I expect my school’s art teacher to continue to teach their standards and expose my child to new things (which they have been doing even if it is once or twice a week at elem school). I expect my school’s PE teacher to do the same while trying to have an impact on instilling lifelong health habits in the children. When those things change, including music, I’ll have a problem. But I won’t blame the CCSS and PARCC and let them be the scapegoats. It’s late, time for bed.
livinginbrooklyn
Evaluate teachers based on student test scores from 5 days out of a year, and you don’t expect them to teach to the test? Add VAM and Cut Scores and you can destabilize the teaching profession. Focus on Math and ELA giving kids double sessions of each to push those scores. Stress levels rise, teachers are under a threat for their jobs, Kids check out. De-fund schools, buy technology that’s only for Testing and Test prep. Stop the school year in March and start testing. Kids who don’t test well, for Jonathan that just too bad.. Park them in test prep classes because that’s how to reach them. Jonathan you speak like kids are a product, empty and devoid of feelings. Empty vessels who arrive in your class and you fill them with contentless algorithms. Meanwhile you watch a film about the agony parents go through and you express zero empathy. You objectify and minimize their sense that this is doing their kids and their schools irreparable harm. Many of these parents have advanced degrees in a wide range of subjects related to education, yet you assume they just don’t know how to answer the questions. These parents shared their impressions, they gave you concrete examples of the harm the testing causes. They shared their feelings and their observations of their children And you missed it. Jonathan that’s CCSS precisely. No content, 5 paragraph essays about nothing and it has eroded your empathy and your humanity.
livinginbrooklyn
“once the test becomes something that doesn’t provide evidence for it’s claims, or doesn’t prove to be useful at all to teachers, parents, higher education, post high school employers, or shrinks the curriculum where there is no way out, then I’ll have a problem with it. ” that’s exactly what the parents told you. and you missed it they get nothing from these tests, nothing, their kids get nothing, their teachers get nothing, the only people who get something are the suppliers of tech and materials, they get $. I guess we are in agreement.
Don Corley
Well said, livinginbrooklyn!
Jonathan
Evaluation. That’s a word that is almost as bad as taxes without context. I’m simply referring to the ongoing need to know how my students are progressing. This “evaluation” of their progress is something I do everyday in class. Has nothing to do with value added or other teacher or school related job performance stuff. Defunding education? I’m not jumping to those conclusions either. Computer tests the enemy? The thoughts in this video would still be here if it were 1998 and there was a state paper based test. I didn’t say the parents were lying but when I have 400 kids in my school and 10 are so nervous and freaking out about the test I concentrate on working with them to help them through their anxiety so they can do their best. I don’t shut down testing for the school.
Lastly don’t forget, if your school is doing away with courses so math and Reading classes can be longer that says something about the school and their leadership as well. Don’t just blame the test. What are the real reasons behind the narrowing? Are they finding the children are performing five six grade levels below where they should be? Might not be an overreaction. Are they very close to grade level? Might be an overreaction on the leadership’s part. Either way I appreciate that my child’s performance is being noticed and an effort is being made to bring him or her up to speed. Now how that is done is where I can voice my opinion and possible help shape what classes are offered. Not blame the standards or tests so they go away and I get to hear how well my kid is doing now when compared to nothing that matters. Well nothing that matters is an exaggeration but hopefully you get my point.
Ccss is about kids. Government officials take it to the next level to use it for teacher band school evals. Not what this vid is about.
livinginbrooklyn
Here Jonathan. once again is personal evidence that’s irrefutable. you offer nothing but generalities and vague references to the quality of the testing.
Even someone who is pretending to be someone they’re not, has, deep down a bit of conscience. I made this film for Parent Voices NY
Don Corley
Jonathan’s adamant defense of CCSS and the current level of testing as well as his lack of empathy or ability to see beyond his own perfect world makes me suspicious that he may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The fact that he insinuated that politicians know what they are doing in this regard reinforces this notion.
He says he is a teacher, but he was vague about that. He also doesn’t describe the make-up of his school. I would assume that maybe he could be at the secondary level, as at the elementary level where I worked, we never had science or p.e. teachers; we were everything. I don’t understand his insistence that in the past, unhappiness with standardized testing was at a similar level as it is today. Entire school districts did not rearrange their curriculum and literally cut subjects in order to focus almost entirely on test scores. NCLB and RTTT set this in motion.
He doesn’t seem to be aware of how pervasive this reality is. He does make light of the video. I wonder if he has seen the film “Race to Nowhere”, another excellent film about the real, negative effects of what is going on in schools because of NCLB/RTTT, and if his reaction would be similar. The pushback against CCSS and the emphasiis on testing is gaining momentum on a national level. The stress on kids does not affect only a few; I would argue it affects a majority. “Race to Nowhere” documented the suicide of a student due to the pressure that is being placed on our children.
The results of the testing ARE largely useless, in part because the tests are inappropriate. They have been written with the intent that more children will fail. This is so public schools can be turned over to private business so profits can be made. In New York, only thirty-some percent of students passed the tests.
Diane P
Another interesting video in which teachers and education experts speak out against standardized testing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW-zWArUESQ
Glad to see this message getting out there through the power of video.
Jonathan
So far two weeks into PARCC testing and out of the 8,000 kids testing in my district, we have had 3 complaints. One high schooler, one middle schooler and one parent. Things seem to be going well. The tests seem to be a bit short though as though they cut too much out of the test so that it wouldn’t be very long. I just hope the questions are good enough to give us good information about the students progress. We shall see. If government officials don’t cower and try to drop out as some states have, parents, children, and schools that decide not to test will wish they had not passed up the opportunity to have some baseline data this year to measure their growth next year. And in the end no one will die, kids will continue to learn, and teachers will continue to teach.
Don Corley
From experience, I’m telling you teachers get no real, useful data from these tests. They are very narrow in what they test (and the Common Core standards are largely inappropriate), no matter what you are being told . Also, schools don’t receive results for months, too late to offer any useful information since the students who took them are long gone. The real reasons these tests have become so pervasive are to make profits for the testing companies (and now to companies selling computers), to allow for the turning over of public schools to for-profit companies (when more kids fail), and to punish teachers and unions, thus allowing the hiring of less-experienced and cheaper teachers. A final result of all of these things will be the resegregation of our schools.
There really is no up-side for our children.
Jonathan
“From experience, I’m telling you teachers get no real, useful data from these tests. They are very narrow in what they test (and the Common Core standards are largely inappropriate), no matter what you are being told . Also, schools don’t receive results for months, too late to offer any useful information since the students who took them are long gone.”
Let’s revisit this comment after the results come in. Yes it is expected that the results will come late for the first round but the release of results is expected to be much faster in future rounds. Also let’s see what the impressions of the data are after they are released and after schools, including higher ed, have a chance to interact with, scrutinize, and interpret the data.
And I can’t touch the “real reasons” comments. That conspiracy theory stuff is like saying life started from nothing and was a planned, organized, purposeful, process. How wild is that for us to know! Sorry if that was a little too sarcastic. This forum is not meant as a way to be mean.