From Monty Neill:
**Media Advisory**
26 Teachers and Staff of International High School at Prospect
Heights refuse to give NYC ELA Performance Assessment Test
WHEN: Thursday, May 1, 2014, 7:45-8:20am,
WHERE: International High School at Prospect Heights, 883 Classon
Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225
WHAT: Teachers will hold a press conference to announce their
refusal to administer the NYC ELA Performance Assessment. 26
teachers and staff at Prospect Heights International High School are
refusing to administer a new assessment that is part of the new
teacher evaluation system pushed by Bloomberg’s DOE and the UFT last
spring. 50% of parents have opted their children out of the test.
The high school serves almost exclusively recently arrived English
Language Learners.
WHY: The test was constructed and formatted without any thought for
the 14% of New York City students for whom English is not their
first language. The level of English used in the pre-test
administered in the Fall was so far above the level of our beginner
ELLs that it provided little to no information about our students’
language proficiency or the level of their academic skills.
Furthermore, the test was a traumatic and demoralizing experience
for students. Many students, after asking for help that teachers
were not allowed to give, simply put their heads down for the
duration. Some students even cried.
Teachers at Prospect Heights are drawing a line with this test.
Standardized, high stakes test dominate our schools, distort our
curriculum and make our students feel like failures. This test
serves no purpose for the students, and ultimately only hurts them.
26 Teachers have signed a letter to Chancellor Farina declaring that
they will not give the exam. The letter expresses gratitude for
Farina’s immediate turn around of the DOE’s attitude toward
teachers, and asks that the Chancellor reconsider the use of the NYC
ELA Performance Assessment with English Language Learners.
WHO: Teachers and support staff from the International High School
at Prospect Heights.
RSVP: This event is open to press and coverage is welcome.
The International High School at Prospect Heights is a public high
school located in Brooklyn, NY. Read their letter to Chancellor
Farina at www.standupoptout.wordpress.com
<http://www.standupoptout.wordpress.com/>
###
Some of the International High Schools in NYC are part of the Performance Standards Consortium and are not required to give the Math Regents exam; instead, students graduate by performance tasks -see http://www.performance assessment.org.
Norm Scott from NY added: MOREista and Change the Staker Jia Lee and 2 teachers from her elementary school also refused to give the tests. The Nation reported about their -->"open letter from a group of “Teachers of Conscience” at the Earth School <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/04/teachers-refuse-to-administer-standardized-tests/>, an elementary school in Manhattan. Accompanied by a philosophical position paper detailing principles of a progressive education <http://teachersofconscience.wordpress.com/position-paper/>, the teachers declared their opposition to English language exams for third-to-eight graders." As did Valerie Strauss in the Washington Post. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/04/teachers-refuse-to-administer-standardized-tests/>
Rosie and Emily Giles are active MOREistas. See video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a9Gg37nC3A&feature=share&list=UU9iVb99ewF1omA6LbPUWEOg&index=1> of Rosie at the Change the Stakes rally last week where in an off the cuff interview she elucidates the thinking of more and more teachers. Much of the test flux has come from elementary schools so it is important that this is coming from high school - there is a chain of international schools here in NYC that are linked and at some point this may spread.
**Media Advisory**
26 Teachers and Staff of International High School at Prospect
Heights refuse to give NYC ELA Performance Assessment Test
WHEN: Thursday, May 1, 2014, 7:45-8:20am,
WHERE: International High School at Prospect Heights, 883 Classon
Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225
WHAT: Teachers will hold a press conference to announce their
refusal to administer the NYC ELA Performance Assessment. 26
teachers and staff at Prospect Heights International High School are
refusing to administer a new assessment that is part of the new
teacher evaluation system pushed by Bloomberg’s DOE and the UFT last
spring. 50% of parents have opted their children out of the test.
The high school serves almost exclusively recently arrived English
Language Learners.
WHY: The test was constructed and formatted without any thought for
the 14% of New York City students for whom English is not their
first language. The level of English used in the pre-test
administered in the Fall was so far above the level of our beginner
ELLs that it provided little to no information about our students’
language proficiency or the level of their academic skills.
Furthermore, the test was a traumatic and demoralizing experience
for students. Many students, after asking for help that teachers
were not allowed to give, simply put their heads down for the
duration. Some students even cried.
Teachers at Prospect Heights are drawing a line with this test.
Standardized, high stakes test dominate our schools, distort our
curriculum and make our students feel like failures. This test
serves no purpose for the students, and ultimately only hurts them.
26 Teachers have signed a letter to Chancellor Farina declaring that
they will not give the exam. The letter expresses gratitude for
Farina’s immediate turn around of the DOE’s attitude toward
teachers, and asks that the Chancellor reconsider the use of the NYC
ELA Performance Assessment with English Language Learners.
WHO: Teachers and support staff from the International High School
at Prospect Heights.
RSVP: This event is open to press and coverage is welcome.
The International High School at Prospect Heights is a public high
school located in Brooklyn, NY. Read their letter to Chancellor
Farina at www.standupoptout.wordpress.com
<http://www.standupoptout.wordpress.com/>
###
Some of the International High Schools in NYC are part of the Performance Standards Consortium and are not required to give the Math Regents exam; instead, students graduate by performance tasks -see http://www.performance assessment.org.
Norm Scott from NY added: MOREista and Change the Staker Jia Lee and 2 teachers from her elementary school also refused to give the tests. The Nation reported about their -->"open letter from a group of “Teachers of Conscience” at the Earth School <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/04/teachers-refuse-to-administer-standardized-tests/>, an elementary school in Manhattan. Accompanied by a philosophical position paper detailing principles of a progressive education <http://teachersofconscience.wordpress.com/position-paper/>, the teachers declared their opposition to English language exams for third-to-eight graders." As did Valerie Strauss in the Washington Post. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/04/teachers-refuse-to-administer-standardized-tests/>
Rosie and Emily Giles are active MOREistas. See video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a9Gg37nC3A&feature=share&list=UU9iVb99ewF1omA6LbPUWEOg&index=1> of Rosie at the Change the Stakes rally last week where in an off the cuff interview she elucidates the thinking of more and more teachers. Much of the test flux has come from elementary schools so it is important that this is coming from high school - there is a chain of international schools here in NYC that are linked and at some point this may spread.
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