Spring is finally here and certainly welcomed after such a rough fall and winter weather season. As our schools gear up for a tougher testing season than ever, we remind our students and the community that a child’s education is more than just a snapshot in time. As a District of professional educators we are supportive of the Common Core Learning Standards and the State-wide initiative of getting our students to be career and college ready. However, by the same token, we need to pause and question the sensibility of having our 3-6 grade students sit for exams that our State Education Department has informed us, that we will see across the state a 30 percent drop in scores. As a team of educators we question one another asking, “Did our students get less smart in a year’s time or will we be asking students to answer questions on materials and skills which they have not yet been taught?”
As teachers, administrators, parents and community members we must remember that education involves the “whole child.” There is no bubble grid that places the answers for a student’s Science project, a New York State Music Association singing or instrumental performance or the problem solving ability of students to answer real life questions, such as: How can we as students personally reduce solid and liquid waste in our school cafeterias on a daily basis?
Accountability is necessary in all walks of life and professions. Just as we would not ask a plumber to take an electrician’s test, we should only be testing our students on what they have been taught.
More will follow, as our educational community and parents lobby our elected officials to examine this process more closely.
Smell the flowers, take a nice walk or bicycle ride and enjoy spring! Thanks for your continued support of our educational endeavors.
