SHERBURNE – During a visit from the NYS Commissioner of Education on Tuesday, a number of Sherburne-Earlville Central School District teachers wore T-shirts in what they called a respectful display of their dissatisfaction with the recently enacted education reforms, or what is being dubbed by teachers across the state as the “misuse” of high stakes testing.
The unobtrusive maroon T-shirts either sported the quote, “I care more about the people my students become than the scores on the tests they take,” a slogan being shared by teachers across the state, or, “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think,” a quote attributed to American cultural anthropologist Margaret Meade.
“The Sherburne-Earlville Teachers’ Association is very proud of our district,” said SETA president Jennifer Moore. “We have wonderful teachers that embrace the best practices in the classroom, which is the point of the commissioner’s visit, so he can see firsthand the great things happening at S-E. However, what the State Education Department is doing in regards to the enormous amount of testing expected from teachers and students is not reflective of best practice, which is why our teachers felt it was necessary to take a stand in solidarity and wear our SETA shirts to protest the misuse of these high stake tests during Commissioner King’s visit.”
The new assessments are designed to measure gaps in student learning. However, instead of improving learning environments, the new assessments have led to widespread frustration among teachers. While a significant amount of classroom time is now being dedicated to proctoring the new assessments, the results are being returned to teachers with scores of a one, two, three or four, for each child. Without any further data, many teachers have come to view the assessments as useless in helping to drive instruction in classrooms, while at the same time the proctoring of the assessments have eaten away large portions of teaching time.
While SETA welcomes education reform, teachers would prefer it to be based on the best practices, explained Moore.
