As a public school teacher with a 3-year-old daughter who will be starting at the “big” school soon enough, I find myself thinking about education a lot. Because of this, a recent Beachcomber article that referenced Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and testing results has kept me up at night. Yes, education really is that important me.
In an ideal world, states would adopt developmentally-appropriate standards written by professionals in the fields of education and childhood development. Standards would be based on sound research and adequate field-testing. Then, teachers would be given the freedom to use their talents and creativity to help students with varied learning styles meet the agreed upon standards.
Unfortunately, this is simply not the case for our existing learning standards. It is now well known that the authors of the CCSS had no elementary school teaching experience. It seems they ignored entire fields of study, including early childhood development and brain research while writing learning standards for grades K-3. Our youngest students, naturally existing in a pre-operational stage of development, are held to standards demanding concrete reasoning. The results include stress, disengagement from learning and school interventions when teachers perceive typically developing students as delayed based on unrealistic standards. And, because we only have CCSS for mathematics and English Language Arts, other subject areas get short shrift or are left out completely.
The crucial act of unstructured play has taken a huge hit over the last few years as well. Research tells us that free play forms unique connections in the prefrontal cortex of the brain during childhood. This sets the stage for wiring the brain’s executive control center. We need this wiring to regulate emotions, make plans and solve problems. Indeed, these skills are far more important than rote memorization.
Now, what could be so important that we, as educators and administrators, would ignore our training and instincts and let this sort of thing happen? Enter high-stakes testing. The U.S. Department of Education awarded $350 million to two consortia to develop assessments for the CCSS. While the standards have never been field-tested to see if they actually improve education, our government has no problem penalizing us if we do not demonstrate improvement based on this same set of standards.
Under President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and President Obama’s Race to the Top program, consequences for poor test performance cover a range from losing eligibility for specific funding to receiving a label of failing, resulting in opening up a school to forced government interventions and possible privatization measures.
Scores of schools across the country have taken a stand and opted out of high-stakes testing. Locally, the school senate at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle researched the issue and concluded that the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) tests are not valid, reliable or equitable. The group, consisting of students, parents and teachers, thoroughly noted that students’ time will be better spent in their classrooms learning and participating in teacher-generated assessments that will help guide next instructional steps. Members also concluded that under the deeply flawed NCLB policies, many good schools will be considered failing and that “there is no reason to participate in erroneous and misapplied self-labeling.” As a result of the school senate’s findings, 100 percent of 11th graders opted-out of SBAC testing last spring.
High-stakes testing and misguided standards have real consequences here on our island. Last June, I presented a letter to Vashon Island School District’s school board members, Superintendent Michael Soltman and Chautauqua Elementary School Principal Jody Metzger that was signed by 25 Chautauqua Elementary School educators and myself. In it, we expressed several concerns, including narrowing curriculum to focus on tested subjects, lack of time and resources for meaningful instruction in highly engaging and important subject areas such as science and social studies, and preschool and kindergarten programs that are touted as “academic” despite some of those academics being developmentally inappropriate and talented teachers being forced to adhere to scripted teacher manuals.
To his credit, Soltman has kicked off the new school year with some encouraging changes.
Are national standards a bad idea? No. Is testing a bad thing? Not necessarily. Of course, we must ensure that both are sound, appropriate and supportive, not punitive. I do think that the community of Vashon, and its educators, should remain vigilant as we navigate Common Core and high-stakes testing. My hope is that the district will return to using research to support best practices in the classroom and be willing to call foul when federal and state agencies get it wrong. The children of Vashon, including my future Orca, deserve nothing less.
— Kate Davidson is an island mother and teacher taking time off to raise her daughter.
