Standardized tests, misused to grade and punish schools and teachers.

From the state, By SARAH SHAD JOHNSON and PARRISH RABON - Guest Columnists

Our children are not among the tens of thousands of students in third through eighth grades taking the state’s PASS test this week. We have opted them out of these standardized tests, which are misused to grade and punish schools and teachers.

The punitive high stakes that our federal government and non-educator policymakers have tied to these tests have resulted in a decreasing quality in public education over the past 10 years. As South Carolina implements the controversial Common Core state standards and seeks a No Child Left Behind waiver, we will see even more testing, more test prep and more teacher evaluations tied directly to test scores.

The tests, which could never possibly measure what a child learns in one school year, are only profiting the big testing corporations that are raking in millions of dollars from South Carolina. Meanwhile, we are failing to pay teachers enough, increasing class size and closing schools due to budget cuts.

As parents, we have the ultimate interest and decision-making power in the education of our children. By opting out of these tests, we are not throwing our hands up and quitting. We have written our teachers, principals and school board members about the negative effects the tests have. We have attended PTA meetings, school district public meetings, S.C. Department of Education public meetings, Senate hearings and our state’s recent Empower Education Summit. We have contacted our state legislators, our governor and our congressmen to express our concern about this national issue. We have written columns and blogged about the problem. Awareness is slowly, though steadily, spreading among parents, who often have been in the dark on these issues. Many educators are aware of the problem with high-stakes testing, but have their hands tied to speak out.

We have formed local parent-teacher advocacy groups to tackle our communities’ educational problems. Charleston Area Community Voice for Education and Sumter Education Task Force are South Carolina’s first affiliates of Parents Across America, a national non-profit organization that supports research-based reforms such as pre-kindergarten programs, small class size, parent involvement, strong, experienced teachers, a well-rounded curriculum and evaluation systems that go beyond test scores.

We have also formed a statewide support group, S.C. Parents and Teachers for Education. We have joined thousands of parents, educators and administrators across the country to protest high-stakes testing, and have endorsed the National Resolution on High-Stakes Testing, which is modeled after the resolution signed by more than 400 school boards in Texas. We strive to put students first in education, whether they are in a “low-performing” school or a “high-performing” school. All students are affected by this problem.

As politicians, philanthropists and policymakers insist on “reforming” public education from the top down, using ineffective and unproven methods, we, as parents, are standing up and demanding a voice in the education of our children. If we want true educational reform, the obsession with standardized test scores must be halted.

Our goal is to create an environment where teachers are respected and are given room to teach meaningful lessons, critical thinking and writing skills. Our goal is for students to be active and interested participants in their education, as opposed to dull vessels that are simply filled and emptied for standardized tests. Opting our children out of the tests shows that we will no longer accept or go along with the failing status quo. South Carolina’s children deserve better.

Ms. Johnson, a freelance writer living in Mt. Pleasant with two children in Charleston County schools, is co-founder of Charleston Area Community Voice for Education; contact her at cvedu20@gmail.com. Ms. Rabon, whose three children attend Sumter public schools, is co-founder of Sumter Education Task Force; contact her at sumtereducation taskforce@yahoo.com

http://www.thestate.com/2012/05/11/2271279/johnson-rabon-fight-to-end-high.html