Were the state exams so much better this year? The answer is no.
April 11, 2016
Dear Friend,
Clearly there were many problems with this year’s NY state ELA exams.
These included overly long, dense and grade-inappropriate reading passages with numerous typos, abstruse vocabulary and confusing questions; commercial product placements; reading passages drawn from Pearson test prep materials; missing or mislabeled pages in test booklets: and children taking up to four to five hours per day to finish the exams — which violates the law that limits state testing to 1% of total instructional time.
Meanwhile, it appears that the number of opt outs probably matched last year’s total of 240,000, or perhaps exceeded them, since the opt out rate seems to have increased in Long Island, Rockland County and NYC.
I’ve written more about these issues, including many of the problems students encountered on the ELA exam on my blog here. It’s not too late to opt your child out of the math exams starting on Wednesday; a sample letter from NYSAPE for your principal is here; here’s one from the NYC group, Change the Stakes.
But remember, it is your choice and your choice alone.
thanks,
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
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