Testing Gone Wild . . . Part 2

Just when you thought that our students couldn't be subjected to more tests, the State of Illinois decides to replace the ISAT (Illinois Standard Achievement Test) with PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers).  PARCC consists of four separate tests during the school year (see here).  So, on top of all of the current testing (including DRA testing, Discovery testing and CRT testing), our students will have PARCC testing (educators are beginning to give the Army some stiff competition in the acronym department).  One might wonder, with all of this testing and only 180 days in the school year, exactly when are the teachers going to teach?  And are they merely going to be expected to teach to the tests?

Ostensibly, all of this testing is being done in order to gather "data" so that teachers can differentiate instruction for each student. But, teachers do this each and every day through observing their students in the classroom.

And what is going to happen to the students who do not perform well on standardized tests but who perform well on less formal evaluations?  I suspect that those students are going to suffer since the test scores will become the "end all and be all" of education (if they aren't already).

Common Core Standards: The Debate

As you may or may not be aware, Minooka CCSD 201 (along with every other public elementary or secondary school in Illinois and forty-four other states) will be changing its curriculum to align with something called the "Common Core standards."  You can read about the Common Core State Standards Initiative at their website.

 Along with the Common Core standards, there will be a new standardized test to replace the ISAT.  The new test is called the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test.  You can read about the PARCC test at their website.

Well, not everyone seems to be excited about the new standards or the new test.  You can read about opposition to the Common Core standards and the PARCC test at the following websites:  Stop Common Core Illinois, Hoosiers Against Common Core, Ohioans Against Common Core, and Empowered Georgia Action (and many more).

Regardless of what you think about the Common Core standards and the PARCC test, you can be sure that the Common Core standards and the PARCC test mark the end of local control over curriculum.