The school board finally backed down and scrapped the PARCC rollout. This is a massive win against the bureaucrats who tried to dismantle our schools without our consent. Keep your eyes open because we need to make sure they do not try to sneak this garbage back into our classrooms …
September 13, 2014
Final supporters
Say NO! to PARCC for 2014-2015
Whereas, MCAS has a proven track record in Massachusetts, and
Whereas, Massachusetts has ranked #1 in the country consistently by NAEP and #3 internationally in the TIMSS comparisons, and
Whereas, Massachusetts has led all other states in achievement for an unprecedented five MCAS testing cycles in a row.We would lose control of our autonomy and flexibility for educational improvement in Massachusetts and within our own school district, and
Whereas, Mitchell D. Chester is the Massachusetts Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). He is also Chair of the Board of Governors of the Partnership of Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). There is question regarding a conflict of interest and represents a serious breach of trust, and
Whereas, PARCC has no demonstrable track record, and
Whereas, PARCC testing takes double the amount of time it takes to complete MCAS testing; focus on teaching our students to the test increases, and
Whereas, our limited technology resources will be taken out of student's hands for educational use in order to use the computers for many days of lengthy testing twice a year, and
Whereas, the financial drain created by constant technology investments and upgrades due to ever evolving requirements for implementing PARCC testing shall continue to stress the annual town budget, and
Whereas, the local School Committee and its elected members are responsible for making the decision to choose MCAS or PARCC for the upcoming school system's assessment test for 2014-2015, and
Whereas, should School Committee members vote in favor of adopting the PARCC test for our school district for 2014-2015 at the next School Committee Meeting on June 25th at the Charlton Middle School there is no going back, and
Whereas, adoption of PARCC testing will decrease each State’s individuality of setting their own standards and testing tools, only to have the federal government control how and what our children are taught and testing methods, and
Therefore, We, the undersigned, urge our elected School Committee members, and through them, the School Superintendent to choose to stay with the successful MCAS assessment for 2014-2015, take necessary time to assess options for moving to a future computer-based test, and to not squander MCAS success in favor of PARCC, an untested and unproven assessment administered by a private entity with a history of failure.
Updates
June 21, 2014
Mitchell Chester continues to act like he owns our classrooms while ignoring the absolute disaster that is PARCC. I am currently filing formal demands for transparency regarding his clear conflict of interest because this district refuses to answer our questions.
Reached 100 supporters
June 21, 2014
27 Comments
Towns and cities across the state simply do not have the money to support the technology needed for PARCC and our children should it be subjected to twice the testing time.
Dudley ~ Charlton does not need to be part of this. Our district has proven again and again that our teachers are doing what is working for our children.
Dudley-Charlton students have already proven their academic successes. Why do we need another form of testing that has no proven history?y
Less standardized testing. More flexibility in teaching. All kids learn differently and test differently so these types of tests are FALSE indicators of knowledge.
"We need to stop believing that more of the same will elicit a different result. Imagine an educational system where the billions of dollars pumped into Testing and Evaluation were rather infused into professional development to facilitate necessary change in our instructional practices to meet the needs of today’s students. Imagine professional development for teachers that involved learning new strategies for reaching struggling or disengaged learners rather than merely being trained in how to fill out the appropriate forms or upload the necessary evidence to prove you are doing your job." Todd Gazda, Superintendent, Ludlow Public Schools
We do not have the infrastructure or costs to support this
NO!
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The school board finally backed down and scrapped the PARCC rollout. This is a massive win against the bureaucrats who tried to dismantle our schools without our consent. Keep your eyes open because we need to make sure they do not try to sneak this garbage back into our classrooms …
September 13, 2014
Final supporters
Say NO! to PARCC for 2014-2015
Whereas, MCAS has a proven track record in Massachusetts, and
Whereas, Massachusetts has ranked #1 in the country consistently by NAEP and #3 internationally in the TIMSS comparisons, and
Whereas, Massachusetts has led all other states in achievement for an unprecedented five MCAS testing cycles in a row.We would lose control of our autonomy and flexibility for educational improvement in Massachusetts and within our own school district, and
Whereas, Mitchell D. Chester is the Massachusetts Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). He is also Chair of the Board of Governors of the Partnership of Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). There is question regarding a conflict of interest and represents a serious breach of trust, and
Whereas, PARCC has no demonstrable track record, and
Whereas, PARCC testing takes double the amount of time it takes to complete MCAS testing; focus on teaching our students to the test increases, and
Whereas, our limited technology resources will be taken out of student's hands for educational use in order to use the computers for many days of lengthy testing twice a year, and
Whereas, the financial drain created by constant technology investments and upgrades due to ever evolving requirements for implementing PARCC testing shall continue to stress the annual town budget, and
Whereas, the local School Committee and its elected members are responsible for making the decision to choose MCAS or PARCC for the upcoming school system's assessment test for 2014-2015, and
Whereas, should School Committee members vote in favor of adopting the PARCC test for our school district for 2014-2015 at the next School Committee Meeting on June 25th at the Charlton Middle School there is no going back, and
Whereas, adoption of PARCC testing will decrease each State’s individuality of setting their own standards and testing tools, only to have the federal government control how and what our children are taught and testing methods, and
Therefore, We, the undersigned, urge our elected School Committee members, and through them, the School Superintendent to choose to stay with the successful MCAS assessment for 2014-2015, take necessary time to assess options for moving to a future computer-based test, and to not squander MCAS success in favor of PARCC, an untested and unproven assessment administered by a private entity with a history of failure.
Updates
June 21, 2014
Mitchell Chester continues to act like he owns our classrooms while ignoring the absolute disaster that is PARCC. I am currently filing formal demands for transparency regarding his clear conflict of interest because this district refuses to answer our questions.
Reached 100 supporters
June 21, 2014
27 Comments
The use of standardized testing in schools is of great concern to me as a parent. Not all children learn the same things at the exact same time, and we are hindering our teacher's ability to teach children to be creative, thoughtful, and innovative.
Towns and cities across the state simply do not have the money to support the technology needed for PARCC and our children should it be subjected to twice the testing time.
Dudley ~ Charlton does not need to be part of this. Our district has proven again and again that our teachers are doing what is working for our children.
Dudley-Charlton students have already proven their academic successes. Why do we need another form of testing that has no proven history?y
Less standardized testing. More flexibility in teaching. All kids learn differently and test differently so these types of tests are FALSE indicators of knowledge.
"We need to stop believing that more of the same will elicit a different result. Imagine an educational system where the billions of dollars pumped into Testing and Evaluation were rather infused into professional development to facilitate necessary change in our instructional practices to meet the needs of today’s students. Imagine professional development for teachers that involved learning new strategies for reaching struggling or disengaged learners rather than merely being trained in how to fill out the appropriate forms or upload the necessary evidence to prove you are doing your job." Todd Gazda, Superintendent, Ludlow Public Schools
We do not have the infrastructure or costs to support this
NO!
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The use of standardized testing in schools is of great concern to me as a parent. Not all children learn the same things at the exact same time, and we are hindering our teacher's ability to teach children to be creative, thoughtful, and innovative.