A recent New York Times editorial headlined “The Trouble with Testing Mania” struck all the right chords in its dissection of this nation’s overemphasis on standardized testing and the misuse of the test results to, in effect, punish both students and their teachers. It is a message on which NYSUT has been a vocal leader, joined […]

What if students had to pass a quiz if they want to have lunch? Canandaigua students in Ontario County think that the testing situation in New York has almost become that crazy. So they created a scenario where they’re banished from the lunch line if they can’t correctly guess the meal for the day. And they […]

Editor’s note: We have the permission of the parents and the sixth-grader to reprint this letter that was sent to State Education Commissioner John King. For more on the state’s obsession with testing and to take action, visit www.nysut.org/testing. April 8, 2013 Dear Commissioner King: I am Anna Dumas, a sixth-grade student. If you came […]

Amanda Magee, of Queensbury in Warren County, is the mother of three daughters who — like the vast majority of New York parents — is concerned about the state’s heavy reliance on testing and its impact on children. She writes a blog called “The Wink” but she wrote this for us. Take a stand against […]

North Country educators had tears in their eyes as they told stories about distraught children overwhelmed by the state’s growing obsession with standardized testing. “By the 35th day of school, I gave 40 tests to first-graders,” said Robin Jones, co-president of Elizabethtown TA. “I’m sick of it and I know the kids are sick of it.”

The American Federation of Teachers has taken a stand against the fixation on high-stakes testing. They’ve started a petition drive and already nearly 7,000 have signed it. Here’s the link to sign the petition. Thanks to Don Carlisto, a 7th-grade teacher in Saranac Lake and member of the SLTA, for alerting me to it. (I […]