k-12

FairTest is part of a new Massachusetts coalition with a simple message: It's time for Governor Charlie Baker and the state legislature to make it their number one priority to reinvest $1.5 billion a year in public education, from pre-K through college, with the funding increase not attached to any additional testing.

Our public education system is a key part of what makes Massachusetts a great place to live and work. But testing overkill, combined with austerity school funding, has undermined our schools and our quality of life.

Drawn from government and media reports by FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing

updated – December, 2018

for further information:     

for further information:

Dr. Monty Neill    (617) 477-9792

Lisa Guisbond     (617) 959-2371

The National Grange has passed a strongly worded resolution against high stakes testing. It calls on the “U.S. Congress and administration to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (currently known as the "Every Child Succeeds Act''), reduce the testing mandates, promote multiple forms of evidence of student learning and school quality in accountability, and not mandate any fixed role for the use of student test scores in evaluating educators.” Test-focused education has caused much harm in rural as well as urban and suburban schools.

PLEASE JOIN FAIRTEST IN HONORING

John H. Jackson and Barbara Madeloni

PRESENTATION OF

THE DEBORAH W. MEIER “HERO IN EDUCATION” AWARD

Thursday, October 26, 2017, 5:45 – 8:30 PM

First Parish Unitarian Universalist, 3 Church St., Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA

FairTest worked with the National Coalition of Urban Education Associations (NCUEA) Time on Learning Committee to develop a survey that teacher unions can use with their members to expose the consequences of high-stakes testing. It can be adapted for use by parent, student and community groups.

The survey is available at https://www.jotform.com/form-templates/2017-time-to-learn-survey.

Fact Sheet/Hoja informativa

• Standardized Testing and Young Children
   
• Hoja informativa sobre las pruebas y los niños pequeños

Does Inclusion in Testing Mean Inclusion in Meaningful Learning?

1. Federal law requires 95% test participation, including for the vast majority of students with disabilities. (One percent of all students may be assessed to alternative standards with alternative assessments. Federal law leaves it up to each state to decide what to do if a school or district does not test 95%.) The theory is that full inclusion in testing will drive full inclusion in learning the “standard” academic curriculum.

Parents and students often fear the threat that if they opt out of state exams, their school could lose funding. However, this is an empty threat: no school has lost funding because of opting out.

In fact, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) specifically authorizes states to allow parents to opt their children out of exams. Ten states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, North Dakota, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin) have laws specifically allowing parents to opt their children out. None has ever been sanctioned.