state resources

These Stories in Assessment Reform provide a closer look at how school reform activists in various locations have made the case against harmful testing policies and built local and statewide grassroots campaigns to change them.

You can learn their strategies, read and use sample materials, and grasp a better idea of how different tactics have worked in different social and political contexts. You will also learn about pitfalls to avoid.

From Chicago

The main captions are things you probably will need to think about; the bulleted points are examples of things you might consider/address/do.

Identify the problem:
- High Stakes for students or schools/educators [note federal law]
- Impact of testing on curriculum and instruction
- Unequal/inadequate resources despite high-stakes demands
- Too much testing (too many tests, too many grades)

A successful effort on your part to interest a news organization in a story will almost always present you with the opportunity to provide someone for the reporter to interview. From the point of view of reporters and editors, your story suggestion or your news release are the starting points of the story. They advance the story by interviewing people involved, people who are experts, people who are responsible, people who benefit, or sometimes just people who have seen the events of the story as witnesses.

Editors of most newspapers make provision for the public to be heard through letters to the editorial columns.

by Rochelle Lefkowitz
and Bob Schaeffer

• Is it do-able?
  • Do you have enough time to do it in?
  • Does the staff already have the skills necessary to do it? (If not, will it take them long to acquire those skills, or can you find someone else to do it?)
  • Do you have the equipment/materials necessary for the project?
  • Are there any budgetary constraints?
    

Experts agree that defining news can be a difficult task. Most journalists agree that the following eight elements make up what is considered "news."