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Public has been duped by CSAP
Ohanian Comment: Don Perl is one of my heroes. In 2001, as a Colorado junior high teacher, he refused to give the state test because he knew it harmed kids. And ever since, he has continued to fight for what's right for kids.
by Don Perl
Here in Weld County and throughout the state our citizenry has witnessed increasingly heated discourse around CSAP testing, its educational soundness, its impact on our children and the rights of parents in this maelstrom.
We at the Coalition for Better Education, Inc. have been actively involved in all aspects of this testing regimen. We have exhaustively studied the issue, given presentations, instituted a ballot initiative calling for CSAP's elimination, testified before school boards and the state Legislature, and worked with legislators to craft legislation.
We have published articles to a national audience, purchased billboards to inform parents of their rights, brought the documentary, "Race to Nowhere" to Greeley, and a member of our group, Angela Engel, has written Seeds of Tomorrow, a book that explores the history of high stakes testing.
After all this, we can agree with everyone on perhaps these matters: fear, misinformation and confusion abound.
Let's look at the political atmosphere surrounding the "CSAP requirement." It was an atmosphere fraught with fear and constructed on the myth that our schools were failing. That myth was first set in motion by a 1983 federal publication titled "A Nation at Risk."
In 63 pages, that administration of 28 years ago declared our nation was vulnerable of a takeover by another international power because our ACT and SAT scores had declined.
In the late 1970s higher education had become more accessible to working-class families, families who had not had the advantages of previous college-bound generations. Thus scores had declined, but only slightly.
No mention was made in those 63 pages of some of the remarkable successes our system of public education had experienced against formidable odds. The publication had done its work, however. Media highlighted the misinformation and exaggerated the threat to ludicrous and frightening, proportions.
Now corporate America stepped in. Lobbyists from publishing houses became regular visitors to state capitols. "We have the answer to our failing schools," went the rap. "We'll develop tests. Everyone wants to do well on tests, right? You'll pass the word, and the legislation, of the importance of accountability. You’ll be the 'education lawmakers,' and be re-elected.
"And our test-making departments will profit. We’ll all win." A classic example of shock doctrine -- create a myth and then advance policies which would never take root without the fertilizer of fear. The strategy was immensely successful.
Today our schools are awash in tests. It happened little by little. Now publishing houses have so many tests to score that graders -- often poorly trained and without background in the subject matter -- are overwhelmed. Ironically there is no oversight of accountability for these high stakes standardized tests.
Nonetheless, according to Colorado State Rep. Judy Solano, conservatively $50,000,000 a year gush from our state coffers for the creation, administration and grading to accommodate this mad addiction.
What are the results of such expenditures to us, the parents and taxpayers? Do we see a better educated, more thoughtful, mindful society? Have our graduation rates increased? Do we see minority children joining their Caucasian colleagues in a more egalitarian world? Do we see fewer children struggling with the burdens of poverty? We can all agree on the answer -- a resounding no.
We have all been duped! A generation of a strangling testing culture has undercut us all.
We can also agree on something else. We know our children, their needs, their talents and their wonders. We will never let them be exploited, nor will we succumb to the heartlessness and mindlessness of a test-taking regimen.
The Supreme Court of the United States also agrees. That body has repeatedly held that parents possess the "fundamental right" to direct the upbringing and education of their children.
And so we have solid footing to move the wheel of history toward educational policies, which dignify the humanity of our children and their teachers.
Don Perl, of Greeley, is the president of the Coalition for Better Education and a Spanish instructor at the University of Northern Colorado.
— Don Perl
Greeley Tribune
2011-03-11
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20110311/OPINION/703119951/1027&parentprofile=1025
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