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2012 NYSUT Resolution #12 Page 1 of 3
Resolution #12 STUDENT ASSESSMENT: GETTING IT RIGHT Submitted by: NYSUT Board of Directors Whereas, the NYSUT Principles for Taking the Lead in Defining Excellence in P-12 Public Education adopted at the 2010 NYSUT Representative Assembly state that “strategies to improve teaching and learning must be informed by student needs, professional judgment, and multiple sources of thoroughly analyzed data;” and Whereas, the NYSUT Principles state that many types of data derived from multiple measures must be examined to provide an accurate and complete picture of student learning; and Whereas, we agree that states and school districts must be guided by effective accountability systems, the current single standardized test system does not accurately or comprehensively provide the evidence needed for education decision-making; and Whereas, NYSUT members support accountability, when it is based on multiple measures of what students know and are able to do, and on measures that support rigorous academic standards for students backed by meaningful curricula, and that are valid and reliable measures of student learning; and Whereas, NYSUT advocates the use of authentic assessments (e.g., performance-based assessments, student portfolios and data-folio style assessments) in which students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills; that is, to apply the skills and knowledge they have mastered; and Whereas, research indicates that authentic assessments using performance rubrics, provide evidence documenting student growth over time and reflect skills and knowledge that are not readily measured by standardized assessments; and Whereas, student test scores based on fair, valid and reliable state assessments aligned to student learning standards can provide some valuable information about student achievement, such assessments should not be the sole tool for educational decision-making; and Whereas, approximately 70 percent of teachers provide instruction in subjects and grade levels and where their contributions to student learning cannot be measured with state assessments; and Whereas, these problems are exacerbated further by the fact that the kind of grade-level tests and end-of-course tests currently used in New York are not designed to measure student growth; and 2012 NYSUT Resolution #12 Page 2 of 3
Whereas, the findings of major research groups show that overemphasis on standardized tests is harmful to children and education as testing punishes students, and often teachers, for things they cannot control such as poverty, hunger, student mobility, student attendance, lack of medical care, safety, community resources, parents’ involvement; and Whereas, NYSUT members have continuously expressed their concerns that the focus on accountability through the use of standardized state tests has created pressure on school districts and subsequently on educators to “teach to the test,” resulting in a narrowing of the curriculum while fostering instruction that fails to engage students or support high-quality learning; and Whereas, the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act’s testing policies fail to appropriately accommodate the unique needs of students with disabilities and English language learners in assessing their learning, resulting in test scores that do not accurately represent a true measure of the contributions of teachers and schools; and Whereas, NYSUT supports the use of multiple measures for assessing the progress of students, schools and school districts because they offer more complete evidence about a student’s learning and a teacher’s and school’s contribution to student achievement; and Whereas, multiple measures of student learning refer to various types of assessments and other evaluation procedures which yield accurate evidence of student achievement over a period of time and benefit teachers and schools by improving instructional practices, and supporting systemic improvements in teaching and learning; and Whereas, accountability systems require the use of multiple forms of qualitative and quantitative evidence from academic and non-academic areas to determine whether a student, school, district or the state is doing well and to provide a basis for making improvements; therefore be it RESOLVED, that NYSUT oppose any accountability system reliant on a single assessment to be used as a major part of educational decisions; and be it further RESOLVED, that NYSUT urge the State Education Department to lessen the focus on the use of the current standardized achievement tests and place greater emphasis on other measures of student learning such as authentic assessments, including performance-based assessments, student portfolios and data-folios style assessments; and be it further RESOLVED, that NYSUT urge the State Education Department to provide high-quality, professional development, tools and resources to assist all school personnel in using multiple measures to analyze student needs, inform instruction and insure student success; and be it further
2012 NYSUT Resolution #12 Page 3 of 3
RESOLVED, that NYSUT work with advocacy groups and parents to form a coalition urging the Board of Regents and the State Education Department to ensure that no single test score will be used to determine a student’s performance; and be it further RESOLVED, that NYSUT, through our national affiliates, urge Congress to amend ESEA to require states to go beyond the use of standardized tests by using multiple measures of student achievement, including more authentic methods of assessing student performance of all students; and be it further RESOLVED, that NYSUT demand an end to the current system of testing in New York State that adversely affects the well-being of our students, and further demand a system that is accurate, fair and appropriate. |