PS 39 Raises The Stakes For High-Stakes Testing Battle

The PS 39 PTA mobilizes beautifully when it wants something done – or undone (one word: rezoning). Now on the agenda is the burdensome activity of high-stakes testing. This ritual standardized test is given to 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grade students in the hopes of gaining a comprehensive understanding of how a school is progressing as a whole. The results are not only meant to evaluate students and schools in a very definitive way, but also to evaluate teachers’ performances for test prep and general teaching skills.

Big problem: the testing is excessively time consuming and wholly unreliable (and this is by the admission of the NYC Department of Education itself!).  Its inaccuracy is causing job loss and instability both here and nationwide. As well, prep for the ever-increasing tests are taking precious quality time away from our kids. Instead of learning, they’re prepping. This is not cool.

In a recent, heated PTA meeting on a bitter cold night, our awesome principal, Anita DePaz, clearly gave us the lowdown on the situation. The takeaway: this situation needs to be nipped in the bud, and calls for PTA action (stay tuned and get involved).

During that same meeting, a passionate presentation from the local anti-high-stakes testing advocacy group, called ParentVoicesNY, backed up our principal and provided great detail as to why this whole situation smells like a 60 Minutes segment (at least one for-profit testing company is reaping big profits. Big surprise.).

More on the situation will be posted as we mobilize. In the meantime, educate yourself -- for your child’s sake -- by clicking on this link: http://www.parentvoicesny.org/. And to become involved with our school-based High Stakes Testing Committee, click here.

~ Ronald Sklar, PS 39 reporter-at-large