Thursday, March 26, 2015

UNITY VOTES DOWN STRONG ANTI-HIGH STAKES TESTING RESOLUTION AT DA

The March Delegate Assembly meeting featured a resolution from the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) opposing high stakes testing for students and teachers as well as calling for the end of the Common Core tests.

Our correspondents report that Lauren Cohen (MORE- Chapter Leader PS 321) did a fine job in presenting the resolution to the Delegates.  The vote to add it to the agenda was close enough so that there was a call for a division of the house and a second count.  In the end, the leadership from Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus defeated it. They adjourned the meeting before voting on Unity's own watered down, lame testing resolution.

For a full report from the March DA, go to NYC Educator.

Lauren Cohen raises MORE anti-testing resolution at DA

 MORE Resolution Opposing Standardized Testing
WHEREAS, the volume of mandated standardized testing to which students are subjected in the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) has increased many times over in recent years, and

WHEREAS, the results of such tests cannot be used for diagnostics or remediation or other educational purposes, and

WHEREAS, such testing generates results that are used for high-stakes decision-making regarding both students, teachers, and schools

WHEREAS, such tests fail to measure the most important qualities schools should seek to develop in students, such as relationship-building, character, ethical development, critical thinking, persistence, imagination, insight, and collaboration, amongst others, and

WHEREAS, as a result, many students who develop these valued but unmeasured qualities, but who have extreme difficulty with standardized and other paper-and-pencil tests, experience these tests as stressful to the point of abuse, and

WHEREAS, the increasing focus on such testing causes severe distortions of schooling, inflicting trauma on many students and changing schools into test-prep factories

WHEREAS, the 2007 UFT task force on testing found that “The use of data from student test scores on standardized tests to evaluate teachers may appear simple,… but it is wrong” and The American Statistical Association  warned that “Value Added Measure scores themselves have large standard errors”

WHEREAS there is nationwide opposition to the developmentally inappropriate Common Core standards and, as education historian and professor Diane Ravitch said, “They are being imposed on the children of this nation despite the fact that no one has any idea how they will affect students, teachers, or schools. We are a nation of guinea pigs, almost all trying an unknown new program at the same time.”
THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, that the UFT declare its opposition to the use of state- or federal-mandated standardized tests for the purposes of making grade promotion, graduation, teacher evaluation, or other high-stakes decisions regarding students or teachers, and

RESOLVED, that UFT supports the right of parents and guardians to choose to opt-out their children from any or all state- or federally-mandated testing, and supports the right of teachers to discuss freely with parents and guardians their rights and responsibilities with respect to such testing, all without any negative consequences from NYC DOE, and

RESOLVED, that UFT will fully support and protect members and others who may suffer any negative consequences as a result of speaking about their views of such testing or about the rights and obligations of parents and guardians with respect to such testing

RESOLVED, that UFT will use its organizational capacity to inform members in every chapter about the right of parents/guardians to opt-out their children from state or federal mandated testing and will take an active role in producing and distributing opt-out literature using materials from changethestakes.wordpress.com, coreteachers.org, and NYSAPE.org, including sample parent opt-out letters.

RESOLVED, that UFT will fully support and, if necessary, defend members who are conscientious objectors to administering standardized assessments

RESOLVED, that UFT will demand an immediate halt to all Common Core based testing, curriculum and standards, until it has been properly field tested

And be it further RESOLVED, that the UFT will continue to mobilize members and parents to achieve these goals through actions such as rallies, forums, and school-based protests

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whether we like it or not, we are a political group as much as we are a Union. Everyone watches what we do and what we say. it is best that the PUBLIC pressure Albany concerning testing/common core. If we, UFT, took the exclusive lead, it would be considered a " job action" or even a "Strike." Our haters would then say that our membership/leadership are a bunch of self-serving cowards. It would be " POLITICAL SUICIDE." Thank you, Dr. John Marvul.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the 50 other unions that are doing it are just a bunch of self serving cowards.

Anonymous said...

Here is a list of unions that Unity's Dr John Marvul would call self serving cowards. They all passed NYSAPE anti testing resolution.
Amityville Teachers Association
Associated Teachers of Huntington
Baldwin Teachers Association
Bay Shore Classroom Teachers Association
Bellmore-Merrick United Secondary Teachers
Bellport Teachers Association
Bethpage Congress of Teachers
Brentwood Teachers Association
Brockport Teachers Association
Camden Teachers Association
Carmel Teachers' Association
Center Moriches Teachers' Association 
Central Islip Teachers Association
Clarkstown Teachers Association
Commack Teachers Association
Connetquot Teachers Association
Deer Park Teachers' Association
Farmingdale Federation of Teachers
Freeport Teachers Association 
Fulton Teachers Association
Garden City Teachers' Association
Glen Cove Teachers' Association
Half Hollow Hills Teachers' Association
Hamburg Teachers Association
Hastings Teachers Association
Hewlett-Woodmere Faculty Association 
Ichabod Crane Teachers Association
Islip Teachers Association
Kingston Teachers Federation
Lancaster Central Teachers Association
Lake Shore Central Teachers' Association
Lakeland Federation of Teachers
Lawrence Teachers' Association
Levittown Teachers Union
Lindenhurst Teachers Association
Little Flower Teachers Association
Locust Valley School Employees Association
Lynbrook Teachers Association
Merrick Faculty Association 
Middle Country Teachers Association
Miller Place Teachers Association
MORE Caucus (NYC)
New Hartford Teachers Association
New Paltz United Teachers 
New Rochelle Federation of United School Employees
New York Mills Teachers' Association
North Babylon Teachers' Organization
North Bellmore Teachers Association
North Rockland Teachers Association
North Shore Schools Federated Employees
North Syracuse Education Association
Oneonta Teachers' Association
Orchard Park Teachers Association
Patchogue-Medford Congress of Teachers
Plainedge Federation of Teachers
Plainview-Old Beth Page Congress of Teachers
Port Jefferson Teachers Association 
Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association
Ramapo Teachers Association
Rocky Point Teachers Association
Rockville Centre Teachers' Association
Rome Teachers Association
Sherburne-Earlville Teachers' Association
Smithtown Teachers Association
Spencerport Teachers Association
Springville Faculty Association
Shoreham Wading River Teachers Association

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew's people are at it again... "We can't say/do xyz because someone will think poorly of us." The UFT is already run by self serving cowards. Mulgrew and Unity support tying teachers to test scores. Mulgrew and Unity think Danielson is a reasonable and accurate evaluative tool. These beliefs do not represent what teachers believe. So who are they serving? Themselves. Why won't they challenge Danielson or tying teachers to scores? They're cowards. Roseanne McCosh

Anonymous said...

We need Raving Lunatic to set everyone straight.

ed notes online said...

john marvel would make excuses for the leadership if they announced support of isis.

Raving Lunatic said...

First of all, I agree with the esteemed Dr. Marvul that it would be POLITICAL SUICIDE to have passed this. You would have called us a bunch of self-serving cowards and that would have led to our utter ruination. You should be sending us thank you cards for having protected you from this fate. Please address them to me at 52 Broadway. Winner for best card will be allowed to cut the bathroom line at the end of next month's Delegate Assembly.

That will be all.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Raving. I understand now. Well not really but being in Unity means I don't need to understand much but just watch how Leroy Barr votes and do the same