Texas PTA sending resolution concerning high stakes testing to local groups

From Texas Association of School Administrators - TASA - Click Here

Submitted by arivas on May 1, 2012 

 

"The Texas PTA is appealing to local PTAs through an e-newsletter to encourage local PTAs to adopt a family-focused version of the Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students. 

"Texas PTA seeks to communicate through this resolution PTA families' concerns about high stakes testing. Acknowledging the need for rigorous instruction and assessment, Texas PTA seeks to support a needed transformation in Texas public schools - one that fosters innovation, creativity and a thirst for learning with new, more meaningful, assessment and accountability measures. Texas PTA seeks a partnership between schools and families to achieve these goals," the newsletter reads in part.

Texas PTA's suggested timeline asks local PTAs to adopt the resolution by the end of this school year or at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year, and share the resolutions with Texas PTA, their local school board and state lawmakers."

Houston ISD resolution concerning high stakes, standardized testing of Texas public school students

As of May 16, 2012, 462 Texas school districts representing more than 2.6 million students have adopted the Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students.

This is the text of the Houston ISD Resolution that was passed and approved by the Board of Trustees on last Thursday, May 10, 2012.

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
RESOLUTION CONCERNING HIGH STAKES, STANDARDIZED TESTING
OF TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS

WHEREAS, we believe that the mission of our public schools is to ensure that all Texas children have access to a quality education that enables them to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the future in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of our state and nation; and

WHEREAS, we support high standards and accountability for results for ourselves, our schools, our educators, and our students and their families; and

WHEREAS, the over reliance on standardized, high stakes testing as the only assessment of learning that really matters in the state and federal accountability systems is undermining the transformation of a traditional system of schooling into a broad range of learning experiences that better prepares our students to live successfully and be competitive in a global economy; and

WHEREAS, we commend Robert Scott, Commissioner of Education, for his concern about the overemphasis on high stakes testing that has become “a perversion of its original intent” and for his continuing support of high standards and local accountability; and

WHEREAS, State-mandated standardized tests may affect as many as forty-five instructional days during the school year on a high school campus, and even interfere with the normal instructional activities of students not taking such tests; and

WHEREAS, we believe our state’s future prosperity is dependent on a high-quality education system that prepares students for college and careers, and without such a system Texas’ economic competitiveness and ability and to attract new business will falter; and

WHEREAS, the real work of designing more engaging student learning experiences requires changes in the culture and structure of the systems in which teachers and students work; and

WHEREAS, what occurs in our classrooms every day should be student-centered and result in students learning at a deep and meaningful level, as opposed to the current overemphasis on that which can be easily tested by standardized tests; and

WHEREAS, We believe in the tenets set out in Creating a New Vision for Public Education in Texas (TASA, 2008) and our goal is to transform this district in accordance with those tenets; and

WHEREAS, Our vision is for all students to be engaged in more meaningful learning activities that cultivate their unique individual talents, to provide for students’ choice in work that is designed to respect how they learn best, and to embrace the concept that students can be both consumers and creators of knowledge; and

WHEREAS, only by developing new capacities and conditions in districts and schools, and the communities in which they are embedded, will we ensure that all learning spaces foster and celebrate innovation, creativity, problem solving, collaboration, communication and critical thinking; and

WHEREAS, these are the skills that business leaders desire in a workforce and the very attitudes that are essential to the survival of our democracy; and

WHEREAS, while we believe that standardized tests are integral to accountability in public schools and point with pride to the performance of our students, we concur that making these tests the sole measure of accountability causes preparation for these tests to dominate instructional time, impeding progress toward a world-class education system of student centered schools and future-ready students.

NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Houston Independent School district Board of Education calls on the Texas Legislature to reexamine the public school accountability system in Texas and to develop a system that encompasses multiple assessments, reflects greater validity, reduces the number of instructional days affected by State-mandated standardized tests, and more accurately reflects what students know and can do in terms of the rigorous standards essential to their success, enhances the role of teachers as designers, guides to instruction and leaders, and nurtures the sense of inquiry and love of learning in all students.

PASSED AND APPROVED on this 10th day of May, 2012.


By: ____________________ By: _____________________
Name: Name:
Title: Title:
By: ____________________ By: _____________________
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By: ____________________ By: _____________________
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By: ____________________
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Florida school district adopts testing resolution

408 Texas school districts have adopted the Resolution as of 4-25-12

From EduSlate - Texas Association of School Aaministrators (TASA) - Click Here

Wednesday, April 24, 2012

 "The Palm Beach County School Board in Florida became the latest group outside of Texas to pass a resolution similar to the Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students.

School board members for Palm Beach, the 11th largest school district in the nation (app. 174,000 students), say they're not advocating for the removal of standardized tests but, like many Texas school leaders, believe the over-reliance on standardized testing is counter productive.

"As a board and a district, we need to mitigate the damage of this obsession with high-stakes testing," board member Karen Brill said in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "We need to create well-rounded students; we need to nurture creativity; we need to find balance so that our teachers have the freedom to exercise their talents and bring out the best in our students."

As of Wednesday, 408 Texas school districts representing roughly 2.2 million students had confirmed they'd passed the resolution. That's 40 percent of all Texas districts. If your district has passed the resolution but isn't on TASA's list, please send me an email so we can include you in the count."

Text of the Resolution 

WHEREAS, our nation’s future well-being relies on a high-quality public education system that prepares all students for college, careers, citizenship and lifelong learning, and strengthens the nation’s social and economic well-being; and

WHEREAS, our nation’s school systems have been spending growing amounts of time, money and energy on high-stakes standardized testing, in which student performance on standardized tests is used to make major decisions affecting individual students, educators and schools; and

WHEREAS, the over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing in state and federal accountability systems is undermining educational quality and equity in U.S. public schools by hampering educators’ efforts to focus on the broad range of learning experiences that promote the innovation, creativity, problem solving, collaboration, communication, critical thinking and deep subject-matter knowledge that will allow students to thrive in a democracy and an increasingly global society and economy; and

WHEREAS, it is widely recognized that standardized testing is an inadequate and often unreliable measure of both student learning and educator effectiveness; and

WHEREAS, the over-emphasis on standardized testing has caused considerable collateral damage in too many schools, including narrowing the curriculum, teaching to the test, reducing love of learning, pushing students out of school, driving excellent teachers out of the profession, and undermining school climate; and

WHEREAS, high-stakes standardized testing has negative effects for students from all backgrounds, and especially for low-income students, English language learners, children of color, and those with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, the culture and structure of the systems in which students learn must change in order to foster engaging school experiences that promote joy in learning, depth of thought and breadth of knowledge for students; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the School Board of Palm Beach County, Florida, calls on Governor Scott, the Florida Department of Education and the state legislature to reexamine public school accountability systems in this state, and to develop a system based on multiple forms of assessment which does not require extensive standardized testing, more accurately reflects the broad range of student learning, and is used to support students and improve schools; and

RESOLVED, that the School Board of Palm Beach County, Florida, calls on the U.S. Congress and Administration to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as the “No Child Left Behind Act,” reduce the testing mandates, promote multiple forms of evidence of student learning and school quality in accountability, and not mandate any fixed role for the use of student test scores in evaluating educators.

Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students

Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students

"
... the resolution drafted by TASA (Texas Association of School Administrators) is a philosophical statement that, among other things, challenges the notion that standardized testing should be the single measure of a district and endorses more engaging student learning experiences. As of Wednesday afternoon, 271 districts had passed the resolution. It has also been endorsed by at least one chamber of commerce, a school board in Queens, New York, and sparked national attention, including coverage from the Washington Post. Our goal is to draw attention to the transformation that needs to happen in Texas public schools and to speak with a clear and unified voice to Texas lawmakers about the concerns - not just of educators but also business leaders, parents and students – regarding the current accountability system." 

EduSlate