We support the teachers who refuse to administer and the parents who opt their students out from the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT).
We call on Chicago Public Schools and the Illinois State Board of Education not to give the ISAT test this year.
There should be no retaliation by the Chicago Board of Education against the parents, students and teachers who have taken action to improve students’ education.
Why is this important?
Administration of this meaningless test means students will lose hours of valuable classroom instruction time, disrupting as many as ten school days. The ISAT is not used for any valid purpose and will not be given after the 2013-2014 school year. CPS plans to force this test on students at the same time that students also are required to take NWEA MAP tests, new Interim Benchmark Tests, REACH Performance Tasks, ACCESS tests, NAEP tests, pilot Common Core tests and more.
Over-testing of students has come with real costs to their education. Students need fewer tests and more access to arts, languages and a broad, rich curriculum. Students need meaningful and educationally appropriate assessments, not more standardized tests.
The concerns of parents and educators have been ignored for too long! We support the parents, teachers and students who have taken action for better schools and against over-testing.
