Nearly 100 people signed an online petition Monday calling for “an open and informational dialogue” with New Canaan Public Schools about new standardized testing that will debut this spring.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test will be given to grades three through eight and also grade 11—the “SBAC,” as it’s called, is the attendant test aligned to Common Core curriculum and is also designed to check for college and career readiness.
Town resident Amy Sheffield, who has kids in the sixth and third grades now, and a third child who eventually will undergo the SBAC, said she and others are seeking an opportunity to put questions to administrators.
“I do put a lot of trust in the [district] administration, and I think rightly so because they do a great job,” said Sheffield, who helped create the petition. “At the same time, because this hasn’t been actively discussed recently, the answers are not there.”
Sheffield said the petition is designed to gauge fellow New Canaanites’ interest in getting more information about the new tests, so that the district has data in hand about how important this is to school parents. The petition went online Monday and garnered some 86 signatures that day, as well as several comments, mostly from New Canaanites.
Asked Monday about the prospect of an interactive session with parents on SBAC, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said that the Board of Education’s next regular meeting, scheduled for March 23, may provide a good opportunity for parents to interact with the school board. There, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Dr. Jill Correnty will give a presentation about K-12 assessment, including SBAC and Common Core, Luizzi said. An email outlining SBAC testing will be sent to parents on Tuesday morning, he said.
Administered on a test basis last year (see feedback here), the new assessments align with Common Core—a set of standards in math and English designed to yield apples-to-apples comparisons in student achievement and teaching performance across states and districts. Its motto is “Preparing America’s Students for Success.”
Forty-three states and the District of Columbia have adopted Common Core. Sample SBAC tests can be found here.
The petition calls for clarity on how SBAC relates to Common Core, how much time will be devoted to test prep and test taking, scoring, use of test results and privacy of collected data.
I also have children in third and sixth grades. I have great faith in our administration, Board of Education and our teachers. However, I do not believe that some of the limitations introduced by the Common Core serve New Canaan Public Schools. And the admittedly flawed SBAC test admitted by a private entity driven by profit rather than progress leaves me with more questions than answers. So, I would welcome a Question and Answer column or a public forum so that we can all make informed choices for our children.
What is not mentioned here is that 24 of those states are now trying to get out of some or all of the requirements of the Common Core. They were rushed through, are not researched based, were by and large created by the corporate testing machine, and the aligned standardized tests have not been tested (and are absurd; try the practice tests!). I’m in Westport and have opted out all of my kids. New Canaan parents are welcome at this talk on Monday:
A Probing Look at the SBAC TESTS and COMMON CORE STANDARDS:
What Do They Mean for Our Schools and Our Children?
Join fellow local parents and Education Policy Expert Jonathan Pelto for an Informative Talk on the controversial new Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) tests to be administered to Westport students in 3rd thru 12th grade this March and April, as well as an overview of the Common Core Standards that are changing the educational landscape in Connecticut. Learn more about your parental rights and how to effectively advocate for your children. Q&A to follow.
DAT¬E: Monday, March 23, 7:00 to 8:30 pm
LOCATION: The Westport Library, 20 Jesup Road,
McManus Room
Jonathan Pelto has been actively involved in Connecticut public policy, advocacy and electoral politics for nearly 40 years and is recognized for his expertise in education policy. Since 2010, Pelto has served as an advocate and investigative journalist, writing for his blog, “Wait, What?” (jonathanpelto.com)— now the most read commentary site in Connecticut.