The Rocky Mountain News today prints an extended story by reporter Berny Morson that found its gensis in our March 2nd, Denver/Jeffco Green Party public forum on CSAP testing.
My thanks again to Angel Engel and her provocative and informative presentation on 'high stakes' testing.
The report is balanced and fair, and, I think, indicates that despite the uphill climb to get this testing regimen changed, we are making progress in keeping this controversy before the public.
Link: CSAP Still Has Its Detractors | Berny Morson/Rocky Mountain News
Hannah Chandler will not be among nearly 472,000 students taking statewide achievement tests during the next four weeks.
The 11-year-old sixth-grader at Thomson Elementary School in Arvada instead will be visiting a museum with her dad, Dave.
Spending the day at an educational institution is Dave Chandler's way of making the argument that the tests are devouring school time that should be devoted to lessons.
"This has become like a monster," Chandler said of the tests. "It's bigger and bigger every year."
Nine years after the first tests were administered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program, the exams still draw fierce opposition among some parents and teachers. ...
... former teacher Angela Engel, of Centennial, said education is being changed to accommodate CSAP. For example, students are receiving more assignments in a multiple-choice format to prepare them for the tests, Engle said.
"I think that it changes the culture in our schools. I'm most concerned about that," Engel said.
Engel's oldest daughter, Grace, 8, is in second grade, too young for CSAP. Engel said she will keep Grace out of the tests next year.
Engel, who lives in the Littleton school district, taught in Douglas County and at a Denver alternative school.
She frequently speaks at forums critical of the CSAP test, including a meeting organized by Chandler, the Arvada dad. That meeting, sponsored by the Green Party of Jefferson County, drew about a dozen people. ...
... Opponents agree they face an uphill battle to eliminate CSAP, which has become an entrenched part of the school system.
Test scores are one factor in state accreditation of schools. The scores are also the official measure of whether Colorado is meeting national goals established under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Chandler said he's not sold on No Child Left Behind, either.
"I suspect I would be in favor of scrapping that and going back to zero," said Chandler, a stay-at-home dad who is running for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the 7th District.
Also in today's Rocky Mountain News, by Berny Morson, a report on how this flawed test has serious negative impacts: Cities Fear Low Test Scores Will Cost Them Residents
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