Stop the use of teacher data reports and the abuse of standardized testing!
We the undersigned UFT members:
Are opposed to the existence of the teacher data reports which rate teachers based on their student’s progress on standardized tests. These reports:
Promote competition among teachers, discourage the use of creative or relevant pedagogy, force teachers to ignore diverse learning styles and promote test prep.
Are opposed to the use of merit pay which promotes testing, diverts much needed funds from schools ($20 million this year, with only a fraction of schools
participating) and scapegoats teachers for government’s failure to address the socio/economic inequities faced by students and their communities.
Are opposed to any use of standardized tests for students in K-2 classrooms:
Standardized tests have a long and notorious history of misrepresenting the intellectual capabilities of young children based on race, class and immigrant status.
Oppose the use of standardized tests to close schools, which mostly occurs in schools with high percentages of low-income students and students of color:
This is used to bully principals and teachers into narrowing the curriculum to test prep only; there is no evidence that closing schools improves education, but it does demoralize
staff and communities; it is used to force the re-organization of schools which pushes more experienced, higher paid teachers out of the system.
We call on our union to:
retract their support for the teacher data reports and merit pay programs
to oppose all initiatives that promote a focus on standardized tests
support alternative assessments like portfolios and other performance based assessments
We are one hundred thousand working educators strong in the UFT.
Join a grassroots movement within our union to promote the best interests of our
school communities.
Sponsored by Justice-Not-Just-Tests
Planbook Survey
We've received over 70 responses to the Planning to Change the World online survey. Thank
you to everyone who submitted a survey; your comments and suggestions will help improve next year's
planbook.
Planning to Change the World was created by the New York Collective of
Radical Educators and the Education for Liberation Network.
Inquiry to Action Groups
(ItAGs 2009)
The New York Collective
of Radical Educators is pleased to offer an opportunity for teachers to
build community and develop as activists. Educators will participate in
Inquiry to Action Groups linking social justice issues with classroom
practice. Small groups will meet weekly (for a total of six, two-hour
sessions plus a kick-off and finale) between January and March to share
experiences, respond to readings, exchange ideas and develop plans of
action.
Registration
is now closed.
Offered
ItAGs:
(click for description)
New
York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE) is a group of public
school educators committed to fighting for social justice in our school
system and society at large, by organizing and mobilizing teachers,
developing curriculum, and working with community, parent, and student
organizations. We are educators who believe that education is an
integral part of social change and that we must work both inside and
outside the classroom because the struggle for justice does not end
when the school bell rings.
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