Momma Bears is proud to be a part of a coalition of education advocacy groups who are calling for a change in standardized testing. We believe it is wrong how tests are used as weapons to harm students, teachers, and schools. Momma Bears are opposed to scarce tax dollars being wasted on tests when class sizes are too large, there is not enough support staff in schools, and important things like music, art, sports, and recess have been cut or eliminated due to the increasing cost and time of testing.
Here is the press release about the awesome statement these groups are making:
Here is the press release about the awesome statement these groups are making:
PRESS RELEASE:
PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCACY GROUPS
ACROSS TENNESSEE ISSUE CALL FOR TESTING TRANSPARENCY
TCAP questions spark call for accountability
PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCACY GROUPS
ACROSS TENNESSEE ISSUE CALL FOR TESTING TRANSPARENCY
TCAP questions spark call for accountability
(Nashville, TN) – More than a dozen grassroots organizations that support strong public schools across Tennessee are joining together to demand accountability from the Tennessee Department of Education in the wake of confusion created by the latest release of “quick scores” and associated raw “cut scores” from recent TCAP tests.
“The correlation between the quick scores and the raw cut scores is not well understood,” said Lyn Hoyt, President of Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence (TREE). “The Department of Education has not communicated well with school systems or the general public. What do these scores mean? How do they determine cut scores? What’s the math involved in pre-equating and post-equating? These are among the questions we believe the DOE should have already answered. We’re calling on Commissioner McQueen to provide clear, direct answers immediately.”
The groups are jointly distributing a petition outlining some basic principles regarding testing going forward. The petition includes the following four principles that all groups believe should guide Tennessee testing policy going forward:
1. The process for determining cut scores should be clear and cut scores should be set and released before tests are administered.
2. Tests must be transparent. Questions and answers should be available within a reasonable time after test administration.
3. Standardized test scores should not be counted as a portion of a student’s final grade.
4. Standardized test scores should not be used in teacher evaluation.
We believe these principles are fair and represent what parents want: Fair tests used to assess student learning relative to standards. By adopting these principles and the policies they would necessitate, we can return testing to its rightful place as one of many tools used to improve education, instead of the ultimate measure of student and teacher performance.
It’s imperative that we move toward testing transparency – access to the questions and answers on the standardized tests – in order to ensure the tests are reliable and valid assessments of the standards being tested.
We’re calling on the Department of Education to take immediate action to address these concerns.
Groups participating in this network include:
TREE (Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence)
Strong Schools (Sumner County)
Williamson Strong (Williamson County)
SPEAK (Students, Parents, Educators Across Knox County)
SOCM (Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment)
Momma Bears
Gideon's Army, Grassroots Army for Children (Nashville)
Advocates for Change in Education (Hamilton County)
Concerned Parents of Franklin County (Franklin County)
The Dyslexia Spot
Parents of Wilson County, TN, Schools
Friends of Oak Ridge Schools (City of Oak Ridge Schools)
TNBATs (State branch of National BATs)
East Nashville United
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Momma Bears defend and support children and public schools. Momma Bears believe that quality public education is a right for every child. We strive to protect our children, our public schools, and the teachers who nurture, inspire, and protect our children. www.mommabears.org
“The correlation between the quick scores and the raw cut scores is not well understood,” said Lyn Hoyt, President of Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence (TREE). “The Department of Education has not communicated well with school systems or the general public. What do these scores mean? How do they determine cut scores? What’s the math involved in pre-equating and post-equating? These are among the questions we believe the DOE should have already answered. We’re calling on Commissioner McQueen to provide clear, direct answers immediately.”
The groups are jointly distributing a petition outlining some basic principles regarding testing going forward. The petition includes the following four principles that all groups believe should guide Tennessee testing policy going forward:
1. The process for determining cut scores should be clear and cut scores should be set and released before tests are administered.
2. Tests must be transparent. Questions and answers should be available within a reasonable time after test administration.
3. Standardized test scores should not be counted as a portion of a student’s final grade.
4. Standardized test scores should not be used in teacher evaluation.
We believe these principles are fair and represent what parents want: Fair tests used to assess student learning relative to standards. By adopting these principles and the policies they would necessitate, we can return testing to its rightful place as one of many tools used to improve education, instead of the ultimate measure of student and teacher performance.
It’s imperative that we move toward testing transparency – access to the questions and answers on the standardized tests – in order to ensure the tests are reliable and valid assessments of the standards being tested.
We’re calling on the Department of Education to take immediate action to address these concerns.
Groups participating in this network include:
TREE (Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence)
Strong Schools (Sumner County)
Williamson Strong (Williamson County)
SPEAK (Students, Parents, Educators Across Knox County)
SOCM (Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment)
Momma Bears
Gideon's Army, Grassroots Army for Children (Nashville)
Advocates for Change in Education (Hamilton County)
Concerned Parents of Franklin County (Franklin County)
The Dyslexia Spot
Parents of Wilson County, TN, Schools
Friends of Oak Ridge Schools (City of Oak Ridge Schools)
TNBATs (State branch of National BATs)
East Nashville United
###
Momma Bears defend and support children and public schools. Momma Bears believe that quality public education is a right for every child. We strive to protect our children, our public schools, and the teachers who nurture, inspire, and protect our children. www.mommabears.org
TAKE ACTION:
Momma Bears urge you to sign and share this online petition: It is super-easy and only takes a few seconds to sign.
https://www.change.org/p/bill-haslam-candice-mcqueen-tn-department-of-education-institute-fair-testing-policies-for-statewide-testing
Then contact the following leaders and let them know you want testing transparency:
Momma Bears urge you to sign and share this online petition: It is super-easy and only takes a few seconds to sign.
https://www.change.org/p/bill-haslam-candice-mcqueen-tn-department-of-education-institute-fair-testing-policies-for-statewide-testing
Then contact the following leaders and let them know you want testing transparency:
- Commissioner McQueen - Commissioner.McQueen@tn.gov
- Governor Haslam - bill.haslam@tn.gov
