One Step Back For Common Core
One wades into the maelstrom swirling around the Common Core tests with extreme trepidation. The battle lines are sharply drawn, with parents and teachers who favor the opt-out position quick to vilify those who may not quite agree, and vice versa. A year ago, the war drums against the tests barely registered on the South Fork; now New York State leads the country in the depth of the refuse-the-tests movement and in some school districts here more than a quarter of students are sitting out the English language arts and math tests. As school administrators and parents look ahead, much thought will have to be given about how to proceed.
The position against allowing one’s children to take the tests appears to come from two converging directions. Some parents are understandably concerned about the amount of teaching time and homework dedicated to the exams. Teachers cite similar issues, but they also object to a bid by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to tie their performance evaluations to their students’ scores. State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. has been among the critics, calling the implementation of Common Core a disaster and saying the New York Board of Regents and the commissioner of education should be held accountable.
Those favoring the tests say higher educational standards are needed, that schools should work on how the tests are implemented rather than throw out the baby with the bathwater. While the teacher-evaluation component may be an unfair shortcut favored by bureaucrats, they argue that for the most part the tests, as tough as they are, are worthwhile, objective measures of student learning. They say the skills required to do well on the tests are precisely those that will guide young people throughout their academic years. Furthermore, they say the precedent set by allowing students and their parents to pick and choose among requirements could lead to chaos. In their view, teachers and their allies have enflamed parents’ anxieties.
We were intrigued by the approach of an Amagansett School District administrator who tried to defuse some of the heat by introducing the tests as just part of an otherwise ordinary week. This de-emphasizing seems a good way to go, and it may already have paid off: Only a small fraction of the district’s kids refused to take the English assessment this time around.
A bill backed by Mr. Thiele and now on Governor Cuomo’s desk would decouple the Common Core tests from teacher evaluations. This alone could encourage teachers to reconsider why and how the tests are given and help get schools back in the business of education.