Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism
CT VIEWPOINTS -- opinions from around Connecticut

Mandated teaching is not improving student performance

  • CT Viewpoints
  • by Tiffany Moyer-Washington
  • March 6, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

This year, I have to subject my eighth-grade students to 6,600 minutes of district-mandated testing. That’s 110 hours. That’s the equivalent of 15 entire seven-hour school days. Eighth grade students in Hartford Public Schools are required to take 25 mandated district and state-wide assessments between late August and early June.  Thirteen percent of the entire school year is dedicated to administering these “high stakes tests.”

One could argue that all of this testing leads to data that could drive instruction, that could inform teaching, that could allow for innovative and creative responses to student needs. However, over-testing students waters down the tests’ effectiveness, usefulness, and integrity.

But what are the actual results? Are truancy or disengagement rates down? Are Hartford students getting accepted to colleges at higher rates? Are these tests correlative to students’ success after high school? No. Absolutely not.

However some results are clear.  Students are, in large numbers, experiencing test fatigue, anxiety, disengagement, detachment, and apathy towards school. Could it be that by constantly testing students we are actually preventing them from crucial life skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, and experiential learning?

Within the first eight days of school this year, I was asked to give three different district-mandated assessments. Historically, the first eight days of school have been used to learn students’ names, introduce them to classroom expectations and routines, and establish a rapport that should foster learning, security, and engagement. In what ways does immediately assessing students damage a teacher’s ability to create a safe and supportive learning environment for our students?

Yet, teachers are rarely included in the decision process when it comes to education and even less likely to be included in conversations about assessments. Although Hartford allowed teachers to participate in the creation of some of the district- mandated results, they were not consulted in the frequency nor timing of any of the assessments. As a professional, I feel that it undervalues my expertise to be excluded from these decisions. I cannot imagine how disempowering it must feel for the students, the victims of a systems that commits so much time to testing over learning.

Tiffany Moyer-Washington is a Hartford Public School teacher.

CTViewpoints welcomes rebuttal or opposing views to this and all its commentaries. Read our guidelines and submit your commentary here.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Equity for women and girls essential to rebuild Connecticut’s economy
by Jennifer Steadman and Michelle Riordan-Nold

As Connecticut’s economy seeks to recover and rebuild, our success as a state will depend on how we respond to the disproportionate adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women and girls, particularly women and girls of color.

Connecticut immigrants deserve health insurance
by Brooke Lifland, MD; Tanner Bommersbach, MD; Marco Ramos, MD PhD; and Eden Almasude, MD

Connecticut should pass House Bill 6334 to expand health insurance to all immigrants regardless of status. Our state wisely chose to protect the immigrant community by using Emergency Medicaid funds to cover expenses associated with COVID-19 testing and treatment for residents who were excluded from Medicaid based on their immigration status.

Truth or consequences: The impact of lie-based politics
by Charles M. Ericson and Sedona Ericson

A radio show by the above name, emceed by a man named Ralph Edwards, became a big hit starting in 1940. It eventually became a TV show, and all told, it lasted for decades. The format of the show was to be asked a question, and if it was not answered truthfully, the contestant submitted to undertaking a silly stunt of almost any kind. The show seemed reflective of a culture that valued untruth for perceived rewards, however trivial.

Recreational marijuana and sports gambling will be all around us
by Steven Block

It is likely that every other state in the Northeast will regulate both marijuana and sports gambling within a few years. The passage of these important bills in 2021 will allow Connecticut to become a competitive force in the region rather than an island of legislative stagnation.

The path to sports betting in Connecticut hinges on cooperation
by Richard McGuire

The release of Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget provided a signal of hope to Connecticut’s gaming operators and to Connecticut’s sports betting fans with the inclusion of new forms of gaming, including sports betting, in the near future.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Equity for women and girls essential to rebuild Connecticut’s economy
by Jennifer Steadman and Michelle Riordan-Nold

As Connecticut’s economy seeks to recover and rebuild, our success as a state will depend on how we respond to the disproportionate adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women and girls, particularly women and girls of color.

Opinion Connecticut immigrants deserve health insurance
by Brooke Lifland, MD; Tanner Bommersbach, MD; Marco Ramos, MD PhD; and Eden Almasude, MD

Connecticut should pass House Bill 6334 to expand health insurance to all immigrants regardless of status. Our state wisely chose to protect the immigrant community by using Emergency Medicaid funds to cover expenses associated with COVID-19 testing and treatment for residents who were excluded from Medicaid based on their immigration status.

Opinion Truth or consequences: The impact of lie-based politics
by Charles M. Ericson and Sedona Ericson

A radio show by the above name, emceed by a man named Ralph Edwards, became a big hit starting in 1940. It eventually became a TV show, and all told, it lasted for decades. The format of the show was to be asked a question, and if it was not answered truthfully, the contestant submitted to undertaking a silly stunt of almost any kind. The show seemed reflective of a culture that valued untruth for perceived rewards, however trivial.

Opinion Recreational marijuana and sports gambling will be all around us
by Steven Block

It is likely that every other state in the Northeast will regulate both marijuana and sports gambling within a few years. The passage of these important bills in 2021 will allow Connecticut to become a competitive force in the region rather than an island of legislative stagnation.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO