June 8, 2016
Dear 4th grade parents,
Your child is slated to be tested again in Math this Friday, June 10th at the Children’s School. This time it is a field test for sites randomly selected, in which Questar Corporation will use our children to try out new questions for future state testing materials.
Almost 100% of our students opted out last year. Parents have the right to opt their children out of this field test with no consequences (according to the DOE’s Brooklyn Borough Assessment Implementation Director, and other DOE accountability sources). If you haven’t already, send your opt out letter (click here to download) to Ms. Rosa today!
Reasons NOT to take the field test:
- This field test is optional and is not scored and does not count on students’ records, teachers’ evaluations, or on the School Report Card Grade.
- Taking these field tests will mean more time spent taking tests and less time spent on learning. Our students have already had 6 days of testing with an estimated 70 – 90 minutes per day for students without an IEP.
- There were already field test questions included in the April State tests.
- Normally when studies are conducted, reputable researchers spell out their aims, invite participation, and pay subjects. This has not been the case with field tests by profit-making publishers like Pearson and now Questar. Neither the DOE nor Questar asked the school for permission to administer these tests. Our children are providing free labor for product-testing, while us parents and our school are kept in the dark. (Changethestakes.org)
- Field tests provide unreliable data. Children aren’t motivated to do well on “trial” tests. The misleading information perpetuates the development of faulty exams. (Changethestakes.org)
Sincerely,
PS 372 Parent Advocacy Committee