Happy Spring Break!
As I have traveled across the state, I have heard from many of you about your frustrations about the amount of standardized testing occurring in our classrooms. Teachers have shared that art, music, Hawaiian language and even field trips have been cut to prepare students for tests. Many of you explain that too much class time is spent on testing, and that many of the tests are not improving learning. You explain that the data from these tests don’t give you information that you, as teachers, don’t already know about your own students through your own assessment of their daily work. We now have a chance to do something about the over testing of our keiki at the Legislature. On Wednesday, March 21 at 3:10 p.m., the Senate Education Committee at the State Capitol (room 229) will be hearing a bill to limit standardized testing (HB 2117 HD1). Click on this link for more information on the bill.
This bill will limit the number of standardized tests students take in a school year, by requiring principals to apply for a waiver from the Board of Education to require any standardized tests beyond what the federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires. Upon application to the board, a school may be granted waivers from the standardized testing limitations in this section. This bill will also require the BOE to conduct a statewide survey of school administrators and teachers to determine the time spent on preparing for standardized tests and the impact of preparation time on the quality of instruction.
Legislators need to hear your stories about the impact of testing. If you would be willing to go to the Capitol and share your experience, please email mhiga@hsta.org a.s.a.p., or just show up to give support. Either way, please wear a red HSTA shirt if you come in person. Please submit testimony using the instructions below, whether you intend to be at the Capitol or not, we could really use your testimony. Help our legislators understand that over-testing is taking away valuable time that teachers can use for actual instruction.
Directions for submitting testimony to the Senate Education Committee for the hearing on March 21, 2018
1. Email your testimony directly to the Senate Education CommitteeEDUtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov
2. In the heading, please write: TESTIMONY in support of HB2117 HD1
3. Use the body below. (copy and paste, or revise to fit your needs)
4. [Optional], add to your testimony using your own experiences, while not violating any student's privacy by disclosing their names and other information.
Chair Kidani and Committee Members,
My name is __________. I am a teacher at an elementary/middle/high school on the island of ____________ in ____________ district. As a teacher of ______ years in Hawai'i, I am writing testimony in support of HB2117 HD1.
Life is not a standardized test. We, as teachers, want to provide authentic learning experiences to all of our students. Ever since No Child Left Behind, a testing madness has taken over our schools, along with the tedious data collection and over-reporting tasks required of teachers that go with it. NCLB did not work. Testing and preparing for testing has pushed out actual instructional time out of our classrooms that is needed. Some people say that as teachers we have a choice as whether to teach to the test, but the majority of our schools have requirements regarding which standardized assessments and universal screeners we must give our students. We are also told how often to give tests, and what we must do with the data, along with the test prep we need to give our students. It is out of control.
We need to engage our students in learning, not continually prepare them for tests. Please help us stop this over-testing nightmare and let us get back to teaching. Please support SB2117 HD1.
Thank you,
YOUR NAME
Enjoy your spring break.
Thanks for your time,
Corey Rosenlee
HSTA President
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