Update: The policy recommendations passed.

The times, they are a changing in education. Some of this is not good. We have new standards and curriculum that have numerous problems. We’ll either agree or disagree, as to whether this just poor implementation, or inherent in the standards. But there is some good change. People starting to ask some hard questions about our so-called system of accountability. Changes in congress offer both sweet (less testing!) and sour (more “choice”). This questioning of testing and using testing for so many crucial decisions is now coming into question in the state as well. The new testing scheme under Common Core (SBAC in California) means that the old state system of rating schools, API (Academic Performance Index) needs a rewrite.

CTA will be looking at new policy on this at the state council meeting I’m currently attending. I’m part of the committee that will be proposing changes to CTA policy. This is important because policy is required to affect action on the part of the organization. When CTA takes action we offer a strong professional voice on issues of education. When California takes action, it can set trends. Keep in mind that California is where a moratorium on testing as we transition to CCSS assessments started. We also got an NCLB waiver without agreeing to use student test scores for teacher evaluation.

Will this be the final step in getting to a more sane education policy? No. Just as getting rid of annualized testing (currently under proposal in the U.S. House) will not be the end of the fight for most of us on the issue on standardized testing.

What we need and why we need it:

• We need to “stop weighing the pig”
• We’re the only country doing this
• It’s not telling us useful information
• We need to respect states and school districts
• We need to respect teachers as we’re professionals and can assess our students