This just in:
On Thursday, May 1, 2014, we, the teachers and school staff, at the International High School at Prospect Heights are refusing to give the NYC English Language Arts Performance Assessment Exam. We are standing in solidarity with the more than 50% of our parents who have opted their students out of taking the test.
Please support the teachers and staff members who have joined together to abstain from administering a test we we believe is harmful to English Language Learners(ELLS). We are not willing to sacrifice the trust of our students, their feelings of self worth, and our professional duty to do what is best for them. In good conscience, as educators dedicated to the learning of our students and the welfare of our school communities, we are not administering this test. We ask that Chancellor Carmen Fariña remove the New York ELA Performance Exam in favor of an assessment created by educators who best know the individual needs of their students and classrooms.
Please read our letter and sign in support!
CONTACT:
Emily Giles, e.giles@ihsph.org, (917) 575-2936
Emily Wendlake, emilywendlake@gmail.com, (413) 657-7255
Rosie Frascella, r.frascella@ihsph.org, (917) 767-1001
Anita Feingold-Shaw, afeingoldshaw@gmail.com, (510) 872-1712
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**Media Advisory**
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26 Teachers and Staff of International High School at Prospect Heights refuse to give NYC ELA Performance Assessment Test
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WHEN: Thursday, May 1, 2014, 7:45-8:20am,
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WHERE: International High School at Prospect Heights, 883 Classon Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225
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WHAT: Teachers will hold a press conference to announce their refusal to administer the NYC ELA Performance Assessment. 26 teachers and staff at Prospect Heights International High School are refusing to administer a new assessment that is part of the new teacher evaluation system pushed by Bloomberg’s DOE and the UFT last spring. 50% of parents have opted their children out of the test. The high school serves almost exclusively recently arrived English Language Learners.
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WHY: The test was constructed and formatted without any thought for the 14% of New York City students for whom English is not their first language. The level of English used in the pre-test administered in the Fall was so far above the level of our beginner ELLs that it provided little to no information about our students’ language proficiency or the level of their academic skills.
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Furthermore, the test was a traumatic and demoralizing experience for students. Many students, after asking for help that teachers were not allowed to give, simply put their heads down for the duration. Some students even cried.
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Teachers at Prospect Heights are drawing a line with this test. Standardized, high stakes test dominate our schools, distort our curriculum and make our students feel like failures. This test serves no purpose for the students, and ultimately only hurts them.
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26 Teachers have signed a letter to Chancellor Farina declaring that they will not give the exam. The letter expresses gratitude for Farina’s immediate turn around of the DOE’s attitude toward teachers, and asks that the Chancellor reconsider the use of the NYC ELA Performance Assessment with English Language Learners.
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WHO: Teachers and support staff from the International High School at Prospect Heights.
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RSVP: This event is open to press and coverage is welcome.
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The International High School at Prospect Heights is a public high school located in Brooklyn, NY.
Fred Klonsky 