Primary tabs
State tests can assist student success
Over several weeks in April, students across Monroe County and New York state will sit down for their annual state assessments in math and reading. While they have become controversial in recent years, state tests represent a critical, yet often underutilized educational tool with major implications for equity, parent engagement and student success.
Lost in the furor around the testing opt-out movement is that state assessments play a role in ensuring that all children, particularly poor, minority, and special education students, are counted equally and treated fairly by states, districts and schools. While state tests are not perfect, the results provide a critical source of objective data that can be used to identify disparities and target resources to those most in need. Indeed, this is why nearly every civil rights organization in the nation supports annual assessments as a key strategy in the fight for educational equity.
In our work with Rochester area parents, we’ve found that parents from lower performing schools often place more value on their child’s state test score than school report cards and teacher feedback, due to concerns about school quality. All parents can use state test results as a second opinion or check-up on their child’s school performance by looking for discrepancies between report cards and assessment scores and using that information to better understand their child’s progress and needs.
Click Here to read the full story.
