Delran Education Association

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A Letter to NJ Legislators from the DEA

Dear Senator Allen and Assemblymen Conaway and Singleton:

The results of the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests are in, and once again, they show what most of us have known for decades: that New Jersey’s students are among the top in the nation.[1]

The NAEP scores also show something else we’ve known for decades: that students’ standardized test scores largely correlate with their socioeconomic status.[2] New Jersey and Connecticut, another top-performing state, are among the wealthiest in the nation, and we can interpret as much from their results.

But within even the wealthiest states in the nation, and certainly here in New Jersey, there exist concentrated areas of poverty where students produce test scores that are lower than those of their wealthier counterparts. Governor Christie labeled schools in these urban areas as “failure factories,”[3] primarily because he believes that students’ “success” or “failure” is determined solely by scores on standardized tests.

We, as educators, know differently: the children in the State of New Jersey are not failures, and they should not be treated as such.

[Read more…]

Links to “Standardized” Hand Outs

Follow the links below to get the most recent “STANDARDIZED” handouts. New ones were added for the May 4 show. If you attended April 30, I urge you to take a look at these additional resources.

Standardized-1 (Cover page with contact info only)

Standardized-2 (Letter from Bloomfield BOE)

Standardized-3 (Critical websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds)

Standardized-4 (State legislator information, current pending legislation)

Standardized-5 (The “Montclair Letter”, a sample “refuse” letter, how much testing is costing…)

Standardized-Postcard (Sample postcard that could be sent to legislators in support of A2901, or any other legislation from packet #4)

Opt Out Delran

Thanks to one brave parent, the OPT OUT NJ movement has arrived in Delran. Here is my letter to the Superintendent of Schools on the parent’s behalf.

Dr. Camp:

As a leader in the Delran educational community, you know that I spend much of my time communicating with parents about school programs and about their children’s educational needs. As such, Parent X, who also happens to be a friend and fellow union member, reached out to me today, concerned about the response that she received from you regarding her decision to opt her child out of NJASK testing. I must admit that I was discouraged to learn of your response. While I don’t disagree that “all districts in NJ are mandated by applicable state statutes…to administer statewide test(s)…”, that does not give districts the ability to compel children to take the test(s).

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Standardized – What Should I Know?

So, what can you do?  Well, there are four things that I’m going to ask you to do tonight…

First,  CONFRONT THE LIES.

  • These tests are not being used to assess our students’ college and career readiness.  Esteemed NY public school principal Carol Burris said this:  “There is no objective science by which we can predict future college readiness using grades 3-8 test scores.  To make college readiness predictions for 8-year olds is absurd.”
  • Confront the lies:  These tests aren’t needed to place students in honors or remedial classes.  Don’t you believe that the teachers who work with your children every day, and the principal who oversees the instructional program in the building, knows better than some corporate manufactured test the educational needs of your young child?
  • How do you confront the lies?  Follow the FB and Twitter feeds that we gave you.  Ask your BOE how many tests your children are taking, ask why they are taking them, and ask which for-profit corporations are they sharing data with.  (inBloom, NJ Smart, Realtime) Help to educate your BOEs about the lies associated with standardized testing.

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Introductory Remarks to “Standardized”

Thank you so much for coming tonight. My name is Michael Kaminski, and I am the president of the Delran Education Association, the organization that sponsored tonight’s showing of Standardized: Lies, Money, and Civil Rights: How Testing is Ruining Public Education. I am so thrilled that you were able to brave the weather and skip the Flyers game to help us fill the theater tonight – that speaks volumes about the level of concern – or at least curiosity – that people from all walks of life seem to have about the increasing number of high-stakes tests that are being forced upon children, teachers, administrators, and boards of education all across the country, and of course, right here in New Jersey.

[Read more…]

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