New York — As part of City & State’s On Education forum on August 17, 2016, the Center for American Progress will join a discussion with New York education leaders on the need for high academic standards and for better, fairer, and fewer tests. At Fordham University’s Pope Auditorium, panelists will discuss how to continue to improve New York’s standards and tests so that all stakeholders agree that they are useful tools for teachers, parents, and students.
This discussion builds on the Testing Bill of Rights—launched by CAP in March 2016 at TestBetter.org—which is an effort from educators, civil rights organizations, and education groups to articulate a middle ground on assessments so that tests are used in support of instruction—not the other way around. This effort aims to help move toward better, fairer, and fewer tests and to make testing more useful and less burdensome for parents, students, and educators. The new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, preserves annual tests in order to identify and target resources to the most at-risk communities and students. At the same time, states and school districts now have the opportunity to revisit their approaches to testing, as many teachers, parents, and students have felt real frustration with tests in recent years.
CAP launched the Testing Bill of Rights in partnership with National Parent Teacher Association; the New York Urban League; the National Association of Secondary School Principals; Higher Achievement New York; Educators 4 Excellence; and America Achieves. As of August 10, 2016, more than 11,500 people have signed the Testing Bill of Rights.
WHO:
Panelists:
Scott Sargrad, Managing Director of K-12 Education Policy, Center for American Progress
MaryEllen Elia, Commissioner, New York State Education Department
Betty Rosa, Chancellor, New York State Board of Regents
Victor Valentine, Senior Director of Programs and Evaluations, New York Urban League
Suraj Gopal, STEM Special Education Teacher, Hudson High School of Learning Technologies
WHEN:
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
“Standards and Testing: What Works, What Doesn’t” panel at 9:20 a.m. ET
On Education forum at 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET
WHERE:
Fordham University
Pope Auditorium
113 West 60th Street
New York, NY 10023
More information on City & State’s forum can be found here. Members of the media should RSVP to Jenny Wu at [email protected].
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.
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