We Can't Let Our Children Become 'Bubble Kids'
The following remarks were presented to the Chicago Board of Education regarding the proposed probation policy based on standardized testing that was on the Board's agenda.
June 24, 2009. Teacher Wade Tillett, joined by friends from CORE, delivers his warning against continuing to create Chicago's "bubble kids" during the public presentation portion of the Chicago Board of Education meeting.My name is Wade Tillett. I am a Chicago Public School teacher and parent. I am here because I am concerned about my children and my students becoming “bubble kids.” Standardized tests do not show us the whole child. They tell us nothing about whether a student is healthy, artistic, creative, caring or able to live a meaningful life. And yet, CPS uses standardized test to override teachers, students, parents, the community to fail students. This is in violation of the instructions sent along with the standardized test sent by the state to not make decisions about students based on a single test (1).
Regardless, every year, CPS uses this test to tell more that 1 in 4 students in 3rd, 6th and 8th grade that they are failures, and send them to summer school (2), At the end of summer school, CPS retains approximately 10,000 students every year to the tune of approximately $100,000,000 (5). Money that could have been spent to help these students. A student's chances of being retained if they are African-American is 5 times that if they are white (3). And students who are retained are about 30% more likely to drop out (4).
Further, CPS uses standardized test to override teachers, students, parents and the community to fail entire schools. The policy the board is voting on today will further “raise the bar” (6), which means they will put more schools on “probation” - as if they are criminals (7). This sets the stage for further school closings and privatization. If CPS really believes that this policy is a fair measure of a school, why doesn't it apply to charter schools (8)?
Above. One of the Power Point slides presented to the Board of Education of the City of Chicago to try and explain the Board's new "probation policy" metrics. As the reader can see, the majority of the data utilized to hold Chicago schools "accountable" comes from scores on the ISAT test, which corresponds more to the level of segregation and poverty in a school and community than to the effectiveness of teachers and teaching. The new policy was approved by a unanimous vote of the members of the Board of Education on June 24, 2009. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.It's time for bubble tests to be over. Instead, learning should bubble over with life.
I encourage anyone who agreesto sign the petition at bubbleover.net. CPS teachers, please also contact CORE. And to the other parents here, if your child is forced to go to summer school, please contact Parents United for Responsible Education.
1. 2009 ISBE ISAT Professional Testing Practices for Educators booklet, p. 13 http://www.isbe.state.il.us/assessment/pdfs/2009/Prof_Testing_Prac.pdf
2. CPS policy sends any student below the 24th percentile to summer school. http://policy.cps.k12.il.us/documents/605.2.pdf
3. http://pureparents.org/data/files/retentionreport09.pdf
4. http://www.fairtest.org/chicago-research-criticizes-retention-test-driven-improvement
5. $10,000 per student per year times approximately 10,000 students retained
6. Monique Bond, CPS spokeswoman.
http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Chicago_news/New_performance_policy_would_raise_bar_for_CPS_schools,29028
7. A CPS representative explaining the proposed policy stated that approximately 40% of CPS elementary schools and 60% of high schools are now on “probation” or level 3.
8. Proposed school performance, remediation and probation policy for the 2009-2010 school year. http://bubbleover. net/wp-content/ uploads/2009/06/schoolclose.pdf
