Get Ready For Standardized Tests In Every Subject, K-12

All to evaluate teachers, of course:

New York City students have grown accustomed to the restless routine of state tests in math and reading every year. But soon they will face assessments in subjects typically spared from standardized testing, including art, gym and foreign languages. 

A new system for evaluating educators, announced by the state on Saturday, will reshape how teachers are hired and fired in the city. It will also have a profound effect on students, who will take part in a series of new exams designed to help administrators grade teachers in specialized subjects.

Under the new evaluation system, which was imposed by the state after months of feuding between the city and the teachers’ union, teachers will be graded next school year on a variety of measures. Student test scores will make up 20 percent of their rating, while classroom observations will account for 60 percent. Principals and teachers will work together to decide how to evaluate the remaining 20 percent. 

But many educators teach subjects for which there are no widely used tests. In response, the city is developing assessments in a range of subjects, including English as a second language, special education and music. City officials are also working on assessments for kindergarten, first grade and second grade, where exams are less common. 

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The city said that it would begin offering training on Thursday to allay concerns among teachers, and that workshops would be held throughout the summer. 

Some principals are also uneasy about the new guidelines. Their role in schools is expected to change significantly as they begin observing teachers more frequently — as much as six times a year.

Ernest Logan, president of the union that represents principals, said he hoped the city would offer adequate training. “The burden falls on principals to implement something we really had no input in,” he said.

I am of the opinion that the designers of this system know it will not improve teaching and learning, just add a tremendous amount of burn and churn to teachers and administrators and move "talent" in out and out of the system at a much quicker rate.

If this was such a great evaluation system, you would think Andrew Cuomo and John King would impose it on their kids' private school teachers too or send their kids to public school where they can enjoy the wonders of All Year Round Testing.

But they didn't and they don't.

Their kids enjoy small class sizes, no standardized tests, and teachers not busy collecting "artifacts" and checking their VAM while playing CYA.