The father of a high school student enrolled in Chicago Public Schools wrote an excuse letter for his daughter to her school explaining that she was absent from school due to being ill. However, he went on to express that he thought that the standardized tests that the schools made their students take were not beneficial for their education, and were instead only helping the private corporations who created these tests and the standards used for them.
The article goes on to say that the parent’s excuse letter has expressed a growing concern among parents of school age children. It points out that, while students are only required to take one standardized test per year from grades three through eight, many schools and counties add on their own tests. A lot of these are related to the Common Core standards. Companies that create these standards make contracts with state and county education boards, which allow them to make a large profit off of these schools taking more tests. The article states that an estimated 25 hours per year is spent taking standardized tests from Kindergarten through grade 12. Many parents are outraged with the amount of time that schools spend taking these standardized tests. These often result in teachers spending all of their time making sure that students know the information to pass the tests, and not teaching anything but what is on them.
Source:
Jen Gidman, “Dad’s Cheeky Absence Note Takes on Standardized Testing,” Newser, February 12, 2016, http://www.newser.com/story/220496/dads-cheeky-absence-note-takes-on-standardized-testing.html
Student Researcher: Olivia Jacobi, Indian River State College
Faculty Evaluator: Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D., Indian River State College