Scrap the Map Event at UW

From Scrap the Map:

Standardized testing discussion at University of Washington Physics & Astronomy Bldg Room A102 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. this Thursday, the 28th.

Seattle teachers at Garfield HS, Ballard HS, Chief Sealth HS, the Center School and Orca K-8 voted to stop administering the widely used and highly unfair standardized Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test. The are now facing the threat of "consequences" for refusing the give the test. Students and parents are joining the struggle in defense of their teachers and their right to a quality education. The outcome of this grassroots movement will have an enormous impact on the future of resistance to high stakes testing around the country!

Featuring:
Diane Ravitch
Educational policy analyst, NYU professor*, former US Assistant Secretary of State

Wayne Au
UW-Bothell Assistant Professor, Member of Rethinking Schools editorial board

Jesse Hagopian
Garfield HS teacher, founding member of Social Equality Educators

Dora Taylor
Founding member of Parents Across America-Seattle, editor of Seattle Education blog

George Lovell
Harry Bridges Endowed Chair in Labor Studies*

Check out scrapthemap.wordpress.com for news and resources!

Sponsored by:
Scrap the MAP! organizing committee

Co-sponsored by:
Social Equality Educators
Parents Across America-Seattle

*Listed for identification only

Comments

Anonymous said…
I had an email from SEA today about this event ... Jonathan Knapp & Mary Lindquist are going to jump to the front of the parade and declare themselves "leaders" !!

WowThanks!
2/27/13, 5:59 PM
Anonymous said…
When will this die? It is long over and no one really cares it is all symbolic. What it really shows is the desperation by some teachers who have interesting histories with the district to somehow make a name for themselves to actually bypass what they should be doing - teaching. This was mishandled from the get go and should never have involved students. And was done so very late in the game. What a farce and joke but keep trumping this as some type of importance. Everyone has moved on and this was from a school with a history of "issues"

Signed,

Bored with It
2/28/13, 8:46 PM
suep. said…
@Bored - As a parent who has researched and written about the problems with MAP, has opted my kids out of MAP for the past three years, and as a founding member of Parents Across America, whose local chapter co-sponsored tonight's event, I can tell you, this is not just about teachers. We parents oppose these costly, mindless tests as well, and no, we haven't "moved on," much as you might wish it were so. Excessive and inaccurate testing is a national issue and Garfield, a nationally recognized high school, is now distinguishing itself as one of the leaders in the growing movement to end this damaging national ed reform trend.

And why shouldn't students be a part of this discussion? After all, this is their time that is being wasted and their 'data' that's being trafficked between testing businesses like NWEA, Inc. and Bill Gates and Rupert Murdoch's data-gathering monolith.

(See: Confidential Student And Teacher Data To Be Provided To LLC Run By Gates and Murdoch)

The voices of Garfield H.S. Students

This is nowhere near over.
2/28/13, 10:24 PM
Parent Opposed to MAP said…
I am a parent who also has opted my kids out of taking the MAP after I was in the room helping to proctor the test and saw what incredibly inane questions it was asking. "What is the syllabic structure of this sentence?" I do not want my children's time wasted in taking this test, wasted in having teachers teach what is on this test, and wasted having my children labelled by this test. No, stop blaming the teachers. The majority of fervor is coming from we parents. Scrap the MAP. Say "NO" to corporatization of our educational system, say "NO" to treating our children as if they are "products" produced in the factories of our school. ENOUGH!
3/1/13, 7:28 PM
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