POSITION ON COMMON CORE
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The current officers demanded that SED get the Common Core “right,” vowing not to support Common Core until it includes “restoration of local control, a curriculum that is developmentally appropriate and an end to high stakes testing.” And yet, NYSUT has been recruiting and encouraging teachers to write test questions for the developmentally-inappropriate 3-8 tests that are used to evaluate teachers. ST Caucus, on the other hand, does not support teachers writing test questions for assessments that we know are inappropriately benchmarked and subsequently hurt students, teachers, and the integrity of our classrooms. Rather, we gave members identifiable reasons for what is wrong with the Common Core and offered members avenues to engage in true solutions, not band-aids. In June 2016, the ST Caucus urged Commissioner Elia, Chancellor Rosa, and the members of the Board of Regents to ensure an assessment boundary is attached to each of the standards. This would not be considered a testing mandate, but rather a goalpost that can be used to design rich curriculum. We continue to strongly urge the Regents to adopt a system of attaching assessment boundaries to each standard so that stakeholders have the best opportunity of understanding the standards in a grade-appropriate manner. In October 2016, when teachers, educators, and parents were asked to respond to the draft standards with comments addressing the need for these assessment boundaries, we also asked members, in partnership with NYSAPE, to consider the strong position taken on the draft revisions.
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