Please, board of Ed, please…. This is a dubious way to spend precious funds, resources and time. It was a pilot that was never formally assessed, and that has no data to support its ongoing use. The mandate argument doesn’t hold up (see above). You have so many difficult choices to make for next year, regarding budget cuts and resources. This one should be a no-brainer.

What it did do, is take away valuable class time for learning, tie up all the schools’ computers and bandwidth for weeks on end, and put yet even more focus on content-based fact-regurgitation, as opposed to in-depth critical thinking skills.

Our classrooms are narrowing their curriucla and becoming more and more factory-like as testing takes on new and increased importance. Private schools, with their ability to give teachers more autonomy and support project-based, in-depth learning focused on problem-solving, research and critical thinking skills are pulling away the very families that AAPS needs to count on those all-important high test scores (as Annarborparent notes above!). Because as research shows us, standardized tests are really great at measuring socioeconomic status. And that’s about it.

If there are some teachers who find the NWEA useful, then let them have it as an option. But don’t mandate it in all the classrooms where teachers, parents and students hate it. Or give schools and classrooms an opt-out option!!!

This was not rolled out district wide due to cost constraints. We have had enormous cuts each year to address, so we have not been able to roll out everything we need to.

It worked for from my browser when I first tested it and it still works.

Secondly, if the AAPS is responding to a mandate by Snyder, then why is the NWEA being “piloted” in only two of the middle schools? If it’s a mandate, wouldn’t all middle schools need to be doing it? And high schools?

Third, the public was told over and over that this new NWEA test was for the purpose of testing students, not evaluating teachers. It has become clear that this was never the real reason the test was adopted. This is frustrating, and feels disingenuous.

I agree that focus needs to be toward Lansing as well. But the AAPS can do it’s part. This test does not have a state or national mandate. The new NAEP that’s replacing the MEAP will take care of the beginning and end of year testing need in a year from now. In the meantime, the AAPS should stop this additional, unneccesary waste of resources. Especially in this environment where resources are so scarce. It’s a hard argument to make that we need to increase class sizes, decrease arts education, eliminate busing…. but this redundant TEST is really necessary.