Open Letter against high-stakes testing to President of the United States... 120 famous writers denounce overtesting of the children of Chicago and America
Not that anyone in Chicago will get to read about it (the Chicago Sun-Times is still devoted to promoting Chicago's mayor, even in the most trivial instances, with a front page photograph at least once a week), but a large number of some of the most famous writers (and children's writers) in the United States of America have denounced the overtesting of America's children. The Open Letter went directly to President Barack Obama, with a "cc" to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Coming on the eve of another vote by the Chicago Board of Education to expand the overtesting of Chicago's children, the Open Letter is even more poignant. The letter is to President Obama, more or less ignoring the underlings like Arne Duncan -- who are simply the implementers of corporate school reform. Obama's "signature" education program, after all, is the test-obsessed and eugenics-based program called "Race To The Top."
Maya Angelou has joined more than 100 other writers in denouncing the overtesting of America's children.The letter, released on Monday October 21, 2013 by Fair Test, came with a press release. Following are (a) the press release from Fair Test and (b) the letter to the President of the United States.
FAIR TEST PRESS RELEASE:
FairTest News Release on Public Letter about Standardized Testing by 120+ Children's Authors & Illustrators
Submitted by fairtest on October 21, 2013 - 6:00pm alternatives assessment authentic assessment fairtest on national high stakes k-12 k-16 national national legislative news whats new
for further information: Dr. Monty Neill (617) 477-9792
Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773
for immediate release -- Tuesday, October 22, 2013
120+ CHILDREN�S BOOK AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS TELL PRES. OBAMA,
�WE ARE ALARMED AT NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF EXCESSIVE SCHOOL TESTING�
SIGNERS INCLUDE MAYA ANGELOU, JUDY BLUME, JULES FEIFFER, DONALD CREWS
SAY POLICIES UNDERMINE �CHILDREN�S LOVE OF READING AND LITERATURE�
More than 120 leading authors and illustrators of books for children, including several national award winners, are calling on President Obama to �change the way we assess learning so that schools nurture creativity, exploration, and a love of literature.� Their letter delivered to the White House today stated, �Our public schools spend far too much time preparing for reading tests and too little time curling up with books that fire their imaginations.�
�All children must have the freedom to grow, to evolve, to develop,� explained acclaimed poet Maya Angelou, who spoke at President Obama's inauguration. �We parents, authors, illustrators are standing up for our children. We desperately need you and your administration to stand with us.�
The authors� and illustrators� letter continued, �We are alarmed at the negative impact of excessive school testing mandates, including your administration�s own initiatives, on children�s love of reading and literature. Recent policy changes by your Administration have not lowered the stakes. On the contrary, requirements to evaluate teachers on student test scores impose more standardized exams and crowd out exploration.�
Signers of a �Public Letter on Standardized Testing from Authors and Illustrators of Books for Children and Youth� include such other notables as Alma Flor Ada, Judy Blume, Jules Feiffer, and Donald Crews, as well as National Book Award winners Kathryn Erskine and Phillip Hoose.
The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) coordinated signature gathering for the letter. The assessment reform organization�s executive director, Dr. Monty Neill, explained, �The authors and illustrators recognize the damage done to young children by testing overkill. The new Common Core assessments will not reverse the damage. In fact, they will mandate more standardized exams in more grades. It is time for an indefinite moratorium on high-stakes exams.�
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- The letter to President Obama with a complete signers� list of children�s authors and illustrators is online at: http://www.fairtest.org/public-letter-on-standardized-testing-by-childrens-authors
- A fact sheet on Common Core assessments is at: http://fairtest.org/common-core-assessments-factsheet
THE OPEN LETTER WITH THE NAMES IS BELOW HERE:
Public Letter on Standardized Testing from Authors and Illustrators of Books for Children and Youth
Submitted by fairtest on October 21, 2013 - 5:49pm alternatives assessment authentic assessment fairtest on national k-12 k-16 national national legislative
October 22, 2013
President Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
We the undersigned children�s book authors and illustrators write to express our concern for our readers, their parents and teachers. We are alarmed at the negative impact of excessive school testing mandates, including your Administration�s own initiatives, on children�s love of reading and literature. Recent policy changes by your Administration have not lowered the stakes. On the contrary, requirements to evaluate teachers based on student test scores impose more standardized exams and crowd out exploration.
We call on you to support authentic performance assessments, not simply computerized versions of multiple-choice exams. We also urge you to reverse the narrowing of curriculum that has resulted from a fixation on high-stakes testing.
Our public school students spend far too much time preparing for reading tests and too little time curling up with books that fire their imaginations. As Michael Morpurgo, author of the Tony Award Winner War Horse, put it, �It's not about testing and reading schemes, but about loving stories and passing on that passion to our children.�
Teachers, parents and students agree with British author Philip Pullman who said, �We are creating a generation that hates reading and feels nothing but hostility for literature.� Students spend time on test practice instead of perusing books. Too many schools devote their library budgets to test-prep materials, depriving students of access to real literature. Without this access, children also lack exposure to our country�s rich cultural range.
This year has seen a growing national wave of protest against testing overuse and abuse. As the authors and illustrators of books for children, we feel a special responsibility to advocate for change. We offer our full support for a national campaign to change the way we assess learning so that schools nurture creativity, exploration, and a love of literature from the first day of school through high school graduation.
Alma Flor Ada
Alma Alexander
Jane Ancona
Maya Angelou
Jonathan Auxier
Kim Baker
Molly Bang
Tracy Barrett
Chris Barton
Ari Berk
Judy Blume
Alfred B. (Fred) Bortz
Lynea Bowdish
Sandra Boynton
Shellie Braeuner
Ethriam Brammer
Louann Mattes Brown
Anne Broyles
Michael Buckley
Janet Buell
Dori Hillestad Butler
Charito Calvachi-Mateyko
Valerie Scho Carey
Rene Colato Lainez
Henry Cole
Ann Cook
Karen Coombs
Robert Cortez
Cynthia Cotten
Bruce Coville
Ann Crews
Donald Crews
Nina Crews
Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Laura Dower
Kathryn Erskine
Jules Feiffer
Jody Feldman
Mary Ann Fraser
Sharlee Glenn
Barbara Renaud Gonzalez
Laurie Gray
Trine M. Grillo
Claudia Harrington
Sue Heavenrich
Linda Oatman High
Anna Grossnickle Hines
Lee Bennett Hopkins
Phillip Hoose
Diane M. Hower
Michelle Houts
Mike Jung
Kathy Walden Kaplan
Amal Karzai
Jane Kelley
Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff
Amy Goldman Koss
JoAnn Vergona Krapp
Nina Laden
Sarah Darer Littman
Jos� Antonio L�pez
Mariellen L�pez
Jenny MacKay
Marianne Malone
Ann S. Manheimer
Sally Mavor
Diane Mayr
Marissa Moss
Yesenia Navarrete Hunter
Sally Nemeth
Kim Norman
Geraldo Olivo
Alexis O�Neill
Anne Marie Pace
Amado Pe�a
Irene Pe�a
Lynn Plourde
Ellen Prager, PhD
David Rice
Armando Rendon
Joan Rocklin
Judith Robbins Rose
Sergio Ruzzier
Barb Rosenstock
Liz Garton Scanlon
Lisa Schroeder
Sara Shacter
Wendi Silvano
Janni Lee Simner
Sheri Sinykin
Jordan Sonnenblick
Ruth Spiro
Heidi E.Y. Stemple
Whitney Stewart
Shawn K. Stout
Steve Swinburne
Carmen Tafolla
Kim Tomsic
Duncan Tonatiuh
Patricia Thomas
Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
Deborah Underwood
Corina Vacco
Audrey Vernick
Debbie Vilardi
Judy Viorst
K. M. Walton
Wendy Wax
April Halprin Wayland
Carol Weis
Rosemary Wells
Lois Wickstrom
Suzanne Morgan Williams
Kay Winters
Ashley Wolff
Lisa Yee
Karen Romano Young
Jane Yolen
Roxyanne Young
Paul O. Zelinsky
Jennifer Ziegler
CC: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
