SAGE tests a lousy way to assess students and teachers
JoEllen Schaeffer, assessment director for the Utah State Office of Education, explains the report that will tell parents how their children performed on the SAGE test. Schaeffer and Judy Park (left), associate superintendent of the Utah State Office of Education, were presenters at a press conference on Oct. 24, 2014, announcing results of SAGE tests.
Grown adults rarely find something to agree upon; even my husband and I argue over numerous topics on which you’d think we could find common ground. Looking at my parents’ marriage I’m quite sure we will forever be fighting over who does more, simply because he can’t admit I do. That’s another story for another day.
A recent trip to the hair salon (the source of all story ideas) showed me that women from all backgrounds are finding mutual understanding on one topic: SAGE testing sucks.
More and more parents are opting their children out of tedious weeks of arduous testing where, if I’m honest, I still have no idea what the point is despite going on our third year of SAGE. This idea of kids fighting their nature by sitting still for hours, taking a ridiculous test combined with our poor, underpaid teachers forced to dole it out, seems silly. Add the million-dollar price tag of said test and I can’t understand why any parent, teacher or legislature would support SAGE.
SAGE, aka student assessment of growth and excellence, is given to students once a year starting in third grade. It’s slated for the second week of May in Weber County where you’re sure to find overheated kids bent over a desk and teachers contemplating prison time in exchange of yelling out the correct answers. Those teachers in Atlanta aren’t looking so bad …
Our students need to take this overpriced test to appease the decision to waiver requirements set by No Child Left Behind. It totally makes sense to keep the federal government out of our classrooms and instead let the super-experienced legislators come up with education requirements. I see lawmakers using SAGE results as a way to go after those pesky teachers, parasites on the education system out there to sit at their polished tin desks, eating the apples brought to them by students, all while bringing in the big bucks as they party all summer long. Or is that the Legislature?
I remember the dreaded standardized tests I took back in elementary school where Mrs. Venn meandered about that sauna disguised as a classroom, industrial fans blowing full force to combat the stale heat of early summer. For hours I would read stories about Dick and Jane, answering questions about plot, setting, and the protagonist. Those tests were each day for a few hours, and they changed my life. Ha.
Utah parents aren’t the only folks opting out of standardized testing. In Colorado more and more are opting out of PARCC testing, similar to SAGE. Last week lawmakers in that state actually passed a bill which would prohibit penalties against school administrators who are in districts where mass opting out is taking place. This bill is to protect not only teachers, but parents who feel bullied into testing.
While many parents hate the idea of SAGE testing, they are either having students test over fear or repercussions from teachers or administrators. I actually heard one mother spread a tip — opt out just days before the testing so the teacher won’t punish the kid. She was unaware teachers punish kids for fun, they don’t need a reason.
Scarlett’s a few years off from SAGE testing, where I fully expect it to go extinct (replaced by some other wacky test), but here is a piece from the letter I will be using to opt her out. Maybe if enough of us do it, both state and federal lawmakers will get the message — butt out.
“We’ve lived in several states, experiencing firsthand the need for Common Core standards, however, we reject the notion that SAGE testing is how to best measure a student’s progress and a teacher’s performance. In addition, the SAGE test robs our schools of valuable teaching time, wastes the scarce financial resources at both the state and district level, and is not age appropriate in its use of language or the span of time required for children to sit and take it.”
If you want the entire letter penned by my sister, drop me an email.
Meg Sanders fell down the rabbit hole of motherhood several years ago, quitting her job as a news producer. Now she spends her days grasp ing onto her sanity, striving to be a good person and fighting the urge to eat her young. She can be contacted at megssolomon@gmail.com.
