Whither testing?

Even though my children are not in the CMS system, I am tempted to attend the Mecklenburg Citizens for Public Education event on Thursday, May 14, at Queens University, entitled "Leading Our Schools: Understanding School Testing and Accountability." I just don't get testing. I don't mean I necessarily think it is a bad idea--I just don't understand what it proves about the individual schools or the individual students or trends or... so yes, as you can see, this program is designed for people like me!

Here's a description of the event:

Standardized test scores have become the universally accepted measure of how well our schools are teaching and our students are learning. But how does one make sense of ABCs versus AYP? How do North Carolina accountability measures differ from the federal No Child Left Behind standards? And how is testing data applied to reform classroom instruction?

Please join MeckEd for a community workshop to better understand the basics of school testing and accountability, the rewards and consequences associated with school and district-wide performance, and how testing and accountability inform CMS administrative and school board staffing, operational and policy decisions.

Click here to go to the Mecklenburg Citizens for Public Education web page and learn more about this new and interesting nonprofit. I'm really impressed with its leadership and vision. Poke around the site and see what the organization has to offer you. Here are it's goals:

• Build a cadre of exceptional educators and community leaders who will positively affect student academic achievement.
  
  
• Effectively address, as a whole community, the impact of high concentrations of poverty on students’ academic success.
  
  
• Pursue proven strategies to engage parents as active participants in their children’s academic success.
  
  
• Build community partnerships around family literacy to eliminate associated academic risk factors.

To Do: Click here to find out about the Mecklenburg Citizens for Public Education event on May 14. Get it on your calendar!