RSVP Now!
Schott Foundation's
25th Anniversary Celebration Webinar Series:
Bursting the Bubbles: Is There a Link Between Standardized Tests and Improved Learning?
Friday, December 9 at 2:00pm EST
High-stakes tests became a centerpiece of education reform under No Child Left Behind: countless fill-in-the-bubble sheets that could impact everything from a student's academic placement and a teacher’s employment to school climate and whether their school will be closed. But what’s the origin of standardized testing? What does the research show? What can standardized tests truly measure, and how are policymakers (mis)using them?
Meanwhile, across the country students are walking out, parents are opting their children out, and teachers are refusing to administer these exams. A cross-sector movement has emerged to challenge test-heavy approaches to education reform. Our two webinar guests will examine both the tests themselves and the communities mobilizing against them. They will point toward better ways to assess how well public schools are educating our children and what a child-centric — not test-centric — classroom looks like. Finally, we’ll discuss opportunities under Every Student Succeeds Act to enrich student learning and improve equity.
Our featured speakers will include:
Jesse Hagopian, history teacher, commentator, and organizer
Dr. Monty Neill, FairTest Executive Director
Dr. John H. Jackson, Schott Foundation President & CEO (Moderator)
Jesse Hagopian teaches history at Garfield High School in Seattle. The recipient of many awards, including “Secondary School Teacher of Year” in 2013, Hagopian helped organize the MAP test boycott that began at Garfield High School, quickly spread to several other Seattle Schools, and helped ignite a national movement against the abuses of standardized testing. He is a prolific writer on not only education issues but the larger world of social justice, particularly the Black Lives Matter movement. His commentary has been featured on TV and in print across the nation. Earlier this year Hagopian established the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award, a scholarship award for young organizers making a difference in their communities. He earned a Master’s degree in teaching at the University of Washington.
Dr. Monty Neill is Executive Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest), and has led FairTest's work on testing in public schools since 1987. He has initiated national and state coalitions of education, civil rights, religious, disability and parent organizations to work toward fundamental change in the assessment of students and in accountability policies. In October, FairTest released its latest report, Assessment Matters: Constructing Model State Systems to Replace Testing Overkill. The report describes how states can overhaul their assessment systems under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in a way that minimizes standardized testing and encourages student-focused classroom practices while still giving communities and policymakers useful information to evaluate their schools. Neill has taught and been an administrator in pre-school, high school and college. Neill earned a doctorate at Harvard University’s School of Education.
Join the Schott Foundation for an exclusive webinar — part of our 25th anniversary celebration — in which we will discuss how to burst the bubble of the overemphasis on high-stakes standardized testing.
Come with questions, insights, and calls to action during our Q&A session at the end!
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #GrassrootsEd and #Schott25
