Gotbaum says NYC public schools test kids too much

  

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The city's public school students are facing too many standardized tests, many of which are mandated by the city but not required by law, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said Thursday in releasing an analysis of the tests.

"Our schools have turned somewhat into testing factories," Gotbaum said, emphasizing that her concern was that teachers were focusing on the tests at the expense of subjects not covered by the exams.

In her analysis, Gotbaum said city third-graders were taking 12 tests an academic year, including nine city assessment tests. Fourth-graders and eighth-graders had six city tests a year, she said.

Gotbaum said she wasn't against standardized testing, but "we don't need to go overboard" and she urged the city Department of Education to scale back.

Andrew Jacob, a spokesman for the Education Deparment, said Gotbaum was misunderstanding the city tests, which he described as "no-stakes evaluations in reading and math that pinpoint students' gains and weaknesses throughout the year."

"Any educator could tell her that knowing what your students have learned and where they have weaknesses is fundamental to teaching and learning," he said.

He also added that city schools are focusing on other areas. "In the past year alone, the city has launched a major new arts initiative as well as its first-ever science core curriculum, and won a national award for its physical education program. We will begin implementing a core curriculum in social studies next year," he said.

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