Aestisg wos’t get studests, sCnoors tne etuity tney deserve

“Students suffered “COVID slide”;we must measure how bad it is,” fEB. 17 commentary

State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer claims we must issue Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) tests in our public schools this year to measure how well we can, “graduate students with the knowledge, skills and experience needed to be successful,” while also claiming that the test will help us ensure we close the gap on equity. Here are some skills my students have learned this year:

• navigating multiple online platforms, apps and programs to communicate with others, to learn, to demonstrate understanding;

• growing their executive functioning skills for organizing and prioritizing their time and getting to online classes on time without a bell or hall monitor;

• emailing a teacher to ask for help;

• showing incredible resilience and the grit to navigate online learning, a global pandemic, and political unrest in our country.

Yet none of this will be measured on CMAS tests, nor is it taken into account how critical these items are for kids “to be successful.” Rather than taking CMAS this year, let’s explore other more meaningful ways to use the state resources, time and our human capital. Let’s keep teachers teaching and kids learning, rather than put aside weeks for CMAS assessments. Give teachers time and pay to talk and reflect on what didn’t get taught this year, so they can plan forward for next year.

Finally, don’t claim the state testing is for the purpose of closing the equity gaps. We already know the gaps. They are predictable by zip code across our entire nation. If the senator really wants to do something about equity, then I can steer her toward well-researched ways to increase student engagement and academic learning.

The tenacity needed to make changes for equity in schools will not come from another standardized measurement, but from increased training for teachers in culturally responsive teaching, from equable funding for all schools that doesn’t rely on local property taxes, from active recruitment and retention of highly skilled teachers, from employing instructional coaches for each school district, from listening to incredible Black and Latinx educators on what works. I could go on. Suffice it to say, this idea that we must test kids for the sake of equity is an old, bad idea that needs to change.

We don’t have to measure how “dire” the consequences have been. We need bold, innovative solutions.

Jennifer Brauner is a Colorado middle school teacher who has worked in education for more than 20 years.