The students in Leverett and elsewhere are to be commended on their refusal to take the PARCC test. In doing so, they are refusing to be statistics for faceless bureaucrats to tally.
In 1993 when the MCAS was introduced, it was preceded by numerous hearings and public meetings, giving parents, students, teachers, administrators and ordinary citizens an opportunity to comment on what students should be learning and when, as the frameworks were developed.
The PARCC test is based on the Common Core which has suddenly been thrust on this and other states without any public input or vetting by educators. Who wrote it and what is in it is a secret which is hard to penetrate. It comes with a promise of federal money, and a threat to withhold monies if the states don’t implement it.
The children are wiser than our leaders.
Margaret Walden
Southampton