Yet another standardized test
Today I received an email directive about yet another standardized test I was to administer to my students. My students who have already taken at least three assessments that lasted several days, in the first month back from a year and a half hiatus from “normal.” Students who are learning English. Who are refugees. My students who just fled Afghanistan. Students who are just trying to be kids. Who are eight years old and want to play and be joyful and share their beauty with the world. We are crushing them under a never ending barrage of standardized assessments when they are growing up in a world that is changing more rapidly than it has in centuries.
Our community is reeling from a pandemic that hit them the hardest
Across the Rochester City School District, the crises are growing. Our community is reeling from a pandemic that hit them the hardest. An economic pandemic, a pandemic of racism, a pandemic of violence, and a pandemic of poverty. A pandemic that has been raging unchecked for hundreds of years and was only worsened by COVID-19. We were sold promises of a focus on social emotional health by our current superintendent, Dr. Lesli Myers-Small. Unfortunately, the reality in our school buildings is that the corporate testing machine is carrying on. Full speed ahead, whether or not our children are suffering and need time to heal.
The RCSD laid off at least 32 social workers last year. Hundreds of teachers, paraprofessionals, kitchen workers, school safety officers, and more. The effects of these layoffs are lasting and our students. At a time when they need more adult support than ever before. There are simply not enough adults in our school buildings to meet their needs. As one psychologist put it, “the children who need love the most will always ask for it in the most unloving ways.”
We must push back on the extreme pressure to return to business as usual
If we do not take the time to heal and nurture our children, the hurt they are feeling now will worsen over time. As educators, parents, and caregivers we must collectively demand that our children’s emotional needs are being met. Burying them in standardized tests will teach them to hate school, and learning. Schools must be a place of welcoming, warmth, and love so that children associate learning with comfort and seek it out for their entire lives.
About Claire Labrosa
(she/her/hers) Claire Labrosa is an English as a New Language teacher in the Rochester City School District, and a founding member of the Rochester Organization of Rank and File Educators (RORE) a social justice caucus in the RTA. Claire is a lifelong Rochester resident, a graduate of the RCSD, and a passionate advocate for equitable and fully funded public education.
