Boston public schools decision to reduce the number of required standardized tests for students is getting some support from a national platform. The Council of Great City Schools, an organization made up of the nations largest urban public school systems, agrees with both Boston public schools and the president.
When Boston schools superintendent Tommy Chang took over this year, he said he believes students are over-tested. But parent Sandra Baptiste is not so sure. “I think they should work more with the kids as far as what’s going with testings,” she says.
But this past weekend, President Obama sided with the Boston schools chief saying tests should only make up 2% of class time, something BPS has been doing for years, cutting testing for many students in half.
Dashawna Elston hopes standardized tests go away all together, saying “People could do great work in class you know—but when it comes to tests they panic so its not fair to everybody.”
BPS participated in a national survey found that too much testing is counter-productive.
