A Orange county teacher emails this conclusion to OCPS resolution which was agreed to Tuesday:
WHEREAS, excessive test preparation stifles innovation, creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking that allow students to thrive in a democracy and in a global society and economy;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County School Board calls on the Governor, Florida Legislature, and State Board of Education to:
Contract with a qualified, independent entity to conduct a thorough and fully transparent independent review and evaluation of Florida’s accountability system, including the assessment instruments, contracts with service providers, state and local costs, the return on investment, and the overall quality, reliability, and validity of the system;
Revise the accountability system to include data from multiple forms of assessment and limited standardized testing to reflect student learning gains and identify learning deficiencies;
Allow future revisions to the accountability system to be phased in over time to ensure adequate time for students, teachers, parents, and administrators to fully understand and adapt to the revisions, and ensure that students, teachers, schools, and districts are held harmless during the phase-in period; and
Ensure that Florida’s accountability system is fully funded by the state and that school districts are held harmless from incurring any expenses related to the development of assessment instruments and the administration of assessment tests, including the expenses related to training, test security, and the hardware, software, and infrastructure necessary to administer assessment tests.
