Are You Following the NWEA MAP Controversy In Seattle?

Over in Seattle, ALL of the teachers at Garfield High School have agreed to boycott the NWEA MAP test. They have the backing of the PTSA, and it appears most of the parents and students are backing them up. A couple of other Seattle schools have joined them.

You can follow what is going on there in a few ways:

Facebook: Solidarity With Garfield High School Testing Boycott

A web site devoted to the controversy:  scrapthemap.wordpress.com

Apparently the district administration is trying to implement the testing schedule, but not very successfully. Most students are not going along with it. According to this Diane Ravitch post,

Wednesday, Feb. 6^th, 2013 is the National Day of Action to support Garfield High School and the other MAP test boycotters who are facing possible 10 Day Suspensions without pay for refusing to force students to take an unfair, counterproductive and bad standardized test.

[Editor's Note: That's today! Links from Diane Ravitch are below.]

Information about the Day of Action can be found here: http://scrapthemap.wordpress. com/2013/02/02/national-day- of-action-to-support-seattle- map-test-boycott/
Share the Facebook Day of Action page here by going here: https://www.facebook.com/ events/366568146775772/
Sign the Support the Seattle Teachers Petition here:
https://www.change.org/petitions/seattle-public-schools-support-seattle-teachers-refusing-to-administer-the-map
Call, email, and write to Seattle Public Schools Superintendent José L. Banda to let him know that you support the boycott:

Superintendent José L. Banda  superintendent@seattleschools.org

 Meanwhile, I was very taken by this photo, posted on Facebook:

I got that photo from the Facebook group called Change the Stakes, which reported:

Here's what happened at Garfield today: Admins came into classrooms and tried to pull students out to take the MAP test in the library. Students stared straight ahead, and wouldn't budge.

In a library with about 60 computers stations set up for the MAP, there were single digit numbers of students sitting at computers. Of those, many sat at the computers and refused to press even a single button.

Meanwhile, I will remind you that you can help change the stakes here as well.
1. Sign the Ann Arbor STOP petition: Stop Overtesting Our Children!
2. Join our Facebook group, Ann Arbor STOP.