I just got back into the country from a vacation abroad and I’m very excited by all the education news that happened in the past week, both here in Shelby County and Nationally. The one piece I wanted to highlight immediately, however, is the call by the Gates foundation for a two-year moratorium on states using common core aligned tests to make high stakes decisions. From Gates Foundation Director of Education Vicki Phillips:

Over the past seven years, we’ve had the privilege of working with extraordinary educators
doing pioneering work to advance our common goals – improving student achievement with a
focus on those students most in need. As I’ve talked with our partners over this past year, I
have heard over and over again their wholehearted support for the Common Core and their
very real anxiety about the challenges that come with change. The teachers’ anxiety is
understandable: A rushed effort to apply the assessments could punish teachers as they’re
trying new things, and any hiccups in the assessments could be seen as flaws in the
standards.

That’s why the Gates Foundation agrees with those who’ve decided that assessment results
should not be taken into account in high-stakes decisions on teacher evaluation or student
promotion for the next two years, during this transition.

Closer to home, the Professional Educators of Tennessee have expressed their support for this moratorium. Hoping the TEA follows suit soon:

We have steadfastly maintained that requiring school districts to simultaneously implement new standards, new teacher evaluations and perhaps a new curriculum, as well as new testing demands, will continue to place enormous pressure at the local level. The use and/or overuse of testing remains a conversation worthy of public debate. Educators themselves understand they are accountable for the instruction of their students and need to produce valid evidence regarding their effectiveness. We agree that the education of children is far too important a task to not be evaluated. However, by using the wrong assessment instruments to evaluate educational quality we may actually do more harm than good. Teachers should not be punished by a testing system that remains a work in progress. So we join the Gates Foundation in calling on state policymakers to consider that assessment results should not be taken into account in high-stakes decisions on teacher evaluation or student promotion for the next two years, during this transition here in Tennessee.

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I’m very excited by this news, especially given that I’ve called for the very same thing on this blog here in Tennessee for the very same reasons highlighted by Ms. Philips. Some might see this as a retreat or a surrender for Gates. I see it as common sense prevailing, which should not be considered the same as retreating. Its been obvious that teachers, even when they support the Common Core Standards, need more time to work with them and learn how to implement them in their classrooms. This two-year delay would give teachers this time and allow these important standards to be fully implemented.

I hope that other education reform leaders take this cue from the Gates Foundation and continue to implement these new assessments while giving teachers the time and space to grapple with them going forward.

By Jon Alfuth

Follow Bluff City Education on Twitter @bluffcityed and look for the hashtag #iteachiam and #TNedu to find more of our stories.  Please also like our page on facebook. The views expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and do not represent those of any affiliated organizations.