Saying No to Racist Tests

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

> From: Jim Horn [<mailto:ontogenyx@mac.com>mailto:ontogenyx@mac.com]
>
> In the 1920s, immigrant students across the country were given IQ 
> tests in a language they couldn't even understand. Many of these 
> students were labeled as retarded, and test scores were used to 
> funnel hundreds of thousands of students into industrial education 
> programs, where they learned the "skills" that would guarantee their 
> future subservient positions in society.
>
> The same thing is happening today 
> <<http://www.aspentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060316/NEWS/103160039/-1/rss01&template=printart>http://www.aspentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060316/NEWS/103160039/-1/rss01&template=printart> 
> with the racist high-stakes tests that are mandated by NCLB. Now if 
> students are lucky, they must depend upon an oral interpretation of 
> the test by a translator. But it is not happening in Sam Esmiol's 
> class in Aspen, Colorado. Sam has just said, NO:
>
>
>
> <<http://www.aspentimes.com/graphics/spacer.gif>http://www.aspentimes.com/graphics/spacer.gif> 
> The Aspen School District cut the pay and hours of a Spanish teacher 
> Tuesday after he refused to issue standardized tests because he said 
> they don't test Latinos fairly.
>
>
>
>         Aspen Middle School teacher Sam Esmiol said in an e-mail 
> that the Colorado Student Assessment Program tests "discriminate 
> against Latino students and treat teachers unfairly." The CSAP 
> tests are designed to gauge student progress in key subjects.
>
>         District Superintendent Diana Sirko on Wednesday said 
> Esmiol, a first-year employee, is partially suspended.
>
>         Esmiol, 38, said his suspension is for morning test periods 
> only; he continues to teach regular classes in the afternoon.
>
>         "I'm not trying to make a statement against the school 
> district," Esmiol emphasized during a telephone interview 
> Wednesday. He is, however, trying to alert the public about what he 
> feels are inequities in the way the state administers the CSAP tests.
>
>         The format of the tests is unfair because "teachers are 
> expected to translate multiple-choice questions to a group of 
> Spanish-speaking students," he said in his e-mail. "This is unfair 
> because some students will understand and answer the question while 
> other students need more time and explanation. Individual students 
> cannot move at their own pace."
>
>         He also said teachers are not adequately prepared to 
> administer the tests.
>
>         "Oral translation is subjective," Esmiol said. "Students' 
> test scores are influenced by the quality of the translation. These 
> tests do not accurately represent their abilities."
>
>
> Call or email Superintendent Sirko to ask her to reinstate Sam Esmiol: Phone:
> (970) 925-3760
> dsirko@aspenk12.net
>
> --