To: Delaware Parents and Citizens Date: March 23, 2002 Re: Oppose Implementation of High Stakes Testing

for Delaware Accountability Legislation We are the Advocates for Childrens Education (ACE), a group of parents and citizens that are opposed to the implementation of high-stakes testing as part of Delawares Accountability Legislation. We are urging Delaware legislators to eliminate the high-stakes attached to the DSTP. Using a single measure and applying punitive consequences based on one test score is a misguided educational policy. Parents across the state of Delaware are gathering signatures to delay the consequences of the DSTP. Attached you will find: Why Oppose the Implementation of High Stakes Testing? Petition to Delay Delawares Accountability Legislation. Legislative Contacts to whom you should voice your concerns.

Please make copies of these documents and forward them to other parents in your school or other schools. We must circulate this petition widely throughout the state for maximum impact. Please help us to gather signatures immediately and forward all ORIGINAL signature pages on or before April 15, 2002 to: Brandywine Springs Elementary School c/o Ruth Coughlan 2916 Duncan Rd. Wilmington, DE 19808 You can provide further support by voicing your concerns to legislators and helping increase awareness across the state of Delaware. For more information contact the ACE Co-Chairs or visit our website at http://hometown.aol.com/advocatesce/ace.html.

Sincerely, Co-Chairs, Advocates for Childrens Education

Judy Pappenhagen jspap@aol.com, 892-9408

John Allison jalli77@aol.com

Why Oppose the Implementation of High Stakes Testing?

We are the Advocates for Childrens Education (ACE), a group of parents and citizens that are opposed to the implementation of high-stakes testing as part of Delawares Accountability Legislation. 1. The DSTP (Delaware State Testing Program) imposes punitive consequences to students based on the results of one single test score. Delivering harsh consequences based on a test score alone will harm many students. Federal law does not mandate high-stakes testing. 2. Multiple measures should be used to make decisions impacting students. The use of other indicators after the test and its consequences does nothing to alleviate the highstakes environment imposed on the children. 3. Children attending mandatory summer school because of scoring below the standards have only 18 half-days of instruction before they are re-tested and expected to meet the standard an unrealistic expectation that defies common sense. 4. This one-size-fits-all test ignores the needs and rights of special education students and LEP (limited English proficiency) students, and others for whom this test is inappropriate. 5. High school diplomas should not be tied to the DSTP scores. The 3-tiered diploma system should be abandoned. 6. The scoring process depends on temporary workers who have no vested interest in our childrens education. Human errors, subjectivity, and assembly-line quotas unfairly compromise the validity of a high-stakes test. 7. The Department of Education and the DSEA (Delaware State Education Association) are not using DSTP scores for the purposes of teacher accountability. Why are the children the only ones that will bear the burden of accountability? 8. The idea that some DSTP questions are IQ related versus standard curriculum and achievement is not only setting up some children for failure, but also raises further concerns with the high stake consequences. 9. The DSTP results override the childs final report card grade, which is the actual achievement a child has made throughout the school year. We are not opposed to accountability. We support the fair evaluation of student performance based upon year-round cumulative work. We object to the use of the DSTP as the single and most important marker for purposes of individual student assessment.

DSTPDont Sacrifice The Pupils