Even as the final hours of the 2015 legislative session drew
to a close, Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa, continued to fight for reforms
that would make learning, not testing, the focus of education in New York
State.
“I’ve heard from parents and teachers across the North
Country and I believe we’ve made significant strides towards a more fair and
functional educational system,” Russell said. “There is work to be done, but I’m
proud of the work we did and look forward to continuing to fight for our
schools in the future.”
In order to ensure this is accomplished, Russell voted for
legislation (A.8323) that will bring more transparency to the exam process in
New York as well as improving the teacher evaluation system.
Under the new legislation, which is awaiting the governor’s
signature, the State Education Department will be able to release more past
test questions and answers to help students prepare for exams. Additionally,
teachers, principals and superintendents will no longer be required to enter
into confidentiality agreements preventing them from discussing the contents of
these exams after the exams have been publicly released.
The legislation will create a content review committee to
review standardized tests in grades 3 through 8 in English language arts and
math to ensure these tests are fair, accurate and appropriate for each grade
level.
Teacher evaluations are also dealt with in the legislation,
requiring that poverty, English Language Learner status, students with
disabilities, and academic history are all taken into account when student
growth is measured.
“This was a critical victory for the 2.7 million public
school students across New York State,” Executive Director of the Alliance for
Quality Education Billy Easton said of the legislation.