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Petition Calls for ‘Open and Informational Dialogue’ on New SBAC Standardized Tests
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Nearly 100 people signed an online petition Monday calling for “an open and informational dialogue” with New Canaan Public Schools about new standardized testing that will debut this spring. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test will be given to grades three through eight and also grade 11—the “SBAC,” as it’s called, is the attendant test aligned to Common Core curriculum and is also designed to check for college and career readiness. Town resident Amy Sheffield, who has kids in the sixth and third grades now, and a third child who eventually will undergo the SBAC, said she and others are seeking an opportunity to put questions to administrators. “I do put a lot of trust in the [district] administration, and I think rightly so because they do a great job,” said Sheffield, who helped create the petition. “At the same time, because this hasn’t been actively discussed recently, the answers are not there.”
Sheffield said the petition is designed to gauge fellow New Canaanites’ interest in getting more information about the new tests, so that the district has data in hand about how important this is to school parents.