Whereas, the global pandemic, interrupted instruction, lapses in the receiving of special education services, online learning and influx of asylum-seeking students have revealed significant gaps in learning and a decrease in learning time for students attending our public elementary schools; and

Whereas, the return to in-person learning triggered the implementation of additional classroom assessments in New York City Public elementary school classrooms such as DESSA, MAP, and Acadience in our elementary schools citywide; and 

Whereas, many elementary schools are using multiple assessments including I-Ready, My-on, MAP, Acadience, Accelerated Reader, Fountas and Pinnell, I Read, Computer-Based Mock Assessments, TCRWP and MOSL Performance Tasks; and

Whereas, teachers have been overwhelmed by administering and grading assessments (in some cases one on one with students) and not having enough time to teach and implement assessment-based instructional shifts; and

Whereas, students have become overwhelmed by test preparation, test-taking, and have missed out on opportunities for meaningful and project-based learning experiences due to the number of assessments given regularly in their public elementary school; and

Whereas, the city has attached funding to the use of and/or mandated specific assessments in its elementary schools without regard for the quantity, frequency, and efficiency of the assessment and/or data it provides; and

Whereas, NYC has an initiative to get every student reading that is directly impacted by the loss of reading instructional time do to over assessment of students in elementary school; and

Whereas, the implementation of the new citywide literacy curriculum has led to an additional increase in assessments due to regularly scheduled end-of-module assessments; and 

Whereas, the time it takes for teachers to grade assessments often does not allow for opportunities to analyze the assessment data, inform instructional practices, and simply teach their students; and

Resolved, that the United Federation of Teachers will work with the New York City Department of Education, and its various stakeholder groups to: 

1. Evaluate current elementary school assessment uses, policies, and practices in an effort to prioritize and reduce the number of assessments being given our elementary schools; 

2. Enhance opportunities to use assessments to inform instruction in our elementary schools by identifying assessments that do not require substantial amounts of time to administer and grade before reviewing its data; 

3. Increase student learning and instructional time by limiting the number of content-based assessments that may be administered that are redundant in nature and the data that they capture; 

4. Increase instructional outcomes by reducing classroom test preparation and administration in elementary schools and emphasizing teaching, student inquiry, and project-based learning.