K-12 students in Grosse Pointe take the MEAP, NWEA, GPWA, PLAN, MME, Workkeys, AP, the Explore Test, ACT, and SAT tests, just to name a few. Standardized tests have their place. There is a need in Grosse Pointe schools to measure progress and assess student achievement. But when we test our children as much as we do, the question must be asked, are we monitoring achievement so much that we are preventing learning? Currently, we are reducing kids to scores and teachers to score producers. This isn't a very engaging climate in which to learn. It may look good on the cover of Newsweek, but it's still a bit disappointing at a family's dinner table when you ask a kid what he did in school and all he talks about is a test. The time spent on testing and test prep is damaging actual learning. With so many tests, teachers are forced to narrow their focus and simply teach the tests. The costs of preparing for and administering these tests is also an issue of concern. Again, there is a need for a measure of progress, but the district is wasting its money with so many measures of the same thing. The tests themselves, as well as the prep material, typically are not free. Furthermore, the statistics are a bit overwhelming on how ineffective these kinds of tests are at measuring success. One great example of this is that girls typically get better grades, have a higher graduation rate, are more likely to go to college, and have more advanced degrees than boys, yet boys typically score better on tests. There are obviously economic and cultural factors as well, in addition to kids with learning disabilities who have a medically diagnosed inability to sit in a silent room and take a test for 45 or 90 minutes. If you would like to see the Grosse Pointe Public School System conduct a review of the number of tests it gives students and streamline the testing, evaluating, and analyzing of our children, please sign this petition.