Strengthening our democracy
to expand opportunity for all
Testing for a lost year Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
Nelson King, Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, MAY 7-13, 2021
By Wilfred van Gorp
After canceling state
standardized tests in 2020
because of the pandemic,
New York is once again testing
children in grades 3
through 8 in English Language
Arts (ELA) and math
this year.
This poses a unique set
of challenges both for students,
who have not taken
these exams in two years,
and educators, who must
evaluate academic performance
by children who have
spent the last year learning
remotely or in hybrid models,
which do not provide the
same level of education as
full, in-person classrooms.
Previously, scores could
be easily compared year to
year, so individual students
and their families could
measure their progress and
districts could be assessed
based on how they compared
across the state and
within regions.
However, in 2021, state
standardized tests are measuring
academic performance
for what is, essentially,
a lost year.
Learning loss has been
a persistent problem during
the pandemic, with students
falling behind while trying
to take their classes over
Zoom. For students with
special needs, the loss has
been particularly severe,
producing often even greater
lags.
Absent the usual supports
they receive, from extra staff
and specialized instructors,
to individualized educational
plans, students with
conditions such as autism,
ADHD, dyslexia, and other
learning challenges, have
been hardest to reach with
virtual teaching. If their
peers have missed out on
the full benefits of a year of
schooling, the loss to special
needs students may amount
to far more.
These students, in a sense,
will be further penalized by
exams which do not account
for this learning loss and yet
will still be measured by the
same yardstick.
For this reason, families
should approach these tests,
and the scores their children
receive, with a lot of
caution.
At the same time, this
unusual testing period can
provide an opportunity.
Over the past 13 months,
in my own practice, I have
seen so many parents bring
in their children to be evaluated
for autism, ADHD and
other conditions because
they noticed – during
remote, home learning –
signs that indicated there
may be a problem. Often,
these were signs they had
not seen before because normally
their children were
in school, and teachers had
never brought them to their
attention.
But being home as a proxy
teacher or tutor for their
child, they saw up close the
challenges that their children
confronted, and the
problem behaviors or symptoms
at hand.
This led directly to children
being diagnosed with
some of these disorders and
given the appropriate treatments.
We may see a similar phenomenon
emerge as a result
of this year’s state tests.
Learning disabilities and
other cognitive conditions
have been exacerbated by
remote schooling and we
might expect to see those
signs evident in the test
scores.
The exams can act as an
early warning system that a
child needs help.
Ironically, in the case of
special needs children, the
exams this year might be
better at identifying these
conditions than previously.
School districts are not
incentivized to diagnose
learning problems in children
because it requires
them to provide extra support.
For this reason, parents
should pay extra attention
to these testing results if
they suspect their children
of having a learning disability
or other challenge.
They should be encouraged
to have their children
evaluated because there is
help for them. Academic
accommodations, speech,
occupational therapy, as well
as other supplemental educational
support and therapies
can make an enormous
difference in helping special
needs children achieve their
potential.
Wilfred van Gorp, a New
York City-based psychologist,
is director of the Cognitive
Assessment Group and
past president of the American
Academy of Neuropsychology
By John Darrow
If you are over 60 and have
not heard of “white privilege,”
then you may have lived it.
I currently live in an active
adult community where most
of us are white, upper middleclass
professionals, with a smattering
of Black residents, Asian
residents and Latinos. I can’t
speak for others, but I think my
lifestyle has something to do
with me being a white, collegeeducated,
straight male who
looked like my bosses throughout
my career.
I know people who were
less privileged who did as well
or better than me. They, who
made it, shared an ethic that
if one studied, worked hard,
saved money and invested
along the way, one would do
alright. A few managed to work
their way into the top 2% (or
higher) based on net worth.
Some may have gotten some
good breaks along the way or
overcome significant obstacles
to get ahead. Most now benefit
when the stock market goes up
and are immune to factors like
the unemployment rate.
But what about the majority
of others whose fate is directly
tied to the other economy?
They may be working two jobs
to make ends meet if they
were lucky to keep their jobs
through the pandemic. Many
of them are one medical emergency
away from going under.
Many will never achieve the
“American Dream” that my
friends and I have, without
some major changes in our
government.
Our democracy has morphed
into some form of plutocratic
oligarchy, where the rich and
powerful get richer and more
powerful.
How do we fix our government
when one third of the
country hates another third of
the country — and another
third doesn’t seem to care? We
still see red versus blue states,
and mischaracterize capitalism
and socialism. We have seemingly
lost the will to accept
our differences and help each
other, and our candidates for
office are out for themselves
too much.
Things need to change to
where elected officials understand
what we want and where
voting is encouraged, not suppressed.
We need fair, non-gerrymandered
voting districts so
that people of color can vote.
Wealth and special interests
should not have so much influence
on our policies as they
do.
The “For the People Act”
that has passed in the House
of Representatives needs to
become law so that the opportunities
I enjoyed growing up
become more of a reality for
everyone. It needs to become
easier to vote, not harder, so
that all interests are represented
so we can achieve the true
“government of the people, by
the people and for the people”
that we were promised.
We all need to engage to
make these things happen. Sitting
on the sidelines is no longer
an option.
John Darrow is a member of
Seniors Taking Action, a group
of activists who believe that
political engagement is essential
if democracy is to flourish.
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