New York's leading teachers' union is calling on the State Education Department to immediately fix what it calls "significant issues" with the standardized state tests for children in grades 3-8.
The New York State United Teachers and some state legislature members say the state needs to address questions that are inappropriate for the grade level and untimed tests, which they say have caused numerous students to sit for hours as they try to complete the tests. NYSUT says it wants a complete halt to computer-based testing for the elementary and middle school students.
NYSUT has called repeatedly for changes to the benchmarks used to determine whether students are proficient in English and math, saying they rate children too low.