Letter: Unhappy with repeated testing

This letter is in response to the opinion piece "These school 'test' tests go too far" [June 1]. I think it's time for the parents of students attending schools in New York State to rise up collectively to have a voice in their children's education when it comes to state testing.

This year, both the English language and math assessments were lengthened in time and content. In addition, students who did not require the full allotted time for the exam were made to sit idly for as long as an hour while their peers completed the test.

Pearson, the testing company contracted with the state, created the exams. Included in the tests were embedded field-test questions that the state can use on future tests. I recently found out that the state would like my daughter, a sixth-grader, to endure 40 more minutes of a math field test. Enough is enough.

My daughter was fortunate to have had an amazing cluster of talented, hardworking teachers this year in her first year of middle school. I'm sure the time she spends with her math teacher could be better used learning new concepts rather than sitting for yet another test.

I certainly don't need an exam to tell me that her teachers were excellent, nor do I need test results to prove what she's learned. As the school year winds down, I certainly will not allow her to sit for additional minutes to help Pearson conduct research.

Lisa Liguori-Zindman, Rockville Centre

Editor's note: The writer is a Long Island elementary school teacher.