Westport’s Teacher of the Year: “Enough Lying We are Teaching to the Test”

The controversy over whether the Westport school curriculum ought to be geared to improving scores on a state achievement test boiled over Monday night at a meeting of the Westport Board of Education.
Flashback: Kuroghlian named Teacher of the Year Sept. 27. WN photo

Board members, Schools Supt. Elliott Landon, and teachers discussed the subject for more than three hours.

But it was Dr. Gerald Kuroghlian, Westport’s veteran Teacher of the Year and a state finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year who got the audience’s attention with his blunt remarks about the dangers of standardized testing.

Kuroghlian, who helped develop the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT), said:

“Look at what we are testing on the CAPT. It’s this much (holding fingers slightly apart). I shouldn’t be putting six weeks into this much. But every single town in our ERG (Educational Reference Group) is doing that. And I know that from being on professional committees.

“Everybody is doing practice (tests). Everybody. And we’re lying to you and it’s time this was exposed ֖ we are teaching to a test in this town in every single department. And the reason being you are calling for a certain range of test scores. Enough with the lying. I’m teaching to the test.

“I am doing the entire sophomore exam ֖ the entire sophomore exam is a CAPT test. That’s called ‘teaching to the test.’

“I am no longer giving individual exams for what I taught during the year. I’m giving a CAPT test. So let’s call a spade a spade. You make the decision. I’ll do whatever you want to do and we’ll do it well. But you decide. You want the narrow, high scores, or do you want a richer, fuller curriculum?”

The board took no action and agreed to continue discussions on the subject.