ISO Great Public Schools - Not Test Obsessed (Rochester, Mamaroneck: how much, school district)

[miriam2]

I am so dissatisfied with the Blind Brook schools that we're thinking about moving or putting our son in private school. They are unbelievably obsessed with standardized test scores, to the point where, I believe, real education suffers. I know every public school district in the country has to think about test scores. And I know all the good Westchester districts want to look good when lists and scores and ratings are published local papers and magazines, but I'm hoping that we can find a district that's not all about the testing.

One small example here in Blind Brook: The third grade ELA (English Language Arts - reading/writing/spelling to those of over a certain age) is all reading comprehension problems with no writing. According to parents of kids in 2 different 3rd grade classes last year, their kids either had no writing assignments all year or all their writing assignments were optional, depending on the class. It's not on the test? The school doesn't care to teach it.

And yes, Blind Brook has an excellent reputation and excellent test scores, so those alone clearly won't get me what I want for my son. So I'm wondering if anyone has first hand, current knowledge of various districts and how much they're focused on actually educating the kids compared to how much they're spending time practicing for the tests.

And just to make it interesting, we don't want to add to the commuting time to GCT, so say, Croton, won't work.

I've heard rumors that Mamaroneck and Edgemont might be significantly less test obsessed. Any truth to that? Any other thoughts on places to consider or places to avoid?

[karen824]

We lived in Scarsdale for the past 6 1/2 years--just relocated upstate to Rochester (for family reasons) at the end of June. Our oldest son went through the Scarsdale schools from 3rd to 9th grade, while the youngest was there from 1st through 7th.
Despite Scarsdale's reputation for competitiveness and obsessive focus on getting into Ivy League colleges, I have to say that I think they are really trying to NOT focus on the standardized testing. I don't know if you remember, but a few years ago a lot of the parents had their 8th-graders boycott one or more of the state tests (I forget exactly which ones) because they felt that there were just too many tests, to the detriment of learning. The school finally came to the decision to not "teach to the test"--they do review for it, but the focus is on in-depth learning of the subject, not on garnering the highest possible scores. Parents seemed, for the most part, pleased with this decision. I know that my own sons barely mentioned reviewing for the state tests and it was no big deal.
In the HS, the decision was made that, starting this year, "AP" courses will be phased out and "AT" (Advanced Topic) courses phased in. This allows the teachers to develop their own in-depth curriculum on a subject without the pressure of having to cover a certain amount of material by AP test time. The kids can still take the AP exam. Scarsdale also doesn't let kids automatically sign up for as many APs as they want; they have to be approved by a teacher. The thought behind this is that they won't just be trying to have as many AP courses on their transcripts as possible; that they'll really be prepared to tackle the subject matter and the workload (this is a controversial philosophy and is why Scarsdale doesn't rank higher on things like the U.S. News ranking--because it's calculated in part on the number of kids taking AP courses.)
Thinking back to elementary school, I also remember the state tests being handled very matter-of-factly, not overemphasized at all.
I'm not saying that there isn't pressure by the time they reach SHS, but I really think a lot of that comes from the parents, not from the school. If you are rational about your expectations for your kids, and stress learning over test scores/grades, then your kids could do very well in the Scarsdale schools.