Teachers in New York are paid anywhere from $44 to $46 an hour to grade student essays following state exams, a nice form of supplementary income and a way to encourage teachers who largely don’t support the exams to volunteer regardless, says the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal article paints a different picture of standardized testing in New York. Last year, New York was the epicenter of a surging opt-out movement where 20 percent of all students sat state exams out.

This year, WSJ says teachers are looking at grading the exams as a valuable tool for professional development. Other teachers who spoke to the WJS said she enjoys test grading because she’s able to celebrate student achievement.

"One Brooklyn middle-school teacher, who asked not to be named, said she looked forward to it every year. 'When we get a paper and see the child has met all the targets,'she said, 'it’s almost a celebration of what you know is true about teaching and being able to impact students’ learning.”

Things are a little different when it comes to test grading in the state this year, however. WJS says this year is the first year parents will be able to see their child’s answers in addition to what score he or she received.

Teachers will also reportedly receive more tools in order to use testing results to guide instruction and improve student achievement, a national complaint about the effectiveness of standardized testing.

"After years of frustration among teachers about the secrecy of the exams, state officials have promised more transparency and said they would release more of this spring’s questions so they can inform lessons. Last year, only about a third of the students statewide were deemed proficient in language arts and math,” the article said.

Read the full article.

Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

5/2/2016