Sydney Smoot just got gust to take down with the Hernando County School Board. Well, she might look like your average 4th-grade girl, but she has taken such a bold stand against Common Core. This 4th grader just targets the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA), a series of statewide tests for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Expressing her feelings about the test and the reasons she thinks it fails both kids and teachers, She bravely took the stage at her local school board meeting.
Pointing out one major flaw in the stressful end-of-the-year tests, young Syndey posed a striking question to the school board, just as boldly as she began. Sydney Smoot discussed the effects that Common Core-mandated state standardized testing is having on kids around the country while speaking on behalf of her fellow classmates.
She asked, “Why am I being forced to take a test that hasn’t even been tested on students here in Florida, so how can it be valid and accurate on what I know?”
When Syndey Smoot approached the Hernando County School Board, they had no idea what she had in store for them.
In order to assess how pupils are performing over the year, she suggested dividing the painstaking exam into three smaller tests, as Sydney Smoot didn’t only lament the issue without offering a workable answer.
One that perfectly presented the school board with a reminder that while the students attend school to learn, they are still children, she asked,“Why should we have so much stress about one test when we should be learning and having fun at school?” another question that followed up her moving speech.
Sydney‘s revelation that kids must sign a secret contract prohibiting them from discussing the test with their parents was perhaps the most startling moment of her speech.
She boldly declared, “I do not feel good about a form in the FSA that you have to sign ensuring that you can’t even discuss the test with your parents. I am not comfortable signing something like this. I have the right to talk to my parents about any and everything related to school and my education.”
Sydney becomes progressively more confident and animated as the speech goes on, boldly holding out her hand to say “I urge you to put a STOP to high stakes testing today!”In the end, the members of the audience rise to their feet, cheering and clapping.
While Sydney credits her mother for giving her the strength to speak up in front of the school, it was all her initiative, in case anyone was still unsure about whether Sydney Smoot was coached.
She said,“What inspired me to speak all started one day when I came home. My mom asked me how the testing went, and I told her I was told not to speak about the test to anyone. I had not felt comfortable signing something in the test. I had concerns about this test because there was a lot of stress put on students and myself. I was a little nervous before the speech, but when I was called up to the podium, I did not feel nervous because I knew this speech was going to help a lot of people.”
