Good Testing or Censorship?

The test, designed to be what educators call an "authentic assessment," gauges first- and second-graders' reading abilities by using the kinds of books they might normally encounter at school. The problem? In order to preserve the validity of the test results--in other words, to make sure students are reading the books cold--administrators have asked librarians to permanently remove the titles from their shelves. The list of 50 or 60 books includes many lesser-known titles but also such favorites as John Burningham's Mr. Gumpy's Outing, Ezra Jack Keats's Whistle for Willie, and Robert Kraus's Whose Mouse Are You?

The request to pull the books has made several librarians uncomfortable. "When we select books, we select them because they represent quality literature. And they were put in the library for a purpose," says Jo Coyne, librarian at Lyseth Elementary School in Portland, ME. "It's just as wrong to pull them because they're good books for a test as it is because you object to their message." An assistant principal asked Coyne to remove the books from her library last spring. But Coyne objected and the district agreed for now to remove the books only from classrooms.

Other librarians have tried to compromise on the issue. In Wisconsin's Two Rivers Public Schools, teachers now put the books on reserve during testing. Another media coordinator, who didn't want his district to be named, says his schools will keep the books on library shelves, but librarians will try to avoid promoting them during testing. "I might move my Ezra Jack Keats unit to the end of the year," the librarian explains.

In Bangor, ME, where the test was designed by a group of teachers, the books have been removed from elementary libraries, according to Debe Averill, media specialist at Bangor High School. Averill, who was the library coordinator until the position was eliminated, says she expressed concerns about the issue to district Superintendent Robert Ervin. "But he feels as long as we're not saying the books are bad, it's not censorship," Averill says. Ervin did not return a call requesting comment but has been quoted elsewhere as saying there's "no mandate" to remove library books.

Still, Liz Stover, a teacher trained in using the assessment, says her understanding is that "you get a more accurate read" of children's ability if they have no access to books on the test. Stover wishes librarians could see that this issue doesn't involve censorship. "We're not saying 'Don't ever look at these books again.' We're not saying 'This is a bad book.' If anything, we're saying the opposite."--A. G.