From DNAInfo ... THE BRONX — With nearly 90 percent of its students entering sixth grade with skills below grade level, Cornerstone Academy for Social Action (CASA) middle school in The Bronx ranked No. 1 in the city last year for improved test score average on the state’s English and math exams, its principal Jamaal Bowman boasted. But now Bowman has become one of the most vocal principals defending parents’ rights to opt out of the tests that will be given to the city’s third- through eighth-graders next week. He's been speaking at schools across the city and state about the importance of educating the “whole child” as opposed to focusing on test prep. “I think the tests provide … [Read more...]