Paul Vallas has taken over as superintendent in Bridgeport, Connecticut, while running a consulting business on the side (he just won a $1 million contract to help fix the Illinois schools).
He is concerned that students and teachers slack off after they take the state tests in March, so he has just imposed yet another round of tests for the end of year, which will precede the administration of even more tests.
You see, this is the way corporate reformers think. If students don’t have tests to face, they won’t learn anything. If teachers don’t have a test to prepare students for, they won’t teach anything. They think that no one in school will do anything unless someone at the top is holding out a stick or a carrot.
What they do not understand is the basic idea of intrinsic motivation. By relying so heavily on extrinsic motivation, the corporate reformers will snuff out any outcroppings of intrinsic motivation.
What the Bridgeport approach will do with certainty is to eliminate any time for creative activities and projects; to remove any time for exploration and un-regimented learning. It will substitute testing for teaching. It relies on coercion as the prime motivator for learning.
It is a plan that will prepare students for factory work in the early twentieth century.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane,
I love your writings, but I think you miss the point on this one. The corporate reformers are not interested in motivation or creativity. The corporate reformers are interested in (1) making huge profits off their charter schools and (2) creating a source of cheap labor right here at home. They are literally turning the U.S. into a third-world country.
The corporate reform movement is the most insidious and evil movement since pre World War II Germany.
Diane,
I admire your writings, but I think you missed the point on this one.
The corporate reformers are not interested in motivation or creativity. The corporate reformers are interested in (1) making huge profits off their charter schools and (2) creating a cheap labor pool right here at home.
The coporate reform movement is literally turning the United States into a third world country. It is the most insidious movement since pre World War II Germany.
Isn’t the obvious solution to just dismiss school for the year after the test is administered in March?
(/snark)
Or have the exams a little later so there isn’t any ‘slacking off’ time afterwards.
A worthless test is a stick with no carrot. As soon as the Biology EOC was done, we had time to do the interesting things that there was no room for in the standard curriculum: a unit on infectious disease, and the fetal pig dissection. (Just to give you an example of how much the EOC curriculum drives things, my district actually opted to leave out of our new textbooks many of the sections on human anatomy – the digestive system, information about the composition of blood, etc. Why pay for them to be included in the textbook if the state doesn’t test it on the EOC, because obviously teachers won’t be spending any time on that material.)
Just wonderful news. Why teach when you can test? What a waste of time, money and effort. I hope there is an outcry and/or an uprising. How in good conscience could you or anyone for that matter subject the kids to three rounds of testing? How did you find money for tests but no money for the teachers and support people you had to lay-off. And by the way, if I were a resident- why would I feel good about your “good deal” on the tests? Couldn’t that money have paid more more teachers, books, supplies or tutoring? .Anything but a mindless test.
Diane,
As someone who has known you for a long time as a colleague and a friend, I am taken aback by your post about Bridgeport testing. We are up to our ears with a district in crisis and trying to right the ship for the mostly minority, low income children who are our responsibility. Perhaps the hectic pace here in the district accounts for why I missed your phone call expressing concern for the methodology I, in partnership with my Chief Administrator, Dr. Sandra Kase, are employing? Of course, no phone call ever came. Therefore I will respond in this forum.
As I explained to my teachers in school visits and by memo, which I would have been happy to share with you, the Connecticut assessment test is weak. I have always been critical of annual state tests that are high stake, that are too narrow, that are administered too early and that produce data that is dated by the end of any given school year. Connecticut’s assessment system has all of those shortcomings. It is unfair to both teachers and students. Thus, in an effort to support teachers and to give them the baseline data that they need in real time at the end of the year, we are am administering a series of short end-of-the-year tests to give teachers an accurate and up to date picture of their students’ full learning profiles, and in particular the skills and concepts that need to be re-taught or strengthened to ensure student success in the new school year term. Our teachers care deeply about their students’ success, and most of them are delighted to have the opportunity to gain a clear picture of which children need to be in summer school. They welcome the baseline data that will give them the information they need over the summer to plan for the strengths and weaknesses of their incoming classes, to ensure they are equipped with the appropriate interventions and supports. They agree with us that this will help them be confident and ready to instruct in the new and more rigorous curriculum and instructional program we are implementing in 2012-2013.
There is no downside to these baseline assessments. The results do not factor into student promotion or teacher retention. Allow me to reiterate, they will simply provide current, data-guided decisions about summer school interventions to the benefit of students who are struggling, they will inform as to where additional supports should be allocated to individual students next year, and they will provide a baseline that will guide the implementation for next year’s new curriculum and instructional program. It is a responsible, proactive, vigorous measure to ensure teachers have the information they need to be effective in as close to “real time” possible, and that students get the support they need beginning on day one of next school year.
With regard to the comment about running a consulting business on the side, after my previous districts, Bridgeport is a small district by my experience. I was recruited Bridgeport to become interim Superintendent with the full understanding that I would continue to be available to help other school districts as needed. You will recall that I have been doing work in Chile and Haiti. The Illinois contract you speak of, which has yet to be tendered, is actually a request to do turnaround in two historically failing districts. I have assembled a team of top educators, many of whom you know or know of, and all of whom come from the traditional schools community. While the price tag on that contract may sound exotic at $1 million, that actually covers the cost of the team for three years work in two school districts. Let me point out that in New York, that much money is frequently spent annually on interventions targeting a single school only. I hope these are the not the only projects where we can make the type of impact we are making here in Bridgeport. I expect it to be quite a challenge and one I look forward to. Give Dr. Kase and me a call if you wish to discuss further or the next time you want an explanation of any of our programs. Your call is always welcome.
Regards,
Paul Vallas
You, sir, are a pompous self-absorbed egotistical windbag who knows absolutely nothing about teaching and learning.
Hello to all who have read Mr Vallas reply,
I am responding anonymously because I fear retribution for making a public criticism. I am a teacher at one of Bridgeport’s three major high schools. People are universally angry in my school at the standardized tests that were administered. As Pelto said in his excellent response, the tests were not well crafted. They covered things that students hadn’t been exposed to. The results will be meaningless, except to prove Mr Vallas success in following years when teaching to the test is implimented. They were also smack dab in the middle of the week before finals. The memo that was sent out by Ms Kase was written in the most insulting manner imaginable, not to mention full of grammatical errors. Teachers in my building were aghast and insulted. Final exams prep was a joke as a result of this horrendous policy decision.
Vallas was brought in to our school system through a board of education takeover that was later ruled unconstitutional. The new board was selected rather than elected, a true attack on democracy. Behind the scenes, private hedgefund companies were working hard to make it happen, such as Lone Pine Capital in Greenwich. This was all revealed when the Bridgeport’s teachers union filed a freedom of information act request. The illegal board is waiting to be replaced by new elections. While Bridgeport is waiting, the illegal board is trying to extend Mr Vallas contract to lock him in for several additional years.
No one should be fooled by his rhetoric of concern. There is big money behind Mr Vallas. His salary is being paid by private interests in the nearby affluent towns to the tune of $229,000 (not counting the money from his other consulting jobs). He is bringing in his private consultants for big bucks while laying off teachers. Social workers, guidance councilors, music, home economics, autoshop, and business programs are being removed from our high schools. Drill and kill is coming and coming fast in Bridgeport. No one should be fooled. The reforms Mr Vallas is touting will remove all the programs and meaningful learning that happens in middle and upper class schools. Of course these reforms will be cloaked in the language of “Civil Rights” and “school improvement” and “saving our students.” Do not be fooled.
Regards,
Bridgeport Teacher
ps Worth reading about the “work” Vallas did in Chile and Haiti:
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=2439
http://socialistworker.org/2011/09/08/shock-doctrine-schooling
And remember, New Orleans has been gentrified since Katrina. Many people have not been able to return. The school systems played no small role in this. I shudder at what awaits Bridgeport.
It is difficult to read your defense when I remember the Paul Vallas from Illinois. As CEO of Chicago Public Schools, you championed using the ACT as the achievement test for Illinois’ high school juniors, a test that is totally inappropriate for this purpose. There was a sort of compromise in Illinois by adding the Work Keys test to Day Two of the Prairie State Achievement Test, a test which is more appropriate for gauging work readiness for our graduates. Now, however, we have two days of mandated child abuse for our students. Day One I watch as my college-bound students work diligently on the test, while special education students, students going into the military, and others heading toward technical schools or job training programs, aimlessly bubble in score sheets. On Day Two, I watch as my honors students half-heartedly work on the Work Keys test while the other students, who should do well on this test but are exhausted after the ACT, do their best on work-related reading and math passages.
To challenge Diane Ravitch’s stellar background and genuine concern for the future of America’s public schools, it takes someone with a stronger history than yours.
The quote that I just can’t get out of my head, when Mr. Vallas speaks of “his” teachers: “… most of them are delighted to have the opportunity to gain a clear picture of which children need to be in summer school. They welcome the baseline data that will give them the information they need over the summer to plan for the strengths and weaknesses of their incoming classes, to ensure they are equipped with the appropriate interventions and supports. They agree with us that this will help them be confident and ready to instruct in the new and more rigorous curriculum and instructional program we are implementing in 2012-2013.”
I’m sorry, Mr. Vallas, but when you find a teacher in Bridgeport who uses the adjective “delighted” when describing the recent standardized tests forced upon us, please have them speak up… because I certainly haven’t heard a single one use any positive words to describe the complete discounting and insulting decisions you have imposed on us in the short 5 months you have been at BPS.
As already mentioned here, summer school placement letters already went out. These scores (which aren’t aligned to anything we have taught all year) are USELESS to the teachers!!! And the fact that you have the audacity to place these “custom” tests at a higher caliber or “better” than the state’s CMT test, is yet another testament to your apparent arrogance and callous nature.
Also, to state that decisions will be made using these scores, again, HUGE LIE! Decisions were made well before this “big idea” to have a standardized test in June!! Books bought, administrators re-located, teachers fired, schools getting rid of MUCH NEEDED personnel, etc., etc.
No, sir, we were NOT “delighted” to use our last 7 weeks of school prepping for yet ANOTHER STANDARDIZED test this year!! No, sir, we would have much preferred using this time to engage in activities that we couldn’t get to, due to CMT testing and DRA testing and LAS testing and Online-testing (which is basically from Jan.-March) We would have preferred to use this time to engage our students in ‘real’ activities, critical thinking skills and prepare them for the following grade.
Not only did Bridgeport students lose out on a time of year where they would have been able to be creative and practice important skills like oral presentations, many classes also lost out on Field Days and Field Trips normally planned in the last few weeks of school!! This is devastating enough for any child, but to urban, minority students, it is heartbreaking and upsetting to say the least! In many cases, field trips provide crucial, life-long experiences and opportunities that many of our students may not otherwise have.
Before all of that, maybe you should have asked the TEACHERS what we thought – being that WE are the ones ALL DAY with the “mostly minority, low income children,” you said “you” are responsible for. Surveys were sent to teachers (in April, I believe, after 4 months had passed and all decisions made, books purchased, ect). Many teachers are curious about the results of that survey. Wondering especially about the question involving our ‘feelings’ towards the new administration and its future path. Also curious what the mean was on the ‘rate the district scale of 0-100’ question.
If this Board, or any future BOE, grants Mr. Vallas an extended contract, they should be ashamed of themselves! The students of Bridgeport deserve a “real” Superintendent, and the teachers deserve something better than a drive-thru ‘reformer’ who will leave us coughing in the dirt! Because, come on, you know who will be blamed when these “new books” don’t work out the way he planned… Just blame it on the teachers again!
Have you considered applying to a system like Greenwich, CT? Or is it that obvious that things like this don’t happen in places like that… because you wouldn’t get away with it. It’s SO sad that, yet again, our inner city school children are the ones paying the price for this corruption. And caring, hard-working, veteran teachers like myself will be forced out of our profession because of all the irrational decisions made by people who have never even been in a classroom before! ☹ God Bless the kids of Bridgeport.
And THANK YOU Diane & Jon for bringing all of this to this level! It’s the rational people like us who can and should make a difference!
Hoping more teachers will “speak up!”
I teach in CT, but not Bridgeport. I can’t tell you how devastating it is to read your post and many of the others. Those that have the power to stop him either don’t get it or they don’t care. Why is it that the teachers, the ones who do and know the most, have no voice?
He is using these kids to promote himself, his business of deform and his connections. You cannot apply a business model to teaching and learning. These are developing human beings not widgets. This is heart breaking and maddening. Will it be too late when these self-appointed reformers are exposed for the charlatans they really are?
Linda, we fear retribution. This is why we have no voice.
I will try, to the best of my ability, to leave my thoughts in a coherent fashion. I am BEYOND infuriated with the state of the Bridgeport public school system, and as a Bridgeport elementary school teacher, I have MORE than a few things to say. However, I will (in this post!) focus on the issues of summer school and interventions/resources.
1) Summer School
Mr. Vallas does nothing more than spin lies.
– …”most of them (teachers) are delighted to have the opportunity to gain a clear picture of which children need to be in summer school.”
To quote another teacher who posted here, please let ANY teacher who is DELIGHTED with these tests step forward. I have not encountered any and I challenge Mr. Vallas to provide one. Secondly, the decisions for summer school were made using Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) data and students’ grades in their academic classes. I emphasize WERE MADE because the students have already received and returned their summer school letters. We have not, as of today, even received the results of these end of the year tests. In the past, summer school was only offered K-3. This is the first year that it is being offered 4-7 as well. However, 4th-7th graders do not need to pass summer school in order to pass to the next grade; It is a “bridge” program. Well, excellent! As it is only being offered for a mere fifteen days, I find that to hardly be enough time for a student to improve their skills in more than 2-3 areas. Having been privileged enough to view the math curriculum purchased, I can tell you with authority that teachers are expected to teach 6 (six!) math skills in one 1.5 hour class period, daily. So rather than focus on a few crucial skills and allow already struggling students to solidify their knowledge in a few areas, we will bombard them with EVERYTHING they should have learned in an entire year of curriculum and expect them to be successful. Also, summer school teachers are teaching 3 weeks of a 6 week curriculum (published by yours, mine, and Mr. Vallas’ dear friends, Houghton Mifflin- Harcourt), but are pre and post testing the entire 6 weeks. Hmmm….let’s see how well that turns out. My last point on the summer school curriculum is that we, as classroom teachers, were not given ANY criteria to choose students. One administrator said, “pick the low students.” Another said, “choose those that you think will reach a 3 on the CMT”. A third said, “only pick the ones that you think will benefit from this”. And how exactly should I divine that? With the end of the year test data? Oh wait, we don’t have it yet.
2) “They welcome the baseline data that will give them the information they need over the summer to plan for the strengths and weaknesses of their incoming classes, to ensure they are equipped with the appropriate interventions and supports.”
Oh Lord, where to begin? WHAT interventions and supports? Our “support staff” begin their days by splitting classes for teachers that are absent. That way, instead of teaching 25 children, I can manage 29-30 students, who may or may not be in the same grade as my own and who may or may not come with any assignments to complete. With, at most, one literacy and math coach per building, and not nearly enough para-professionals, the interventions are mostly all classroom-based and teacher-implemented. The Student Assistance Team, which deals with specific student issues, such as consistently low academic achievement or troublesome behavior, was previously a final step for teachers, after all classroom resources had been exhausted. That too, however, has been foisted upon teachers and we are now expected to be the last line of defense in this area as well.
We have BEGGED for testing for our students. We have BEGGED for drug and alcohol education for our children who see it EVERY DAY. We have BEGGED for gang prevention activities for children who ward off gang recruiters in their neighborhoods. We have BEGGED for more tutoring options. We have BEGGED for supplies. What do we get? Mr. Vallas’ wonderful solutions.
Teachers are being demonized in the media. Are there crappy teachers out there? Absolutely! I can name several. But it is those few terrible teachers who give the hundreds of other hard working teachers a bad name. Do you realize, Mr. Vallas, that being a teacher is HARD? In fact, it is ten times harder than your job! We teach, clean, care for, nurse, counsel, guide, shape, motivate, inspire, model for, coach, and LOVE 29 little people every day. I have to tell you, I am not perfect, but I try pretty darn hard every day to do this job- not for you Mr. Vallas, not for your tests, not for your backroom deals, nor your fancy board meetings, but for the children who depend on me daily and for their parents who come to me, not you, when they need help.
But I don’t know why I’m stressing out. As a Christian, I have been waiting for my Savior to come. Mr. Vallas, I guess you have arrived.
And the TRUTH shall set us free!!! – if only the ones who could actually fix all this, cared about anything else but themselves:(
Dear Diane,
It was disappointing to read your criticism of the work that Paul Vallas and I are doing in Bridgeport. It indicated to me that you did not have a full understanding of the educational conditions facing many of Bridgeport’s schools.
When Paul and I arrived in January, we were confronted with a 13 million dollar budget shortfall, schools without sufficient books and resources, teachers who had not had the benefit of consistent instructional training and support and administrators who were not empowered to make educational decisions for their own schools. Bridgeport schools were already using a myriad of tests, most of which they created and were not yielding data that could be used effectively to indicate the true needs of the children. As a result, the instruction being provided, while well-intentioned, was not based on accurate data. Paul and I have a duty to change that situation and to support teachers in providing the right instruction for the right children. None of us want to over-test our students. Testing serves an important purpose, but the tests have to be targeted and meaningful so that teachers have the data they need to plan effective lessons. As a result, we decided to give an end-of-year test in June.
Paul makes the point that the state standardized tests are not very helpful. First, they’re given in March when teachers have not had time to teach a full year’s curriculum and, as a result, hurry to “cover” topics that they believe might be tested. Teachers need time to teach the full curriculum. Second, the results are not sent to districts until well after school ends. Our plan is to create a coherent benchmarked system next year that is predictable and does not “over-test” our students. Teachers need data they can use when planning instruction.
I am not a corporate reformer. I am a career educator who has had experience in turning around the lowest performing schools, an achievement in which I take great pride. I understand the need to support and train teachers so that they can use their own creativity effectively. I also understand the need for “un-regimented” learning and have already supported many opportunities for those kinds of experiences in the schools. No one is substituting testing for teaching. However, I also know how important it is for children to learn how to read and understand mathematics at high levels. I believe that teaching students these important skills and providing opportunities for creative activities are not mutually exclusive. It’s disingenuous to state that they are.
Paul and I are interested in building the capacity of teachers and administrators to provide the highest quality education with opportunities for children that are unprecedented in Bridgeport. Many groups and individuals are asking what they can do to support our efforts to raise the achievement of Bridgeport’s students. Positive change will not occur until everyone is working together to achieve the desired goals. While constructive criticism is always welcomed, it should be accompanied by positive suggestions. We look forward to working with all constituents to create schools of excellence in Bridgeport.
Best regards,
Sandy
You lose all credibility when you express concerns about teacher training and support but you salivate at the chance for Teach for a while recruits and elevate them higher than the lowly public school teachers who have dedicated their lives to children and authentic teaching and learning. The unionized public school teacher is a greedy good for nothing slob and the TFAer is noble and courageous for giving up 2-3 years of their lives. Vallas is your boss, so we wouldn’t expect you to do anything else but stroke his ego.
Diane,
As someone who has known you for a long time as a colleague and a friend, I am taken aback by your post about Bridgeport testing. We are up to our ears with a district in crisis and trying to right the ship for the mostly minority, low income children who are our responsibility. Perhaps the hectic pace here in the district accounts for why I missed your phone call expressing concern for the methodology I, in partnership with my Chief Administrator, Dr. Sandra Kase, are employing? Of course, no phone call ever came. Therefore I will respond in this forum.
As I explained to my teachers in school visits and by memo, which I would have been happy to share with you, the Connecticut assessment test is weak. I have always been critical of annual state tests that are high stake, that are too narrow, that are administered too early and that produce data that is dated by the end of any given school year. Connecticut’s assessment system has all of those shortcomings. It is unfair to both teachers and students. Thus, in an effort to support teachers and to give them the baseline data that they need in real time at the end of the year, we are am administering a series of short end-of-the-year tests to give teachers an accurate and up to date picture of their students’ full learning profiles, and in particular the skills and concepts that need to be re-taught or strengthened to ensure student success in the new school year term. Our teachers care deeply about their students’ success, and most of them are delighted to have the opportunity to gain a clear picture of which children need to be in summer school. They welcome the baseline data that will give them the information they need over the summer to plan for the strengths and weaknesses of their incoming classes, to ensure they are equipped with the appropriate interventions and supports. They agree with us that this will help them be confident and ready to instruct in the new and more rigorous curriculum and instructional program we are implementing in 2012-2013.
There is no downside to these baseline assessments. The results do not factor into student promotion or teacher retention. Allow me to reiterate, they will simply provide current, data-guided decisions about summer school interventions to the benefit of students who are struggling, they will inform as to where additional supports should be allocated to individual students next year, and they will provide a baseline that will guide the implementation for next year’s new curriculum and instructional program. It is a responsible, proactive, vigorous measure to ensure teachers have the information they need to be effective in as close to “real time” possible, and that students get the support they need beginning on day one of next school year.
With regard to the comment about running a consulting business on the side, after my previous districts, Bridgeport is a small district by my experience. I was recruited Bridgeport to become interim Superintendent with the full understanding that I would continue to be available to help other school districts as needed. You will recall that I have been doing work in Chile and Haiti. The Illinois contract you speak of, which has yet to be tendered, is actually a request to do turnaround in two historically failing districts. I have assembled a team of top educators, many of whom you know or know of, and all of whom come from the traditional schools community. While the price tag on that contract may sound exotic at $1 million, that actually covers the cost of the team for three years work in two school districts. Let me point out that in New York, that much money is frequently spent annually on interventions targeting a single school only. I hope these are the not the only projects where we can make the type of impact we are making here in Bridgeport. I expect it to be quite a challenge and one I look forward to. Give Dr. Kase and me a call if you wish to discuss further or the next time you want an explanation of any of our programs. Your call is always welcome.
Regards,
Paul
Paul,
I’d like to take a moment to respond to the comment you recently posted in response to Diane Ravitch’s blog about the testing mania that you have brought to Bridgeport, Connecticut.
My name is Jonathan Pelto and I’m the one who writes the CT Blog called Wait, What?.
I spent nearly a decade as a member of the Connecticut General Assembly, serving as a member of both the Appropriations and Education Committees. During my tenure in the Legislature, I had the honor of helping to develop the Education Enhancement Act and the Education Cost Sharing Formula, the two most important pieces of education legislation in modern Connecticut history. I represented the 54th House District, while my friend and colleague, Nancy Wyman, who presently serves as the state’s Lt. Governor served in the 53rd District.
In addition to spending nearly four decades working on and monitoring education policy in Connecticut, I’ve managed or worked on numerous political campaigns at the federal, state and local level. Although I’m from far northeastern Connecticut, my first campaign working with Bridgeport politics was thirty years ago. Since then I’ve been a regular observer, and sometime participant, in Bridgeport politics.
Your response to Diane raises a few key issues.
Let me first address your introduction in which you say;
“We are up to our ears with a district in crisis and trying to right the ship for the mostly minority, low income children who are our responsibility. Perhaps the hectic pace here in the district accounts for why I missed your phone call expressing concern for the methodology I, in partnership with my Chief Administrator, Dr. Sandra Kase, are employing? Of course, no phone call ever came.” Therefore I will respond in this forum.”
That paragraph is probably the most insulting, self-centered and sophomoric thing I’ve ever read. Only someone who is obsessively self-centered would start with such an absurd and arrogant introduction. No one, least of all someone of Diane Ravitch’s caliber, would be expected to “check in” with you before articulating an opinion about your public activities. You are a public employee, engaged in the public’s business. If you wanted a life of quiet insignificance you should have chosen to be a hedge fund manager.
Then, to add insult to injury, you go on to say that you;
“Explained” to your “teachers in school visits and by memo that the Connecticut assessment test is weak…”and “thus, in an effort to support teachers and to give them the baseline data that they need in real time at the end of the year, we are am [sic] administering a series of short end-of-the-year tests to give teachers an accurate and up to date picture of their students’ full learning profiles, and in particular the skills and concepts that need to be re-taught or strengthened to ensure student success in the new school year term.”
But of course, Mr. Vallas that is an absolute and total lie.
The memo that you or Sandra Kase wrote to all teachers, of which I’d be happy to give you’re a copy, speaks of the “lull in learning” that takes place after standardized tests and announces that you have scheduled another round of tests – to be done exactly like the first round – in order to ensure that teachers are focused on their jobs till the end of the semester.
Your memo reminded me of Governor Malloy’s comment that a teacher need only show up for four years to get tenure or his statement that he is okay with teaching to the test as long as the test scores go up. They are statements that are, at best, disingenuous.
As we now know, your testing scheme actually disrupted the finals and end of year projects that would have given teachers and administrators the ability to finalize the lists of who needed summer school. Your tests not only failed to do that but were actually counterproductive to that very task.
You go on to inform Diane Ravitch that “our teachers care deeply about their students’ success, and most of them are delighted to have the opportunity to gain a clear picture of which children need to be in summer school. They welcome the baseline data that will give them the information they need over the summer to plan for the strengths and weaknesses of their incoming classes, to ensure they are equipped with the appropriate interventions and supports. They agree with us that this will help them be confident and ready to instruct in the new and more rigorous curriculum and instructional program we are implementing in 2012-2013.”
Come now, please. Try to maintain some element of the truth. The additional standardized test was an opportunity to know one’s students and who needs extra help? From a test that appeared late in the year and failed to remotely follow the approved curriculum.
What about the 11th grade math test that included topics that aren’t taught until 12th grade or the 5th grade questions that were simply wrong.
What about the question that proved the pit-fall of standardized testing when it asked urban, minority students to respond to a question about a “deck” when it turns out that not a single student knew what a “deck” was, although all knew that the porch was the thing that is attached to nearly every house in Bridgeport.
And if you are so concerned about preparing for the fall, how do rationalize your decision to purchase new textbooks before the group that is assign to develop the revised curriculum even meets.
That doesn’t even begin to address your unilateral decision to shift next fall’s high
school seniors away from reading African American and world literature and, instead, having them read an anthology about British Literature.
I had the opportunity recently to tour a Title 1 school in New York City. Their school wide curriculum development process, which included full utilization of the Rubicon Atlas software program, was a weekly event throughout the year and they are still not completely ready for next year. Under your approach, the curriculum will be developed in a few short sessions and presented to teachers in the days immediately before the start of the school year.
Finally, as a Connecticut resident let me just say that your belief that you are entitled to run “a consulting business on the side” since Bridgeport is such a small district compared to your previous experience” says more about your commitment and dedication than anything you could have possibly said. The $229,000 plus benefits may seem a pittance to you, but Connecticut residents are not out of line to believe for that for that amount of money the children, parents and teachers of the City deserve someone’s full-time attention.
Since it was you who introduced the notion that an “expert’s” comments should go unquestioned, let me just say, as an expert on Connecticut politics, that while you will come and go as you please, that last comment of yours implying that setting Bridgeport’s schools is virtually child’s play compared to your previous efforts will live to haunt Mayor Finch and the Bridgeport leaders who recruited you. If one of my employees said something so incredible insulting, I’d tell him he needn’t return in the morning.
I have watched your activities from afar since you arrived in Connecticut and your post on Diane Ravitch’s blog says more about you and your intentions than anything else I’ve read to date.
Dr. Sandra Kase emphasizes the problem of “teachers who had not had the benefit of consistent instructional training and support.” Dr. Kase, you couldn’t be referring to the 5-week training of the TFA corps members who staff many Bridgeport classrooms, and who move on to school board takeovers after their two years, could you?
Paul Vallas’ comments are ALL lies. The Summer School decisions were given to teachers, prior to the administering of the June testing! Who does this man think he is fooling?
Paul and Sandra came roaring into Bridgeport with a plan. Vallas will very quickly tell you how great the “Plan” worked in other districts that were much larger than Bridgeport. There is no customized turn-around model based on district or students needs. All there is is the same old plan: Secure a contract for himself, hire every reject/retired person he knows, fire/lay-off teachers/administrators, spend big money on books and curriculum, cook the books, fudge the data, promote your greatness, get out of town.
Have any of you ever bothered to read Charlotte Thomson Iserbyte’s book entitled, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America? Perhaps you should and you can do so for free here: http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com
Have you ever heard of Norman Dodd? In 1954, a special Congressional Committee investigated the interlocking web of tax-exempt foundations to see what impact their grants were having on the American psyche. The Committee stumbled onto the fact that some of these groups had embarked upon a gigantic project to rewrite American history and incorporate it into new school text books.
Norman Dodd, the committee’s research director found, in the archives of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace the following remarkable statement of purpose:
The only way to maintain control of the population was to obtain control of education in the U.S. They realized this was a prodigious task so they approached the Rockefeller Foundation with the suggestion that they go in tandem and that portion of education which could be considered as domestically oriented be taken over by the Rockefeller Foundation and that portion which was oriented to International matters be taken over by the Carnegie Endowment.
The Rockefeller Foundation agreed to take on the domestic portion of the task. The purpose of all this interest in history, was of course to rewrite it. Dodd explained:
They decided that the success of this program lay in the manner in which American history was to be presented. They then approached four of the then most-prominent historians — such as Mary and Charles Beard — with the suggestion that they alter the manner in which they were accustomed to presenting the subject. They [were] turned down flat, so…they decided they [had] to build a coterie of historians of their own selection.
Oh, what have they done to our once great nation and why? I know the answer. Do you want to know the answer? You can begin your journey here: http://www.Americandeception.com There is a ton of infomation on there about education. Take a trip down the rabbit hole. How deep does it go? Do you even want to know the truth? They say, the truth will set you free. You do want to be free, don’t you?
Dear Sandy,
Yesterday, in the rush to respond to Mr. Vallas’ post on Diane Ravich’s blog, I didn’t get a chance to address the key issue that you raised – that being the Connecticut Master Test is not good.
You wrote, “Bridgeport schools were already using a myriad of tests, most of which they created and were not yielding data that could be used effectively to indicate the true needs of the children. As a result, the instruction being provided, while well-intentioned, was not based on accurate data. Paul and I have a duty to change that situation and to support teachers in providing the right instruction for the right children. None of us want to over-test our students. Testing serves an important purpose, but the tests have to be targeted and meaningful so that teachers have the data they need to plan effective lessons. As a result, we decided to give an end-of-year test in June.”
Focusing on the most important test of all, you point out that, “Paul makes the point that the state standardized tests are not very helpful. First, they’re given in March when teachers have not had time to teach a full year’s curriculum and, as a result, hurry to “cover” topics that they believe might be tested. Teachers need time to teach the full curriculum.”
I recognize that you and Paul have extraordinary experience with the utilization of standardized tests. What is so troubling is that Governor Malloy and Education Commissioner Pryor just staked their careers on tying Connecticut’s Master Test to a new teacher evaluation system that will depend on the results of that test.
It is an incredible shame that neither you nor Paul took the time to inform Connecticut lawmakers that the results from the state’s test are not even valuable enough to determine which instruction is right for which students.
As you are aware, Connecticut just went through a tumultuous legislative session in which Malloy and Pryor consistently said the exact opposite and assured teachers, parents and communities that school administrators will be able to utilize the test scores to determine which teachers can do their jobs and which cannot. In fact, millions of dollars were authorized to implement a 10-town pilot program in which the test you and Paul called “a bad test” will be linked to a teacher’s career.
I know my former colleagues in the General Assembly will be extremely upset to learn that someone of Paul’s caliber finds the Connecticut test so useless that he trashes them in a nationally respected blog.
In addition, you say that Connecticut teacher’s “hurry to “cover” topics that they believe might be” on the Connecticut Mastery test, however the test will and Paul instituted will allow you to make reasoned decisions about next year. Of course, that begs the question about why your test did not follow the approved curriculum that is presently in place. In fact, as far as I can tell your test was not linked to the present curriculum in any way what-so-ever.
Considering you have already announced a new curriculum development process for this summer, including the use of Rubicon Atlas, there is absolutely no way that your new test could possibly serve as the bench-mark you claim it to be, nor could it be used to determine placement for next year, since it doesn’t measure what the student was taught this year.
Your rhetoric about not “over-testing” students is commendable but the more we learn about the testing you’ve institute, the clearer it is that this test does not have value looking backwards or going forward.
Considering the issues you raise, I hope you will send it on to Connecticut policymakers so they can consider necessary changes to this year’s “education reform” legislation.
[…] an extraordinary exchange on education expert Diane Ravitch’s nationally respected blog, (see https://dianeravitch.net/2012/05/31/test-test-test-test-another-day-in-bridgeport/), Bridgeport’s Superintendent of Schools Paul Vallas, and his Chief Administrator, Dr. Sandra […]
And Roy O. says you’re crazy. This is the most logical thought from our state (CT) I’ve heard in a while. I hope Sandy and Paul respond here or on Jon’s blog. Comments like theirs and Jon’s can’t be ignored by the media either. You can’t make up these quotes.
“…the Connecticut assessment test is weak. I have always been critical of annual state tests that are high stake, that are too narrow, that are administered too early and that produce data that is dated by the end of any given school year. Connecticut’s assessment system has all of those shortcomings. It is unfair to both teachers and students.” – P. Vallas
Great job Jon connecting the dots with our evaluations…let’s get some other ‘higher-uppers’ to actually say what they are thinking instead of following their own ‘status-quo’.
The hits from Vallas just keep on a’comin. Why do I think that Googling “Twilight Alternative Programs” will lead me to something he’s previously implement along his destructive path (along with Easy IEP and Houghton Mifflin).
This from the CT Post today:
Ford said they are asking Vallas to postpone the decision to close it.
“We are begging for one more year,” she said. “As a school, business and community, we need the year to redefine ourselves. There are so many things we can do but we need more than a month’s notice.”
Some have suggested the school could apply to become a charter school. Ford said it would take time to make that happen. She said the school has offered to drop its per pupil price by $1,500 a student but can’t go below 35 students without compromising its staffing levels.
She also worries what will happen to students from New Start when they are put into a program that is not established and located where they were having trouble to begin with. “Give us the year for them to create it and for us to transition the kids
Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Alternative-high-school-students-upset-at-plan-to-3620333.php#ixzz1xQGl1tX3
I am are immensely impressed with Mr. Vallas’ writing skills.
Has had he ever considered teaching as a profession?
Why? Then he would be held accountable. Here he can spin his bull and have everyone think he is a superhero. When the results are not there, he can blame the lowly public school teacher. By then he will move on….wherever there is a disaster, there is Paul Vallas making it worse.
The pace at which the Vallas/Kase company move is so hurried, it can’t be anything but reckless. There is absolutely NO transparency or communication with teaching staff. The worst manifestation in Bridgeport is that good teachers are trying to leave; those who haven’t be terminated after being found to be “in excess.” And that is an true oxymoron; too many teachers in an underserved school district.
Decisions have been made without adequate information and the implosion is just starting. Teachers and other educational staff have no input in the decision-making so clearly there will be disastrous effects and aftershocks forthcoming.
Books and materials have purchased to support the curriculum, which hasn’t been written yet. Common Core (like it or not) is on the way, and there are no preparations to accommodate for what that will mean for teachers. There are significant standard changes and concepts that teachers need to be versed in. Yet no one seems to be aware of this.
BTW, CT tests, both CMT and CAPT, are being used in the Common Core test materials from the SMARTER balanced consortia.
The most reliable way to improve education is to lower classroom sizes. I know that costs a pretty penny, but consider how much we are spending on new buildings, consultants, and so many other resources. Not that there is anything wrong that per se, but when class sizes are swelling, we need to prioritize towards individual TLC for all children. Students benefit, parents (and voters) are delighted, teachers can instruct more deeply, and politicians have bright feathers in their caps. Let’s find the vision and thus, find the way.
I have a different perspective on Bridgeport testing at the end of the year. I teach in Bridgeport and I love when the state tests end and we can all relax and have a little creative fun. I still keep to my curriculum but I do more project type work, and hands on activities that I know the students love and it makes learning more fun. Like writing a children’s book and then reading it to the lower grade classes or creating a power point and sharing it with classmates. These are just to name a few. I really didnt think I would mind the newest round of testing. I can understand how we have state tesing in March and we still have a long way to go with our curriculum. I understand all of it. I get that we need new reading programs and math programs and new materials. That makes sense to me. Here is the problem in Bridgeport: there are so many students coming to school with serious emotional problems that we are not fully equipped to handle. These children disrupt the class on a daily basis and we are supposed to teach successfully under these circumstances. This is impossible. There isnt one lesson that I teach that isnt interrupted many times by these disruptive, disrespectful children. Everyone including these children suffer the consequences. All of the wonderful programs and materials that are put in place do not produce results if we cannot teach effectively. I have been teaching for many years and I have never seen so many students who disrupt classes on a daily basis as I have recently. Children at different levels is one thing. They can be taught in small group instruction etc using all the newest materials but when a teacher cannot even get through small group or large group instruction effectively because of disruptive students, this is the biggest problem I see here in the the city and probably many other cities. These children themselves are suffering because they are not getting the help they need to succeed either.
I have had success in dealing with children with emotional problems but I can see an upswing happening lately. Bullying is another issue to be dealt with. It is everywhere.
The end of year tests have not resulted in any scores being forwarded to teachers, and make ups are only just being scheduled– for the 2nd to last day of finals– after school. Really? The kids are going to show up for these? The ones who are potential borderline summer school kids? A joke. The tests don’t even test history and science, as the state tests do.
How are they better? Oh, wait, their numbers are more cookable and the profits are there for corporate taking.
Vallas will succeed in destroying Bridgeport’s schools even faster than Philly.
Quality dedicated teachers like me are all preparing to escape if we can– the fights, guns, and drugs don’t scare us off– but Vallas and Kase sure can. We have our own families and homes to protect.
As we speak, the buses are being warmed up to take students (those who show up) to take an Accuplacer test at a local community college. This is AFTER having 2 successive final exams. This is educational malpractice. And yes, Querculus is representative of a great many teachers in the Bridgeport Public Schools who are pursuing other options due to the utter instability of misdirected and uninformed leadership. A clear case of death by overtesting. And after the implosion, who will be left to pick up the pieces?
And in regard to class size, the numbers in Bpt. classes will most likely exceed state limits next year.
An April 27 memo promised that the end of year test scores would be reported to schools after 3 days.
Click to access EOYTestingMemoStudents04-27-12memo01.pdf
Today is the third business day, adn the fifth calendar day… and they’re only just beginning to put together makeups. No results forthcoming. No benefit to summer school decisions.
And that Accuplacer test? Seems to me an effort to remove seniors and send them to community (and private) colleges, presumably to be taught by grad students. Cheaper than teachers, that’s for sure! Or is it? What is not so certain is the benefit to students.
I’d love to compile a list of who has financially benefitted and who has lost so far during the Vallas Regime in Bridgeport. One side would be consultants and corporations– and the other would be the laid off teachers. Other blogs indicate that the same corporation and consulting group has wound up on this list in Vallas’ former cities.
Bridgeport’s population is a struggling, poorly educated one with a large non-voting immigrant segment. It is difficult for them to stay informed amongst the misinformation campaign.
The BOE was dissolved and illegaly reconstituted by the governor with out of town members. And the money begins to be vacuumed out of town.
And this just in: the Governor has hidden a rider in a just-passed state funding bill that forces the city to choose from HIS list of three superintendents, or the State of Connecticut will take away $3,500,000.00 from this dying city’s education allotment. $3.5M!
All so sad. Is democracy now completely dead in Corrupticut?
How I wish I could stay here and share the best of my skills and my love of and faith in youth, education, and this city. I will try to do so, Doinwhatican. We will see if the current leadership makes that possible.
Vallas and Kase are so transparent. They are destroying public education in our great cities and are brought in to dismantle public schools, not help them. These two are the Duke and Dauphin of modern days. Please show up at the Aquaculture school in Bridgeport on June 25 to express your dissatisfaction with these two frauds.
I think I’ll be there. And will maybe even risk my career to speak out. Effectively.
I think we HAVE TO! – risky, but necessary;) – Enough is ENOUGH!
The best move for all concerned teachers, parents, and community members would be to circulate this blog post to EVERYONE in Bridgeport and the surrounding areas. The people do have the power to shine light in the darkness. Everyone should know the truth and not be mislead by that trifling Connecticut Post. May the voice of the people be heard on June 25th and all days leading up to it. Speak up and speak often. Thank you, Diane, for being a crusader against the CT Oligarchy. Public education is a right that has to be fought for. Sad to even have to type those words.
Read this BS – Morally right? What a rag of a paper:
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/School-bailout-conditions-called-fair-morally-3632660.php
did bridgeport just accept a bribe from the state? this is morally right? didn’t joe ganim go to jail for doing basically the same thing?
all this is about is wealthy white people telling poor minorities how to run their lives
Still no test scores… hmmm, does that mean we’ll be analyzing 2 sets of tests scores (State & local) come AUgust/Sep? While learning and effectively implementing new books and programs in our classrooms? – oh, and surely we’ll start our year with a string of TESTS… ANd meanwhile hoping there’s some time for teaching, disciplining, nurturing, ect while doing all the other crap dumped on us to figure out next year… What do they think we are? Robots? I am dreading ALL of it…
Guess what? We now find out it had been planned for months, but kept secret so it would be easier to get SB 24, or whatever it is called now, passed. Hmmmm? I wonder what they are planning now and who is next? No wonder why our commissioner has never been a teacher, but a very crafty, sly lawyer.
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/State-sought-control-over-Bridgeport-ed-choice-3635421.php
Check out how the illegal board tried to be slick and have a quick meeting in between graduation ceremonies. They were going to discuss which school was to be absorbed by the Commissioner’s Network, among other things. But when certain aware citizens showed up, other BOE members mysteriously didn’t attend. Mind you, BOE members traditionally attend all 3 public high school graduations. The meeting was held 300 steps from the stadium where the ceremony occurred. Interesting, isn’t it?
http://blog.ctnews.com/education/2012/06/18/so-which-will-it-be/#.T9_C2tIoap4.twitter
Be at the Aquaculture School on June 25th to stop the oppression of public education.