A reader described the start of the new school year. It began on a sad note:
School started for me yesterday. We had twos of professional development which meant our principal and a few other suits lecturing us about what we needed to do to keep our school from closing. At one point the principal said, “if you have a problem with what I’m telling you, maybe this isn’t the right school for you” very nice on the 2nd day of the new school year.
Today our local superintendent came for a minute. He seems very sad. He looked defeated. He came to wish us well and tell us that NY state is now deciding which schools live or die. NYC is no longer in the loop. He said he doesn’t agree with the state but the bottom line is that everything hinges on the results of the ELA and Math state exams. He said it didn’t look promising.
I work in an urban school with a high percentage of challenging children. Each year as more children go to Charters we get those who nobody wants. The numbers of elementary students are declining while the numbers of middle school are increasing as Charters cherry pick the best students and leave us the rest.
This is not considered. ELA and Math scores only will decide our fate.
To have our Superintendent so defeated before one child has set foot into my school this year is troubling. He said he just wanted to be honest with us.
What a way to start a new school year.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This post ought to go viral.
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Let’s send it out and make it happen. Here’s forwarding it!
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Yep. Me too. We have become a “Focus” school. We have a waiting list for preK, but my principal is not allowed to open anymore classes. We lost 4 teachers and our budget has been slashed beyond belief. Our guidance counselor is in only two days a week and the privately funded support team is down to one supervisor and three SW interns. If only the public knew!
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Grade based competition is a sham. If all kids could do better than average this year then next year that will be average and all schools will fail at improving scores. Which would allow administrations to play political games and play favorites – oh, I’m sorry, I guess we already have gotten to that point.
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Word usage matters in education discourse. Should we seek “student achievement” or “student learning”? Which is the cart and which is the horse?
Word Usage Matters in Public Education Discourse
Achievement antonym–failure
attainment, accomplishment, success, feat, triumph, realization, reaching
achievement [əˈtʃiːvmənt] n
1. something that has been accomplished, esp by hard work, ability, or heroism
2. successful completion; accomplishment
3. (History / Heraldry) Heraldry a less common word for hatchment
Learning antonyms–ignorance, illiteracy
knowledge, education, erudition, scholarship, culture, wisdom
learn•ing
noun /ˈlərniNG/
1. The acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, practice, or study, or by being taught
2. Knowledge acquired in this way
Learning implies an ongoing process whereas achievement implies an end goal.
Should public education be geared towards learning or achievement? Is NCLB/RATT/CCSS etc. . . geared towards learning or achievement?
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This post is a startling example of what the “reformers” have wrought.
I am grateful to this honest teacher for taking the time to share and I will send this out to everyone I know.
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I’ve been hearing what ur principal said to u for years. The big school I was in closed in 2004 and now I’m the same building with 4 small schools. Every meeting is doom and gloom, it breaks our spirit. This year there is special ed reform which means we have to accept all kids even if we don’t have the recommended program they need. Out of 12 freshman that are coming 8 are supposed to be in small special classes with a teacher and para. We have to take them and change their IEP’s to fit them into what programs we have in my school. We will throw these kids into classes with 34 kids and some off them will have 2 teachers. They will not succeed as others before them have not as well.
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Karen, That’s a great comment and is happening all over. We give kids what is available, not what they need. Sadly, there’s not much available these days thanks to budget cuts. I think a better way to “measure teachers” is to say, “when a student has adequate access to the necessary resources, he/she will be able to perform X.” Instead, all of the resources are going away, and teachers are being blamed for the failures.
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I passed this on via Facebook with the following comment: “I’m feeling frustrated about educational “reform” today. Can you tell? This post and the comments to it just sum it all up. Check it out if you think RTTT, NCLB, charter schools, and TFA are the answers. This is the reality, people. The reality for millions of American school children who are being left behind.” I am ready to get out of the back seat on this one.
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