A reader posted this comment:
“In Gainesville a school called Einstein Montessori received an “F.” It is a charter school specifically created for children with reading disabilities. They gave the children with reading disabilities and their teachers an F because they didn’t do well enough on a reading test!!! It is insanity and dispicable! Parents must be the ones to make this stop!!!”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Next thing will be reinstituting the dunce cap! Or, grading families who send schools their children w/learning disabilities! Time to strike, people!
It’s been renamed the Duncan cap…previously coined on this blog….I think it was TC.
Teachers can’t strike in FL. It’s illegal. They will lose their jobs and pensions. The republicans made sure to neuter the teachers in the southern states.
Insane?
I suggest it depends on the intention.
I am pleased to see a defense of a charter school here, especially one that enrolls a high percentage of students with learning disabilities.
Were you pleased with its rating?
No. As I said, I was pleased with the public defense.
Did you think the basis for its rating was fair and empirically based?
Oh, it’s empirically based. It’s just not logically based.
And since it’s not logically based that precludes “fair”.
In my city in Alabama, a public school that serves MR students exclusively was noted as failing under Alabama’s new Alabama Accountability Act because of its test scores. It should be noted that parents fight to get their children into this school and the public school system in my city is preparing to move it to a larger, more modern facility later this fall. In the meantime, as part of the same act and perhaps Alabama’s new 2020 Plan as well (our plan since receiving the NCLB waiver) Alabama’s public schools will be graded A-F.
And here lies the stupidity. These grades cannot be “one size fits all!!” It’s junk science as well. This is the time for Senators and Congressman to go to Obama and say, “Look at what you have done!!”
I am hopeful because the dominos seem to be falling faster and the examples of insanity (like the F for the school described above) are obvious. And, there are unlikely coalitions being forged. I saw my local school board member yesterday. We are often on opposite sides on big issues in education. As a Georgia parent, I am thrilled our state superintendent said NO to PARCC. I wasn’t sure where my board member would stand…first thing she said to me, with a smile on her face, was, “How about PARCC?!?” We laughed that we are allies on this one. I just want anything that is a barrier to ever-crazier testing. I assume she is opposed to the federal intrusion. One of her comments was along these lines…
If we need to compare our state’s students to others, what is wrong with the ITBS and the PSAT? She also said that ITBS needs to get in the game. They are letting
Pearson run away with all the money.
If you want to compare, there is also NAEP
Why compare at all?
What promises did this school make when it opened and marketed itself to parents?
Did they claim they would outperform the public schools for these students? Did they?
What were the qualifications of the teachers they hired?
There are plenty of traditional public schools with high percentages of children with a host of issues – do any charter supporters defend these traditional public schools when they receive poor scores?
Sorry, Concerned Mom…I apologize if it sounded as if I were fussing at you, too. I was just trying to answer the questions that I mistook for being about the school I posted about. By the way, as a teacher, I am thankful that parents like you are involved with your child’s education and the education world.
I didn’t see it as you fussing. I am trying to learn about all these education reforms so posts from teachers are very helpful to me.
We have a lot of charters in my neck of the woods and that’s why I am curious what this charter promised and if it made any claims against the traditional public schools.
I am amazed AL has been able to keep charters out. Although I see AL has the same misguided grading system. It seems like the end of NCLB won’t make much of a difference at the school level.
Race to the top is NCLB on steroids….it is worse and there is more federal control/mandates.
We need a revolution.
Concerned Mom…the school for the MR students is a public school, part of my county’s public school system. It has been in existence for as long as I can remember. Its principal and teachers are all certified by Alabama to be special ed. teachers. Alabama does not allow for Charter Schools, thank heavens.
I was referring to the school in the post – a charter school in FL. I am against grading any school, but since many charters claim to be better and provide innovated teaching techniques, I was curious what this school in FL promised and how it marketed itself – did they claim they would be more successful with these students and were they when compared to the traditional public schools in the area. What promises did they make?
Just because parents choose this charter, does not mean it was the correct choice for their child. That’s one question I have about choice schools, a big assumption is made that parents know what their child needs in terms of the details of how to educate them and that may not be the case. Then what?
“Then what?”
Teaching Economist and Get Real help us out here would ya!
Parents choose a traditional public school when they choose a place to live. Do the parents make an informed choice in that case?
There can be information asymmetries, but they can exist in public schools as well. The key would be to find the correct level of regulation. Regulate the things that would be difficult for the parent to see, the things that would have large consequences if the parent got it wrong, and the things that there is a general agreement about right and wrong.
The example I usually use in a class is that restaurants should be regulated for health standards but should not be regulated for the tastiness of the food.
But you would have to agree that a special education school should not be regulated by the same standards as other schools using a phony system like VAM? Child developmental specialist know that children do not learn at the same rate or by the same lessons. Yet politicians think that is not so. Special ed students need to learn at a different pace. And maybe through art or music instead of textbooks. There is progress, just not at the same rate. The ultimate goal is the same, but the journey needs to be different.
I do agree that special education schools should not be viewed differently from other schools. I also think that it is important to be able to communicate the progress made in the classroom to the wider world outside of a classroom. That is, I think, what we are trying to work out.
I am curious about your last statement. Is the goal in special education the really the same as the goal in “non-special” education? What do you see the goal(s) to be?
The goal is to have a child that is educated and can function to the best of their abilities independently.
But you are wrong when you say schools should have the same ratings. You don’t take into account the cognitive differences in our children. I have a nephew that is special needs and the school system in his district did very little to help him.
I don’t know why the not got there. I think they should be viewed differently.
I think you need to be able to demonstrate to people outside the school, that is your community, that you have achieved that goal.
The only real evaluators should be the parents not outsiders. Parents see growth. They know it takes time because their are other factors outside academics that come into play. I think it’s harsh of you to think that special ed kids are like all other children. They are not. Many have problems with social relationships, Many have problems focusing. Many have problems that include intensive counseling. You are an outsider and until you lived with a special needs child, you have no idea how tough it can be. Every inch of progress is a big deal. Your only determining factor is a test score. I really feel sorry for you as an individual and as a parent. May your child never be in an accident or suffer a brain injury. May your grandchildren be born healthy.
I think our posts crossed. The not in my original post was inadvertent.
I think there are a couple problems with only using parental satisfaction as the only means for evaluating the quality of a public school education. The first is that the public is paying for the education and might reasonably require evidence that the public is getting good value for the money. The second issue, raised by a member of posters here in various contexts, is that parents may not know if the school is providing the best reasonable education to ensure that the child can function to the best of their abilities. I know my spouse and I came to reevaluate our learning disabled foster son’s time in high school after he graduated.
My post were specially for schools specializing in special education.
I am not sure that addresses the issues I raised unless you mean to say that your post only concerned private schools specializing in special education.
No, I was clear. Public special education schools.
Ok. I don’t think the specialized nature of the school addresses my concerns with using parental satisfaction as the means of evaluating the effectiveness of the teaching in the school.
I am saying the measurements don’t fit VAM. It’s unfair. And I think there are better measurements. But a parent knows when their child is improving. So sorry you waited until after high school. Most children’s parents I know have ongoing testing and assessments.
A percent can know if their child is improving, but do they know what the potential rate of improvement could be?
He only came to live with us as a rising junior in high school. Before that he was living with his adoptive mother in a far away state.
Proving why you do not have the background on this.
At least give credit to the teachers who can effectively judge.
Unless you know the factors surrounding educating special ed, you have no right to tell others that these children should be judged by VAM until you actually teach special ed. You come here with little to no knowledge, yet you insist you have all the answers. With an ego like that, I know a guy you can Tweet with.
It still doesn’t even bother you that VAM is an inaccurate statistical measure.
Sent from my iPhone
You have an Iphone? Now I’m impressed.
Your right that I have no right telling others that these students should be judged by these standardized tests. That’s why I did not say that. Please note my response correcting my initial response.
I did note that you still think the community should have a say in this. I doubt, like you, the community understands the differences inherent in our special ed students learning styles and the rate they understand and process. Yet pols want them to meet the same standards as general ed. This is insane!!!
Please excuse my capitals, but it appears to be necessary: AS I SAID IN MY POST AT 2:05 TODAY, I AGREE THAT IT IS INAPPROPRIATE TO USE THE STANDARDIZED TESTS TO EVALUATE STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES. You might have a disagreement with someone about this, but it is not from me.
In the words of the immortal Emily Litella, “never mind”
By the way, all iPhones automatically add that tag to all emails sent. I accidentally responded to the post with an email rather than through the browser.
“Do they know what the potential rate of improvement could be?”
Yes, but it has nothing to do with standardized tests. It’s called an IEP and both the teacher and parent meet to discuss the parameters.
I know what an IEP is. Both my foster son and my middle son had IEPs.
So we agree with Diane’s premise. And special needs school Should be judged differently.
parents should use other factors that are not solely based on scores. Many times a good public school’s rating goes down when that school also has a large number of special needs students.
I knew about ur iPhone LOL.
My very first post in this thread praised this post. That was several days ago, so perhaps it was missed.
That’s why I couldn’t understand why you wrote it should NOT be judged differently. It didn’t make any sense. And it’s that statement I had a problem with. Glad it’s all settled.
I did try to settle it at 2:05 this afternoon, and again at at 3:36. Perhaps you missed those posts.
Now it’s 10:45…..goodnight you two. Sweet dreams. 🙂
Good night Linda.
Good night Teaching Economist.
Good night Diane.
Good Night John Boy.
An hour earlier here in the heartland.
There are good and bad schools everywhere, including good and bad charter schools. The problem is that there is little oversight by competent people. There is so much money in the school system, and the bureaucracy has grown so large that it has become virtually impossible to keep tabs on everything. Money flows in and out of the school system without any regard to what percent of it must be spent directly on students. The system is designed to invite corruption.