This comment came from “Albany Mom”: I
agree with the writer that “if parents do not advocate for their
children, who will?” However, I need help
knowing how to advocate for my child. Who is going to
help? My husband and I have struggled with the
demons of Common Core this year, watching our 9 year old son sink
into what looks like depression. We can’t afford private school, so
I have coerced, offered rewards, and tried everything to encourage
him. He has developed sleep problems, moody and irritable, and
hardly eats. He has impulsive aggression with his younger sister.
He has lost his previous love of creative play, especially with
Legos, and now is chronically bored unless he has a video game. I
have banned video games since I think it is an escape and he is
becoming addicted. He is withdrawing from me, just as he is from
school. When his father is home on weekends, he tries to talk to
him, but it is more like “you don’t have a choice, just man up and
do your best”. It seems like we can’t change the school
environment, so we have to change our son to adapt to
it. Every morning is a struggle just to get
him out the door, and every night is another dismal episode of
boring homework (always worksheets with the “common core” logo at
the bottom). He cries frequently at home, and even broke down two
times at school this year when he became frustrated. I know that
caused a loss of dignity for him, and I met with his teacher to ask
for help. I can sense the teacher feels pressured too, and is
concerned about his test scores. He says son daydreams in class. I
was referred to take him to a child guidance center for counseling,
but that is not helping. A therapist can’t change the school
either, so is just trying to help him adapt to it.
I recognize it is not possible for me to make him like
school, and forcing him to go makes me feel like a bully. He may be
more sensitive than some children, but I think public schools need
to be happy welcoming places for children, and not like “work
camps” that make them feel worthless and trapped. This has caused
our family ongoing stress and fear, and it seems to be getting
worse. This is indeed a “psychological plague”
that is taking my child’s spirit, and I think there
are millions of other children out there experiencing
similar emotional distress from CC. Now I ask
this question to Arne Duncan: “Is it healthy
and realistic to expect the nation’s children to adapt to an
environment that is obviously causing them psychological
distress?”
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Please try and find a way to home school your son and get him out of that horrible environment! Perhaps you could find other parents who share you situation and work together to find a way to save your children. I truly fear that this will do lasting damage to your son. Good luck!
Chris, many of us cannot afford to stay home and school our kids. Both of us need to work in order to pay for the things we need for survival. I would not allow my son to stay at home all day while I am at work. I agree that it has the potential to do lasting damage, however. Parents need to rise up and demand that schools be nurturing places and not work camps. Teachers have been saying it for years and they don’t want to hear from us. But if a parent is upset, they are more likely to listen. Arne Duncan and his “white suburban moms” comment is not indicative of how many principals feel, although the Broad Academy seems to train people in that mindset. Parents need to join the teachers in protesting what is happening in education. We can leverage our influence in this way. A parent also has the right to opt their child out of homework that is causing nightmares and insomnia. A letter written to the principal to suggest an alternate set of assignments might work.
Not everyone can home school- that is bad advice. That leaves the system in place and lets the criminals off the hook.
And BTW I’m a proponent of home schooling for those who can but that does not address the issues we are all facing.
I will never apologize for advocating for the wellbeing of a child. This 9-year old boy deserves to be happy, free to explore his world, and curious about the wonders of books, music, art, movement, and nature.
I realize that not everyone can home school but if there is any way to get him out of that toxic school then I still say: DO IT!
His mental and physical health is far more important to me that fighting the system. And I seriously doubt that a homework pass will fix this problem.
That’s MY advice, which is what this post asked for. If you don’t like my advice give your own.
I did give my advice. In short we need student/parent/teacher solidarity.
What you might think as advocating for a child’s well-being would result in many other children being left behind as is currently happening.
Your advice also does not address the systemic issues and if you think those are going away just because some parents decide to pull their kids out of school you are sorely mistaken. It’s also imperative to understand that the same issues we are confronting in schools are in every sphere of life as the privatizers seek to control more and more of the public domain.
Fighting a criminal system is essential as it bleeds into every aspect of our lives. Think about how it would have been if abolitionists had worked only to get some out of slavery leaving the institution of slavery in place. Doesn’t work that way.
It can also empower the child to understand the system and work in solidarity with his parents and teachers and other students to overturn the system that is currently destroying all of us. That is a lesson of empowerment not escape (which is an illusion) and we need far more of that.
Some of this reminds of how folks around where I live tried to isolate themselves in Eco-Villages and are shocked to find a new zoning law allows developers to back their projects right onto the back door of their now not so earth friendly (and expensive) dwellings. They didn’t consider the systemic ills and thought they could shelter themselves from it without addressing those ills. Doesn’t work that way.
MIchael, I totally reject your either/or take on this situation. Using the reformers own logic of “school choice” against them makes perfect sense. Take the kids out of the poisonous atmosphere. I know groups of parents who share homeschooling responsibilities, another group that hired retired teachers to come and teach their children, and yet another that worked with their church to provide an alternative to horrendous public schools.
Your approach accepts that the children being abused by the reforms today must martyr themselves in order to achieve a “greater good”.
NO. NO. NO. They do not have to be made martyrs in our battles. I totally and without question reject the “lesser evil” approach to change, especially when innocent children are in the crosshairs.
I myself had to seek counseling to deal with the physical, mental, and emotional damage my school has done to me — I can only imagine how much more difficult that is for a 9-year old boy. There is no justification for making him continue to suffer for some ephemeral future hope of change. GET HIM OUT.
Nine year olds do not need to learn “empowerment” by constant churn in a system that should and once was a safe, friendly place for them to dwell.
I do not and never will agree with your position but I respect your right to express it and I have listened to it. I hope you extend the same courtesy to me.
Michael, you are on the right track. Just when I’m ready to give up hope, someone always seems to make some sense and gets it better than all the rest. The problems are indeed systemic, as you state. Collective action will be essential to achieve change. But, if the change you want is to go backward to the illusory good ole days and if you have deluded yourself by supposing that the current crop of problems are much different or more injurious than the chronic problems of the last century-and-a-half, you are in the same sinking boat as the others. Collective action will get you absolutely nowhere with respect to the systemic issues, except for some temporary respite for some kids, and then, they will spring something even worse on the next batch of students. The poison comes from the authoritarian bureaucracy. Been there; done that. The authoritarian bureaucracy is essential when laws mandate attendance. Laws determine and define behavior. Laws have profound consequences, esp. when it comes to the indoctrination of children. It is a system because of compulsory attendance. Education is left outside begging to get in under these circumstances. The war against privatization is like the war on terrorism. You can’t fight a war against an idea or the powerful forces who have power because you have acquiesced in giving them power over everyone universally.
Robert,
I have no illusions about compulsory education. In short the system that we have in this country was never designed to benefit the masses- it was designed to stratify denizens for the business mills. I’m also aware of this history and the competing elements within the public education system.
Ultimately until the forces of capital are eliminated and public monies are used for the public good in ways that are determined by the public (simple version) all of our efforts at “reform” are futile as you allude to. Historically reform in any aspect has never worked and isolating on one issue at the expense of addressing the deeper socioeconomic and structural issues is a dead end.
The battle that is occurring right now in Education is merely one front in the class war against us all- forgive the military metaphor.
Hope you get this as the reply function on this blog are iffy it seems.
Regards,
Mike
Another anti-capitalist, structural reform (what do you mean by that?) proponent, along with Laurie Anderson. Let’s get it out in the open.
What, explicitly are you advocating? Leninism, Stalinism, Castroism, Chavezism? “Comes the Revolution . . . ”
Why must teachers hide behind socialist solutions to avoid doing anything substantive?
Chris,
I’ll quote parts of your comment with analysis.
“MIchael, I totally reject your either/or take on this situation.”
Doesn’t matter whether you reject it or not- it is here and it certainly is either/or. The savage capitalists are after everything and you will not be able to avoid it until they are stopped no matter your “personal philosophy.”
“Using the reformers own logic of “school choice” against them makes perfect sense. Take the kids out of the poisonous atmosphere.”
Tell me how that works in East St. Louis, Detroit, Memphis etc. It doesn’t. Your arguing for taking kids out of the poisonous atmosphere. I’m arguing for eliminating the poisonous atmosphere. Your very same argument has been attempted in so many spheres of existence it would take all day to list them. It has failed every single time.
Moreover you are just advocating for running around putting your finger in various holes in the dike. The thieves are laughing all the way to the bank. You are looking at individual solutions for a problem that is much larger than just the latest school “reforms.” If you think having a few people opt out of the system and that will resolve anything your completely delusional. As I stated that has been tried a thousand times in a thousand different ways and has failed 100% of the time.
“I know groups of parents who share homeschooling responsibilities, another group that hired retired teachers to come and teach their children, and yet another that worked with their church to provide an alternative to horrendous public schools.”
So do I. I live in an area where I’m certain there are as many or more home schooled kids per capita as any place in the country. We also have all sorts of other alternative school options. I won’t list them all here. All of these combined have changed nothing. Sure we could point to the few kids that have benefited (nearly all of them white and privileged even as there parents are “liberals/progressives” whatever that means these days) but conditions in every aspect of life has worsened for the vast majority. You are not looking at the bigger picture.
“Your approach accepts that the children being abused by the reforms today must martyr themselves in order to achieve a “greater good”.”
Quite the opposite. My approach aggressively forces the schools to change for the benefit of the kids the teachers and parents. Your approach on the other hand resigns the vast majority of kids to exactly the fate you say you are hoping that the kids can avoid.
“Nine year olds do not need to learn “empowerment” by constant churn in a system that should and once was a safe, friendly place for them to dwell.”
Your analysis here is confused. All the kids and parents in this system need to learn empowerment. I could go through just Diane’s blog and cite dozens of examples of how parents, teachers and kids are pleading and asking and appearing powerless when they should be demanding and telling the Deformers- “Get out we are taking control and you are not invited.” Why do you think this is? That level of deference and conditioned helplessness has years of control and abuse built into it. It’s time to break that cycle- long past that time.
“I do not and never will agree with your position but I respect your right to express it and I have listened to it. I hope you extend the same courtesy to me.”
That’s the declaration of a closed mind no need top soft sell it with the back half of your comment.
Mike, I got your reply and I’ll raise you one. The blog is confusing, but I suspect it is impossible to improve on it without the resources that went into fixing the ACA website. We are in agreement for the most part. The difference I see is that you are talking about social reform as an avenue toward making schools better. I see schooling as an attempt at social engineering. Social engineering under a compulsory framework, which REQUIRES a hierarchical authoritarian structure is PRIMARILY how we got the political, economic, and social fiascos that we chafe under now. Everything needs to change, including media and the way we conduct elections and equate corporations to humans. Change is slow and painful. However, the schools are the propaganda machines for the kind of predatory capitalism we have and for many other misanthropic features of current life in the US. The schools dumb down the population and make people obedient, naïve, apathetic, ignorant, hopeless, and angry. Unless we change how schooling is done first, by eliminating compulsory attendance, any other change will be far harder than pulling teeth, if not impossible. BTW, the term “compulsory education” is a terrible contradiction in terms. There is no such thing and never will be. If coercion is involved, there cannot be any education. Please do not ever use those two words together. I like your optimism about fighting city hall, but I’m afraid the old saw is quite accurate. The general population blames themselves for their lack of education, and many blame parents, teachers, teachers’ unions and others. They worship the dollar and envy their wealthy overlords. Getting enough support for a revolution in education or in the social and economic realms is a tough row to hoe.
Robert B. (Barry)
So Michael do it. Show me the school that you closed down. Show me the kids you have unschooled in the inner city. I am offering a solution for one mother with one son. I have no problem working one child at a time because, as a French professor once told me, if you focus on everything at once that way lies madness. You argue over and over that we must destroy all schools or do nothing. I disagree. You haven’t said anything at all that is real, practical, or that you have actually done but merely shared an ideology. Fine.
Very sorry to hear. What grade is your son in?
I wholeheartedly agree with this post. In my counseling private practice, I am seeing an increase in anger and anxiety among my school age clients. They are scared to death!!! And the sad part is that many of these students are buying into the implicit message that their self worth is based on how they perform on the test! It’s such a shame. There is so much emphasis testing that we’ve forgotten about ‘educating’ our students.
This is my daughters first year as a teacher, teaching 9th grade English. I listen to her horror stories about how much pressure is being put on teachers to make sure the students ‘ test well’. It seems that our schools are turning from places of learning into testing centers. It’s so very sad.
“And the sad part is that many of these students are buying into the implicit message that their self worth is based on how they perform on the test!”
Exactly! How can one expect a child to be able to counteract the forces/proclamations of those in authority, i.e., the teachers and school? We can’t and shouldn’t expect that. And these testing regimes are WRONG, DEAD DAMN WRONG, and damn those educators who choose to be a part of them thinking that they can ameliorate the harmful, damaging effects of these educational malpractices.
Equip yourselves, you GAGAers, with the knowledge needed to rightly fight against this madness. The first place to start is reading and understanding Noel Wilson’s “Educational Standards and the Problem of Error” found at: http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/577/700
Brief outline of Wilson’s “Educational Standards and the Problem of Error” and some comments of mine. (updated 6/24/13 per Wilson email)
1. A quality cannot be quantified. Quantity is a sub-category of quality. It is illogical to judge/assess a whole category by only a part (sub-category) of the whole. The assessment is, by definition, lacking in the sense that “assessments are always of multidimensional qualities. To quantify them as one dimensional quantities (numbers or grades) is to perpetuate a fundamental logical error” (per Wilson). The teaching and learning process falls in the logical realm of aesthetics/qualities of human interactions. In attempting to quantify educational standards and standardized testing we are lacking much information about said interactions.
2. A major epistemological mistake is that we attach, with great importance, the “score” of the student, not only onto the student but also, by extension, the teacher, school and district. Any description of a testing event is only a description of an interaction, that of the student and the testing device at a given time and place. The only correct logical thing that we can attempt to do is to describe that interaction (how accurately or not is a whole other story). That description cannot, by logical thought, be “assigned/attached” to the student as it cannot be a description of the student but the interaction. And this error is probably one of the most egregious “errors” that occur with standardized testing (and even the “grading” of students by a teacher).
3. Wilson identifies four “frames of reference” each with distinct assumptions (epistemological basis) about the assessment process from which the “assessor” views the interactions of the teaching and learning process: the Judge (think college professor who “knows” the students capabilities and grades them accordingly), the General Frame-think standardized testing that claims to have a “scientific” basis, the Specific Frame-think of learning by objective like computer based learning, getting a correct answer before moving on to the next screen, and the Responsive Frame-think of an apprenticeship in a trade or a medical residency program where the learner interacts with the “teacher” with constant feedback. Each category has its own sources of error and more error in the process is caused when the assessor confuses and conflates the categories.
4. Wilson elucidates the notion of “error”: “Error is predicated on a notion of perfection; to allocate error is to imply what is without error; to know error it is necessary to determine what is true. And what is true is determined by what we define as true, theoretically by the assumptions of our epistemology, practically by the events and non-events, the discourses and silences, the world of surfaces and their interactions and interpretations; in short, the practices that permeate the field. . . Error is the uncertainty dimension of the statement; error is the band within which chaos reigns, in which anything can happen. Error comprises all of those eventful circumstances which make the assessment statement less than perfectly precise, the measure less than perfectly accurate, the rank order less than perfectly stable, the standard and its measurement less than absolute, and the communication of its truth less than impeccable.”
In other word all the logical errors involved in the process render any conclusions invalid.
5. The test makers/psychometricians, through all sorts of mathematical machinations attempt to “prove” that these tests (based on standards) are valid-errorless or supposedly at least with minimal error [they aren’t]. Wilson turns the concept of validity on its head and focuses on just how invalid the machinations and the test and results are. He is an advocate for the test taker not the test maker. In doing so he identifies thirteen sources of “error”, any one of which renders the test making/giving/disseminating of results invalid. A basic logical premise is that once something is shown to be invalid it is just that, invalid, and no amount of “fudging” by the psychometricians/test makers can alleviate that invalidity.
6. Having shown the invalidity, and therefore the unreliability, of the whole process Wilson concludes, rightly so, that any result/information gleaned from the process is “vain and illusory”. In other words start with an invalidity, end with an invalidity (except by sheer chance every once in a while, like a blind and anosmic squirrel who finds the occasional acorn, a result may be “true”) or to put in more mundane terms crap in-crap out.
7. And so what does this all mean? I’ll let Wilson have the second to last word: “So what does a test measure in our world? It measures what the person with the power to pay for the test says it measures. And the person who sets the test will name the test what the person who pays for the test wants the test to be named.”
In other words it measures “’something’ and we can specify some of the ‘errors’ in that ‘something’ but still don’t know [precisely] what the ‘something’ is.” The whole process harms many students as the social rewards for some are not available to others who “don’t make the grade (sic)” Should American public education have the function of sorting and separating students so that some may receive greater benefits than others, especially considering that the sorting and separating devices, educational standards and standardized testing, are so flawed not only in concept but in execution?
My answer is NO!!!!!
One final note with Wilson channeling Foucault and his concept of subjectivization:
“So the mark [grade/test score] becomes part of the story about yourself and with sufficient repetitions becomes true: true because those who know, those in authority, say it is true; true because the society in which you live legitimates this authority; true because your cultural habitus makes it difficult for you to perceive, conceive and integrate those aspects of your experience that contradict the story; true because in acting out your story, which now includes the mark and its meaning, the social truth that created it is confirmed; true because if your mark is high you are consistently rewarded, so that your voice becomes a voice of authority in the power-knowledge discourses that reproduce the structure that helped to produce you; true because if your mark is low your voice becomes muted and confirms your lower position in the social hierarchy; true finally because that success or failure confirms that mark that implicitly predicted the now self evident consequences. And so the circle is complete.”
In other words students “internalize” what those “marks” (grades/test scores) mean, and since the vast majority of the students have not developed the mental skills to counteract what the “authorities” say, they accept as “natural and normal” that “story/description” of them. Although paradoxical in a sense, the “I’m an “A” student” is almost as harmful as “I’m an ‘F’ student” in hindering students becoming independent, critical and free thinkers. And having independent, critical and free thinkers is a threat to the current socio-economic structure of society.
Dacia:
It’s good to hear a counselor weighing in. Please keep spreading the word. The horror stories have to be shared. I wonder if there’s a professional organization that will take a stand on this. I don’t see the teacher groups speaking up.
Check out the Race to Nowhere website for info on organizing against high pressure schooling:
http://www.racetonowhere.com
I experienced this with my son, who ended up by year 7 age 11 under a paediatrician for unexplained sickness in the mornings. I had tried everything, my main concern was that he had a love of learning. I informed school that it would be hit and miss as to whether homework would be completed although I’ll do my best to expose my son to the topics being covered at school. At home I brought a huge atlas for his wall and an atlas book this led to his love of information books and facts. Lots of visits to science museums and shows. With my son he had an underlying issue, Dyslexia that remained hidden until age 10/11 due to other areas of his brain working so well. He had been under immense pressure. I ended up with a private assessment and took it into school and was listened to. He is a lot happier and so am I. In your case though I would liase with school and let them know you are pro active in your sons learning although it may not always include homework they set. You should focus on him having a love for learning. I hope I’m not patronising. 🙂
With 70% of students failing cc exams in NY state, one can surmise that lowered self esteem was part of the intention. Maybe then, when these young people graduate and can’t find decent jobs, they will blame themselves instead of society. Pretty sick.
Sad and typical. The parent’s response is an attempt to get their child to adjust and “get by” in an unjust and damaging situation. Even if the child does so what does this mean?
All of us need to get together and destroy this unjust system and every individual who promotes it. Let’s not candy coat this- it is all out war against every one of us and every one of our kids. The corporate deformers only want profit and will do whatever it takes unless and until we stop them. They do not care one bit about this family or anyone else.
Direct action and persistence is required. Do not ask- DEMAND!
My own son was always sick to his stomach during testing week and that was 17 years ago, I can’t imagine what kids go through now. I know the children at my school are over irritable and anxious during testing week. As the art/tech teacher I try to keep everything very light during testing week (free days). I see a lot of free days next year when we go to testing 3+ times a year!
You can feel the wave coming, the upcoming tests. Not that teachers intentionally inflict stress on students,but test talk season has started, test prep. Parents are asking about test mods, dates, etc. this hyperfocus trickles down to students. They hear it. They sense it. They get anxious. The work changes in their class. Practice tests go home. How horrible. Am sure Albany mom could be Columbus mom, Santa Fe mom, Sacramento mom…..
It has been ever thus. The problem may be exacerbated by Common Core but “I hate school” and fantasies of burning down the school are sentiments that have been extant for generations. Let me repeat John Holt’s declarative statements one more time: “School is bad for kids”, and “school makes kids servile and dumb”. The coercive element is the problem. It cannot be eliminated because attendance laws and coercion go hand in hand. You may be able to find a school where there is less of a pressure cooker atmosphere, but your best bet is to understand that it has never been about education and your son should be reassured that performing like a circus animal is not your requirement and you will resist intimidation from the school at all cost. You should either help him with any assignments or demand that no homework be assigned. If they can’t get their inane trivia across while he is in school, that is their problem. Kids when motivated and interested will take the initiative and can learn all they need to know with respect to academic materials is a tiny fraction of the time spent in school. Your son intuitively knows that. Give him encouragement and believe that his attitude and behavior are symptoms of a paradigm that has been profoundly destructive to many for well over a century. Join the fight to eliminate compulsory attendance laws. Anything short of that is a futile waste of time.
Whatever happened to differentiation? Not a solution I know, but still a necessity. Listen, we all know there is no way to get every kid over an artificial bar represented by (invalid and unreliable) standardized tests. First we teach students, then we teach content. We had better start where they are if we expect them to learn anything. If we teach children from privileged backgrounds who don’t have disabilities and aren’t too bright, we will reach our growth targets.
They are going to get us no matter what we do, so why not do what we know is right? to my undying shame, I did not teach my way in my last few months. Don’t let the b@$~@^&$ win! TEACH!
I’m not quite sure what you are saying here. Presumably you are pointing out that differentiation among students demands that teachers teach each child in a way that reflects that student’s particular needs, characteristics, interests, abilities, and background. That’s common sense, but Common Core is the antithesis of common sense because it’s a formulaic response to an endeavor in which formulae are inappropriate and harmful. I am not a teacher, but I do understand the dilemma teachers face. If they teach and do what they know is right for kids, which means telling them to stick their CCS and whatever else they impose, you won’t be teaching there for long. The reason I didn’t follow through on my plans to teach in the 1980’s was because I knew that my conscience wouldn’t allow me to do to children what the job required. I wouldn’t have lasted one full month before I was sent packing. There were seasoned teachers back then who had figured out ways to circumvent the bureaucratic rules of the educrats, but I don’t have that kind of patience or tolerance. Now, they are making it impossible to get around the pathology of the system, which is why so many good teachers are frustrated and disgusted. Once again, I will say it for the record: This is the way it has to be and always has been to a large extent, given the ramifications and implicit requirements of the compulsory attendance laws. The laws usurp the rights and responsibilities of parents and teachers and take their power away preemptively. It’s a lose, lose proposition, esp. for the kids. The only way to regain that power and those rights is to eliminate laws that mandate the impossible and automatically transform education into indoctrination.
I’m not sue what I was saying either. It was frustration speaking more than anything. I think my point was that depending on where you teach, the intent is to get rid of seasoned teachers. With VAM they can do a pretty good job of it. With growth models you can eliminate teachers of gifted students (no room to show growth, scores already high), and you can get rid of a lot of teachers who teach special ed and low SES kids since they will not do very well generally. Then of course you have the teachers who do not teach a tested subject who get rated by students they don’t teach! So, you might as well teach the way you know is right.
I feel for this boy! CC is ridiculous! And it is child abuse expecting children to do things that they are not developmentally ready for!!
This is so wrong. Not only for today’s children, but for their children and grandchildren. Children who hate school, who are sickened by it, will grow up to be parents who are hostile to school and teachers. This is going to destroy the common weal and ultimately our society. Schools are supposed to be social centers, an institution communities can rally around, support and be supported by. What are we doing as a people to counteract these evil forces trying to do away with our greatest treasure?
Thanks for your post. The first thing that comes to mind is that I certainly see your own situation in my kids, who are now a bit older and coping better. Our kids still struggle with homework in junior and senior high school. But, this is largely because the content in, say, math or physics, is genuinely challenging, By working with them on this content, I think they are genuinely learning new skills and abilities that will serve them well. On the other hand, in elementary school, both kids hated the hours of silly worksheet assignments given for homeowrk and we went through hell with them to make sure these were done each evening. Eventually, we ended up joining with other parents and demanded that the schools cut back on the amount of homework coming home each evening. The school was responsive to the collective demands, and the amount of silly work coming home decreased. My points are (1) that some coursework is challenging for kids, but important for their developing skills and abilities that will be useful if they want a chance at a decent career or a decent sense of civic participation later in life and (2) sometimes schoolwork is just silly and parents should work with eachother and their kids to push back and protect their kids from these more abusive aspects of the school experience.
“Working with each other and with the kids” is fine, except there are corporate predators loose in our classrooms, sucking energy and joy from kids. Her son is crying, Edward.
The attack is at a national level level, and we HAVE to get there soon, to help this kid and millions more.
I confess I pulled each of my own sons out of public school for a while. We can never ask parents to tolerate actual daily hell for their kids, and it turned out we could afford this place, before it got the nice building it’s in now.
http://www.odysseydayschool.org/programs/elementary-k-8/
It cost about 12% of our income at the time, and we just gave up anything else to afford it. My son said it felt like “visiting a friend’s house”. The price has since doubled, to more than $14,000 per year.
If you look at the pictures, though, it just looks like a good public school classroom might easily look. For that reason, I was an early supporter of Al Shanker’s charter school ideal, where we would pilot schools like this and other public schools would model them. Everything would turn into Finland, except the sun would shine in winter, right?
But this is what I wanted for my children, and I want it for this mother’s son, and for all the other little ones crying themselves to sleep. It’s their birthright we’ve been working for all these years, and now it has been hijacked by brutal corporate thugs.
Common core standards are very simple. It is not the standards that is hurting education, it is more the high stakes testing that hurts education. A child’s learning or the success/effectiveness of a school cannot be measured by test scores. Also, schools are only a part of the education of a child. When children come to school, the greatest motivator and inspiration behind a child’s ability to learn comes from the home environment. Parents and family must do their job in caring for children so when they arrive at school they are not feeling sad or depressed because of family problems, or lack of positive attention at home.
Ironically, and I’m sure many reading this will not believe me, state tests seem to be more of a stress producing event in District schools than in charters. Chaters are very often data-driven, with very frequent assessments that are closely aligned to the curriculum and state standards and quite predictive of results on those tests. In that environment, state tests become part of a continuum of learning and checking.
Charters are held more accountable for state test results than District schools (we can easily have our charters pulled and close by not demonstrating growth and/or performing less well than comparable schools). But, at least in the charters I know assessment it part of the culture, not an evil beast that descends one time a year to cause test prep drills and immense stress.
“(we can easily have our charters pulled and close by not demonstrating growth and/or performing less well than comparable schools)”
Oh, please! It’s easier to pull teeth. Charters scoff at “accountability”, whatever incompetnence and fraud have been demonstrated, let alone low scores.
chemtchr, The number of closures is very variable by state and depends a lot on the charter authorizer and their willingness to close low performing schools. In my area, revocation of charters is a very real occurrence and happens every year. We have a very public accountability plan and if we don’t meet it we will not get our charter renewed.
You didn’t mention your area?
NY
See below.
I disagree. The first grade standards are not simple. They are not appropriate for young children and do not reflect any knowledge at all of how children think and learn. Asking children to engage in abstract thinking which you slap the label “higher order” on doesn’t change the fact that young children are concrete thinkers and have no brain function or ability to make abstractions and differentiate between past, present, and future, just to name one of the asinine expectations we face.
We should not be testing our students constantly and ranking them in some mechanistic way having no relation to their real talents and interests. “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”(Albert Einstein) Although Chinese students score higher on the PISA tests (international benchmarks) than U.S. students, they have a much lower level of confidence. Professor Yong Zhao points out that if you test children often, attach a score, and rank them, this process produces a lack of confidence, lack of enjoyment and lack of interest. It definitely will not make them college and career ready. It will produce no scientists and no innovations.
Call your rep in the U.S. House and demand they cosponsor HR 4008 which would stop the federal mandated national standards and testing. Get political en masse.
You watched Zhao’s talk!
If Albany Mom is reading, is school choice (whether district, magnet, charter, etc.) an option for her? I see huge variability in how schools are adapting to common core and the net effect on students. If it’s an option, you should visit the others schools and talk with them about this challenge.
It’s so wrong how we’re abusing children. Why aren’t private schools jumping on the Common Core? Once I see a private school adopting all of these wonderful standards, then I’ll buy that their worth it.
I am so sorry for you and your son. My 12 year old is experiencing many of the same symptoms. Here’s my advice- refuse the test, because they are invalid and opaque, not because you are giving him ‘a break’. Do the hw with him, as painful as it is. Encourage a love of any reading: manga, magazines, comic books and books. Play board and card games to encourage mathematical thinking. Try not to get angry. Call your legislators, call the Governor, call the DOE. Please get involved. Make sure your son knows how loved he is and that he is so much more than a number. Good luck.
That’s the age when my boys had the hardest time, Tracey.
The things you describe worked for my older son, to a point, especially games that you can convene a group of peers to play. Every situation seems to be unique, but kids hurt from similar causes. The random humiliation and social isolation a kid can experience inside a competition-driven classroom can be really hurtful, and he needs a friend or two.
It did come down to home schooling him for a year, to get him through that most vulnerable window. A brutal recession gave me the year off when he needed me most most.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_1990s_recession
Our kids are hanging between futures we can’t see, and the difference between a depressive breakdown and graduate school at Columbia University might hinge on a butterflies wings on another continent, but we can do everything in our power to give them joy and light in the meantime.
I work in a local high school. I have not met one student in the past several years who wished to become a teacher.
See. They are smart!
I have a different question. I’ve read time and time that the real influence in how a child performs in school is how the value of an education is demonstrated at home. This child’s parents seem to set a high value on education yet the child still struggles. I’ve read a few of the CCS and agree that many are not age appropriate, but are some children grasping the concepts? I ask because I wonder if all the children are struggling with self worth in this child’s class.
This case illustrates why some advocate vouchers for private schools.
Mom have you talked to the teacher and made him/her aware of this change in your son? Have you talked to your son? Is something else bothering him: ie: a bully, new school, or other issue. Have you asked him about if can follow the lessons, does he ask questions in class? There is also the option of changing his class. Maybe his teacher’s teaching style is not working for him. 3rd grade is a transition grade and was a big jump for many students in terms of workload and demanding standards before common core. Some kids just take longer to adjust. Over the years I have had several distressed student come around after talking with parents and giving the student time to adjust. Many times if it weren’t for that conversation with the parents making me aware of the stress their child was feeling I would not have been able to have helped relieve it. If the grade level is new to the teacher that plus the change in the curriculum as well as the age group may be affecting the instruction. Letting the teacher know how it is effecting your son may help the teacher adjust their instructional methods. As for this year the test scores are not an issue. Everyone has a pass this year. The test they take this year is for practice only . Teachers nor students are being evaluated on this year’s scores. If the overall climate in the school is the issue than try changing schools. Start talking to other parents in the area and visit other schools. Good luck.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/03/23/report-nyc-public-schools-have-seen-10-student-suicides-in-7-weeks/
“Report: NYC Public Schools Have Seen 10 Student Suicides In 7 Weeks”
“According to a report in the New York Post, Farina discussed the suicide epidemic during a private meeting with new school principals on Saturday.
The statistic has not been made public. The Post said it received a recording of Farina’s comments delivered at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School.
“As chancellor, I’ve been on the job seven weeks, and there have already been 10 reported suicides. We cannot allow those,” Farina said, according to the paper. “I get those e-mails all the time. And it makes me heartsick.”
I just found this on twitter, I’m crying right now for them. My kid made it through that period, but I remember sometimes i was afraid, I’d stand outside and listen to him playing “Everybody Hurts” over and over again, wondering if I should kick in the door. REM got him through it. Some emotional kids are too physiologically vulnerable; no grit, I guess. He’s an actor now. Last week, he took time out to play a Shakespeare clown at RCC, for a theater full of Boston kids who were taking refuge from the high stakes tests.
There was a suicide in Plymouth last week. I heard about it incidentally, because a colleague has nieces there. Instead of expounding about “grit” and dumping on American kids, how about the USDOE can stop the abuse, and let us try giving the safety and shelter they need. #testhearingsnow
Here’s the trailer for Race To Nowhere:
I completely relate to EVERYTHING Albany mom said in her comments. School has become a horrible thorn in my and my son’s side. He is in 7th grade and life is hard enough for middle school kids without the help of common core and hostile frustrated teachers!
The ironic twist to common core is the people who are behind it ( billionaires conducting a social experiment on middle class kids) don’t subject their own children to this psychological abuse
Hi,
I have a boy who just turned 9 and, yes, he hates school. It has not gotten as intense as your experience though. Still, the aforementioned moodiness, morning pestering about not wanting to go, and constant complaints about how much he hates it are enough to irk me to no ends. Just so you know, his school happenes to be a top choice for the district, and I literally cried when I found out he was accepted. And now, I don’t know who or what is to blame for the deep negative feelings my boy has for going to school. It worries, scares, annoys and, finally, saddenes me to feel my son, the aspiring physician, actually has such strong aversions about going to school. But I am not so sure if the Common Core is the sole perpetrator to my son‘ anguishing feelings. Some things that help my son to feel a little more positive in the morning fall on how I interact with him. I have to literally put him at ease by talking about light-hearted subjects he likes, and maybe jokes about some happy moments that happened over the weekend or night before. I know it takes alot of patience and energy. Like you, we cannot afford private schools, and, my husband and I cannot possibly quit our jobs to home-school him. At this point, I’m just hoping it’s a passing phase.
Common Core is the work of the devil. Don’t underestimate it. However, it may be that the teacher is not really challenging him in a proper way. What’s the class size? How old is the teacher? Male or Female? What sports does he do? What music? How about a video camera in the classroom monitoring what this so called professional is doing? On stage is on stage.