In as sharp a summary as I have read, Julie Cavanaugh explains what’s wrong with Common Core. Julie is a teacher of special education in a poor neighborhood in Néw York City.
She writes that Common Core and its tests were designed to create a narrative of failure. They divert billions to testing companies and consultants that should be spent directly to help children.
She writes about the latest state test scores, which showed that 2/3 of students were not “proficient.” Only 2.6% of English learners, only 5% os students with special needs and less than 20% of the state’s black and Hispanic met the state’s unreasonable standard in reading:
“It is no surprise that the results mirror the struggles and deep flaws in our society. Of course, the goal was never to actually fix our schools — there are no profits in doing that. There are no profits in providing small class sizes, experienced educators and services like counseling, tutoring and family support — proven reforms that would benefit all students.
“Instead, the focus is on unproven standards and the tests that supposedly measure our student’s competency — written by the very people who profit from their use.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So, here goes…I understand much of the negative emotion against Common Core. I agree that more teachers should have been involved in their creation…But I want to raise one point – why did Common Core come about? Cavanaugh argues it was all about profit and money and testing companies…Could it possibly have been about students at all?
In Washington DC, 60% of the students graduate from high school…Of that 60%, nearly 10% of those successfully complete college in 6 years…I am sure that other cities and other states have similar numbers…So, what does this mean? That all was well with education?
Yes, there are LOTS of other factors involved in this…solving the situation in education is like solving a complicated calculus problem with multiple moving variables…So is CC the fix? No. you do have to fix others…but maybe, just maybe, consider that some of the folks who worked on this were NOT just working on it to make money….
JLSteach: I agree with you that some or most or maybe even all of those who created CCSS had good motives, not money motives. Sadly, they refused to field test the standards. And they knowingly selected cut scores (passing scores) for the tests that they knew were out of reach for most students. NAEP “proficiency” is not grade level or passing. It represents solid academic achievement. Only in one state in the US–Mass.–have 50% of students reached that benchmark.Furthermore, there is no evidence that making tests harder and having a higher failure rate produces better education.
Dr. Ravitch – I agree with you on the field testing component that was needed…this leads to another point. I think that the dialogue needs to move from bashing the Common Core standards to criticizing the process of how those standards were implemented and rolled out. These are two different things that I think often get rolled into one. We end up tossing out something that has some merit because of the poor way it was implemented…Yes, often times it is the implementation of a policy that turns a good idea into a mess…we as educators and policy makers need to separate the two.
JL–What good is agreeing that these standards should have been field tested when not only were billions spent on materials and tests, but teachers who have asked for redesign, especially in areas not deemed age appropriate ignored? Instead when test results were down, the State was still determined to judge teachers using VAM until recently (it is an election year).
Money has been poured down the drain because one set of standards as Julie pointed out does not help those in poverty stricken areas. That money would have been better spent on identifying the needs of the students and working from there instead of putting every student all over America on the same curriculum when it’s so obvious they aren’t ready. Instead that money was wasted on better opportunities for our students.
NYS had an excellent set of standards IMHO which we should have kept. But even with these standards, the powers were ignoring the specific needs of individual schools and students and not funding things like social services, smaller class sizes, improving the infrastructure of our dilapidated schools, and remediation. And that’s Julie’s main point!
As a teacher I can have the best standards in front of me, but if I have over 35 students on different grade levels and with different behavioral and emotional needs, the standards are the least of my worries. And quite honestly, those that do pass tests, even if my own personal judgment says they aren’t ready, fall behind the following year and can no longer receive academic intervention based on the results of one high-stakes test. And with CC, it’s all about the test not the student.
Cavanagh is not talking about the impetus to raise the but the incarnation and implementation of this particular misguided solution, misguided in its narrow and rushed development, outrageous emphasis on testing and gunned across-the-board implementation.
raise the bar
CCSS are not the true standards. The true standards are the PARCC and related tests. I have no doubt some in the CC movement had the interests of students in mind. But the committees creating the standards minimized teacher input. The standards were created in a vacuum. Business interests took what could have been a positive discussion and pushed an anti-teacher crusade for profit. Politicians saw the standards as a way to further careers or consolidate power by silencing educators. The general public was fed a narrative of “teachers bad, reform good” and accepted a stream of sound bytes rather than sound policy. The standards are untested and unproven. There is no feedback mechanism for revision through teacher input. The standards, rather than set a minimal baseline, are far to dictative and oppressive – unadaptable (remember the tests are the true standards).
The flaws are fundemental and go far beyond implementation and messaging.
MathVale, I work in higher education and constantly have received emails asking for feedback on both CCSS and the PAARC assessments…so the ability to offer feedback is there – now I agree it’s unclear how such feedback is used, but your comment about not being able to offer feedback isn’t quite true
Lloyd, I think your comment “Common Core agenda was designed to lead to the total destruction of the public schools so education could be turned over the corporations out to make a profit” is way too harsh…Honestly, I think that it is comments like this that prevent true dialogue. Are you saying that there is NO value at all to Common Core? I have seen some of the low level of expectations in some states for learning, and frankly I appreciate the CCSS attempts to raise these expectations…
jlsteach,
I think you are confused or trying to put words in my mouth. There are two issues here. One is the Common Core standards promoted and funded by Bill Gates that come with a rank, yank and close them down agenda, and with that there are curriculum standards that require teachers to teach a given set of skills or historical facts that the teachers will be judged by through the results of standardized tests students take—tests that have been found to be horrible and designed to lead to failure.
There’s nothing wrong with a curriculum that teachers may use as a guide. It doesn’t matter what it is called. But I think it is wrong—-and many others along with tons of evidence agree—to use standardized test from students to rank and yank teachers and eventually to close down schools based on that list of standards is horribly misguided and possibly designed to achieve the end of the public schools.
For instance, in Finland there is a suggested common curriculum that is offered to all the schools and then it is up to the teachers what to teach from that common curriculum and how to teach it. You see, in Finland, the authorities trust the teachers to do what’s best for the children and the nation. The teachers are also given the freedom to add things to what they teach that are not on that curriculum and they are not judged from student tests and then fired if they don’t measure up to some impossible goal.
In addition, in Finland more than 99 percent of the students go to public schools and the teachers have a strong labor union. The few private schools are transparent and held to the same expectations that the public schools work under.
In conclusion, I have no problem with a suggest curriculum offered to the states as a foundation without rank and yank testing and setting up impossible mandated goals. The federal govenrment through Arne Duncan’s DOE is bribing, manipulating, threatening, etc., the states to accept their plan totally or else there will be punishment of some kind.
I don’t remember ever being given a curriculum as defined by the common core… when I taught in the sixties and seventies.
I was given the objectives for the grade, what each student must be able to do, and what content would be covered… I created the entire years lessons , choosing the best ways to reach the kids, to motivate and reward them for learning. I wrote the tests, so I knew how they were progressing.
In my possession, are all the NYS syllabi and guides that I used. I plan to photograph them and make a youtube presentation… THE WAY IT WAS!
Should go viral.
Susan,
I started teaching in 1975 and what you describe is what I remember. It all started to change after Reagan moved into the White House and it continued to go downhill after that.
Lorna Stremcha has written a book about her experience, called “Bravery, Bullies and Blowhards.” I read the manuscript and in the introduction she describes the change. Thepublisher at Oped news, where I write, would identify this as the change to ‘top-down’ management, from “bottom up.” Of all the stories that I read about the result of this new public school administrative tactics, hers is the most tragic ( Ihave posted her testimony before Congress many times here), and I hope everyone will read the book when it finally emerges, but I remember the ‘AHA!’ moment that I had when I read the description –when the teacher-practitioner was no longer the judge of what was needed to enable the kids to learn, and it became all about some administrators mandate of what to teach.
I know what’s its like to work in a school that was managed by teachers from the bottom up.
My first full time contract was in an intermediate school with a principal who believed in letting the teachers organize into teams to deal with the basic running of the school and how to handle the challenges teachers face daily.
Ralph Pagan, a Korean War Veteran, turned one of the worst and most violent Intermediate schools in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley into a success story in a few years.
For instance, I belonged to the team of teachers who dealt with discipline while also meeting in department meetings (English for me) to discuss curriculum and how we could support each other when there wasn’t enough funding for every student to have a textbook.
There was no top down then but that didn’t last long. I started teaching full time at Giano in my fourth year as a teacher (78-79). My first year in 1975-76 was as a full-time, paid intern with a master teacher. The next two years I was a substitute teacher full time working in seven school districts. The calls came very early and I was on my way every morning.
Because I subbed in Ralph Pagan’s school a lot during those two years as a sub, on the advice of his teachers, he offered me my first full time teaching contract. At my first staff meeting before the year started, Ralph reminded the staff that we were not to follow any students into the local community for any reason at any time of the day because it was too dangerous. We could get killed or wounded. At the time, we didn’t know that Ralph had already met with all the leaders of the gangs and had dinner at their homes with a goal to get their cooperation to keep the violence off the campus. He succeeded.
We also didn’t know that after Reagen was elected president (1981) and A Nation at Risk (1983), that the top down form of management was sweeping the nation. Ralph held out as long as he could as the district applied pressure on him to change his management style from bottom up to top down. Eventually, the pressure led to Ralph having a stroke as he struggled to shelter us teachers from the national Reagan driven top down mania. The principal who replaced Ralph was a nice guy but wasn’t as tough as Ralph and top down had arrived.
After Reagan and A Nation at Risk, district administrators were hired based on their belief in the top down model to solve the so-called failures of the public schools without ever focusing on what could be done to improve the schools through teachers cooperation and input.
Lloyd, I want to respond to a couple of your posts..
First, I am not “changing the topic”….I agree that we could use a national pre-K program (think back to what Lyndon Johnson first tied to do with Head Start in the original ESEA of 1965)….My points were made to simply say that the solutions are not as simple as you appear to say the are…look at the gridlock in Congress right now.
I will confess that my seemingly cynical viewpoint came after pursing a degree in education policy. As a classroom teacher, I too was very optimistic about how change could occur. I still believe that change can happen, but my introduction to policy has opened my eyes to the various steps and the layers of implementation that occur from a good idea to the actual results on the ground.
I also began to think more critically of comparing all of the variables involved. Education is VERY complex…I personally disagree when officials at ED or other places talk of comparisons of test scores amongst different countries. My first question is – who are the folks taking these tests? The reality is that in many states children are tracked around 8th grade (using very high stake standardized tests) and that the best end up in secondary school. So those 10th graders (the best of a country) are being compared to our 10th graders (which could involve anyone, since the US offers the opportunity for all)…
You can site all of the facts about income tax loopholes, etc. but that doesn’t mean that closing those loopholes will automatically solve the inequality of education. To me, two things need to begin happening. First, the rules where districts are funded by property taxes needs to be abolished – all districts should get an even amount of funding (yes, I know, this will not be popular to some – but I really think that this should happen) And two, more parents need to be willing to invest in their schools. I have kids that will be attending their neighborhood school where they will be the minority in terms of race and socio-economic status. I joined the PTA before my kids were even at the school. I am willing to take a chance and make the school better instead of running…We can talk about changing testing regulations, etc. but how about doing something that you CAN do – send your kid to a public school (I know, Obama, Gates, etc. are not doing that – I agree that they should, but that is missing the point)
Finally Lloyd, you mention you in your years of teaching that, “I belonged to the team of teachers who dealt with discipline while also meeting in department meetings (English for me) to discuss curriculum and how we could support each other when there wasn’t enough funding for every student to have a textbook”
I applaud you for this, and I agree that this is the ideal. To me, the problem is that these isolated cases are the minority in schools as opposed to the majority. A colleague of mine who is an outstanding teacher recently moved to a district in Virginia. I asked her about the teaching there, and she mentioned how disheartened she was about the acceptance of mediocrity – how her colleagues constantly give kids worksheet after worksheet and that this is considered good enough teaching pedagogy. This colleague had taught in a charter school network in an urban area of Pennsylvania, where, along with other younger teachers, she would come together, try and problem solve, etc.
This leads to me the final point – many here try and paint education in terms of extremes – charters are bad, public school good; CCSS bad, teacher led standards good. I have said it before and I will say it again, education lies in a shade of gray.
Deborah Meier’s small school movement in the mid 1970s could be seen as the equivalent of some charter schools today. Meier saw an issue with the way education was and tried to find a solution. Now, many of you can argue that smaller class size isn’t the only solution, but that is not my point,,,My point is that an idea can begin as a good one but then can be twisted and turned and used for ill purposes. where I live in DC, charter schools are a dime a dozen – why? Because folks are not satisfied with their public school network…now, for every one good charter there are probably five or six poor ones that should have never been granted a charter (see Prime Time Academy in Dallas as a perfect example of this)…still, we as educators need to stop painting things in black or white…doing so does not help create change, it only creates division.
Jlsteach,
I am curious about how you would handle a school district that wanted to tax itself to give more resources to the school than the standard level if funding. This has come up on my state.
Would you also limit PTA fundraising? PS 321(the public elementary school in Brooklyn that Dr. Ravith’s grandchildren attend I believe) raised a little under a million dollars in 2012. Would you cap outside contributions?
Teachingeconomist, I would have to think about the logistics around the first part, but in terms of the second, no I would not limit PTA fundraising. One of the schools I worked at started a 503c non-profit in order to raise funds for scholarships or other programs. Unfortunately, a principal at the school attempted to take the money for his own power, and honestly, after leaving the school. I am not sure where the 503c went…
That said, I think about the three institutions that I attended for college and how often I get phone calls, emails, solicitations for funding as an alumni…why don’t more secondary schools do the same?
That being said, in my area I have seen a slippery slope with funding…where PTA’s in wealther parts of the county are able to raise millions of dollars – for football stadiums where as poorer schools in the county struggle. My initial reaction is that PTAs could raise as much as they wanted to, however after a certain amount, a percentage would be given to the district to distribute to schools in need (think of it as the luxury tax that is found in professional sports such as baseball or basketball. There is a minimum and a maximum amount that teams can spend on salaries, going over that amount can lead to the luxury tax)
Jlsteach,
A tax would work and in districts as large as NYC it is not at all difficult to find much much poorer schools than PS 321. Other districts, however, include a relatively uniformly rich population, so perhaps the fundraising tax need go to the state rather than the district.
Yes, I agree with you about a tax going to the state if a district is uniformly wealthy…
1000% on the money MathVale!
And when really bad, poorly constructed tests like the Pearson fiascos in NY become the de-facto standards and the de-facto curriculum, and strongly influence classroom pedagogy, look what we’re left with: really bad, poorly developed instruction and activities. Based on 2014 ELA tests items, we should expect to see thousands of third to eighth grade English classrooms this school year, filled with students practicing multiple choice questions requiring up to five steps and being compelled to flip back forth between numbered paragraphs in order to demonstrate grade level, reading proficiency. History will not treat us kindly if we don’t stop the madness soon.
jisteach
The CC standards are permanent. The cannot be improved, changed, altered, moved, or fixed. That is a fact. If every middle level math teacher in the country thought that ratios and per cents should be moved from 6th grade to 8th grade, there is no mechanism to make that happen. States do have the option of dropping the federal CCSS and writing their own similar standards.
jlsteach – I work in K-12 (lower ed?) and never received an email, invitation, RFC, Survey Monkey, or robocall asking my feedback. A true standards process would provide those that use and implement the standards (actual K-12 teachers) a way to offer comment and revision. The standards also would be a baseline for extension and adaptation, not a maximum used to “raise the bar”. Those are two very different approaches. From the lowly K12 perspective, my assertion is absolutely true. The CCSS are used as a weapon to punish teachers.
Remember, whatever small value you see in CCSS, the PARCC tests are the true standards. Some benefit to CCSS? Maybe. But chromium is beneficial to humans in low doses, then excess and abuse make it a poison.
I agree education benefits from dialog and change, but ground up and incemental. Scorched earth, revolutionary change often just trades one set of problems for another.
Lots to comment on here:
MathVale – I can’t speak for your state, but I know that in my state the call for feedback was also passed onto folks in the K-12 world….I also saw it listed on local list serves around education that I am a part of…Could it have been advertised more – yes, but my point is that it was out there…
One other note MathVale – you write “I agree education benefits from dialog and change, but ground up and incemental. Scorched earth, revolutionary change often just trades one set of problems for another”
Schoolgal writes, “Money has been poured down the drain because one set of standards as Julie pointed out does not help those in poverty stricken areas. That money would have been better spent on identifying the needs of the students and working from there instead of putting every student all over America on the same curriculum when it’s so obvious they aren’t ready.”
I don’t disagree with you schoolgal…I can’t tell you how often I was hired over the summer and made money to deal with standards while a teacher, only for two years later things to change…All of that money wasted.
That said, if Cavanaugh or others wanted to have dialog, why use language like, “The truth is, these tests were designed to create a narrative of failure”
Is that language going to bring about dialog? Or is that language used to cause more division?
One last note…Duane – you always talk about Wilson – this is one study, from someone done in Austraila. All of the talk about context in education – and yet this ONE study proves everything about Value added being bad? Where is your other data? Are there tests done in the US? Please quit pulling out Wilson as the one piece of evidence.
(side note – this does not mean that I am in favor of VAM, I just resent when anyone uses one piece of research to justify a decision)
“CCSS are not the true standards. The true standards are the PARCC and related tests.”
Yup. At one of our PD days for all high-school math teachers, a high up in our state’s DoE gave a presentation in which he basically said, “We have a list of which standards from Common Core are on SBAC. Ignore the other standards.”
Look at it from a slightly different angle: the whole point of high-stakes standardized testing as it is actually used and misused—pay no never mind to the Rhee-toric—is to provide continual ‘proofs’ that—
More and more and more high-stakes standardized testing is necessary. Enough is never enough.
With the increasingly open admission that the above only applies to OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN [the vast majority].
For the self-styled “education reformers” and THEIR OWN CHILDREN—
Such places as Sidwell Friends [Barack Obama] and U of Chicago Lab Schools [Rahm Emanuel] and Harpeth Hall [Michelle Rhee-Johnson] and Delbarton School [Chris Christie] and Lakeside School [Bill Gates] continue to defy all the cage busting achievement gap crushing 21st century innovative disruptions that are inflicted on OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN.
What do they get instead? For a minuscule sample of the terrors and drudgery in store for the already-advantaged, here’s the 2014-2015 “Theatre Season” at Harpeth Hall:
DAMN YANKEES and NIGHT WATCH and SMASH and, I am stricken with horror, the whole sad spectacle ends with
“STUDENT DIRECTED ONE ACTS
Students in Theatre II class choose and direct short plays as their culminating theatre project. There are cabaret performances and other surprise performances along the way. It is a wonderful way to end our season. You don’t want to miss this evening of entertainment. Performance is at 7 p.m.”
Link: http://www.harpethhall.org/podium/default.aspx?t=204&nid=927064&sdb=1&bl=/default.aspx
How would they have the time for such frivolities if they were taking tests tests tests?
C’mon, be Rheealistic… Johnsonally…
*Señor Swacker, thanks for the tip!*
😎
From page 46 of the 2013-2014 Harpreth Hall School Handbook and Directory (https://www.harpethhall.org/ftpimages/146/misc/misc_133119.pdf):
“Standardized Testing
Standardized tests are administered yearly in the fall to Middle School students for the purpose of gaining additional insight and knowledge into the ability and performance levels of students. This information contributes to the effective guidance of students’ learning. The Learning Specialist oversees all standardized testing. Any concerns raised as a result of testing will be shared with parents by the Director of the Middle School and the Learning Specialist.”
The received wisdom among the commenters on this site is wrong: most of the elite private schools do, in fact, administer standardized bubble tests. For the umpteenth time, it isn’t testing that’s making public school kids sick and preventing them from putting on plays, it’s test prep.
To some degree, it’s also a question of the priorities set by individual schools. There’s plenty of art and drama at my son’s school, and there’s plenty of test prep, too.
Tim,
If the testing supposedly isn’t bad, can you refute or rebut what Noel Wilson has proven to be the errors in the educational standards and standardized testing process that renders any conclusions “vain and illusory” or COMPLETELY INVALID?
Tim,
There was no such outcry during the ten years of NCLB testing. So tell me, what changed in order to send parents and educators here in NY off the deep end? BAD TESTS. Even Governor Cuomo called them UNFAIR TESTS. Tests designed to FAIL. Tests used the threaten and frighten, and punish teachers. Traps not tests. Tests used as weapons,
No one opposes fair and reasonable testing. Scores from CC aligned tests written by Pearson are USELESS and should be completely ignored. If students at private schools had to take the same crap that NY’s 8 to 14 year olds did, their parents would be up in arms too. And if their teachers had their jobs threatened by their tests scores, using really bad, unfair tests, designed to fail, those private schools would become test prep factories too.
There are many kinds of standardized tests. I administer the Woodcock Johnson, or the WIAT test of academic achievement to students with IEPs every year. The Speech pathologist administers standardized tests to diagnose receptive and expressive language deficiencies. The school psychologist administers standardized IQ tests and behavior inventories…. These tests are standardized, but are given individually and, unlike CCSS tests, there is useful information that can can be used to help design individualized programs for students.
The fact that Harpeth Hall uses some sort of standardized test in the fall does not tell us which tests, or how they are administered and scored. The fact that the… “learning specialist oversees all standardized testing”… leads me to believe that we are talking about a different kind of testing.
…”The received wisdom among the commenters on this site is wrong: most of the elite private schools do, in fact, administer standardized bubble tests.”…..
Perhaps it is ignorance on your part that gets in the way of your understanding. It IS the one-size-fits-all testing that is getting in the way. The current system of testing gives parents and teachers very little information about individual students. And it costs excessive amounts of time and money that might better be spent on children.
Duane,
Any thoughts on my point by point application of Wilson’s argument to the WJ 3 tests?
Duane, Wilson is a ways down on my list of things to refute. Luckily for me, my comment wasn’t meant to refute him; it was meant to refute the persistent weedlike observation that the kids at Bill Gates’s, Michelle Rhee’s, [insert reformer name here]’s school don’t take standardized tests.
And I strongly disagree with the other follow-ups. Yes, they are bad tests, there isn’t enough transparency, and they are too long. That makes it even sadder that half the school year is wasted on prep. The fact that test results may influence employment arrangements is not a valid (if I may borrow from Wilson) defense for subjecting kids to test prep.
>The fact that test results may influence employment arrangements is not a valid (if I may borrow from Wilson) defense for subjecting kids to test prep.>
The CCSS package deal (3 headed monster) unleashed by Gates and Co. does a lot more than “influence employment arrangements”
It threatens professional careers and livelihoods. It threatens not only teachers but administrators, individual schools, and school districts. You obviously do not comprehend the way such pressure has altered school cultures for the worse.
Duane,
Any thoughts about my point by point use of your Wilson post to show that JW 3 is, in Wilson’s way of thinking, completely invalid?
TE,
See my response to your post on WJ3.
Duane,
I found it and responded there.
🙂
“The received wisdom among the commenters on this site is wrong: most of the elite private schools do, in fact, administer standardized bubble tests.”
This is either a “grossly ineffective” understanding of what is posted on this blog or a “grossly ineffective” straw man argument.
Or both. Perhaps this would qualify as a Dr. Raj Chetty-like “Michael Jordan” example of what happens when people are subjected to a Rheeality-Johnson Distortion Field.
In moments like these I am reminded of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson”: “Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio, A nation turns its lonely eyes to you, Ooo ooo ooo.”
Change to: “Where you have, Harlan Underhill, Readers of this blog turn their lonely eyes to you, Ooo ooo ooo.”
Yes, at moments like these, I miss Mr. Harlan Underhill. I rarely agreed with him, but at least he gave us the best of what he had. And to his everlasting credit, he had a heart.
To the owner of this blog: I have followed this website since its first day. Is there any way we could attract a better class of trolls and shills?
I turn my lonely eyes to you…
😎
It’s obvious that from the start that the Bill Gates funded Common Core crap was designed to fail kids but that failure had a purpose. By linking teacher evaluations to the standardized tests and ranking schools as failures, the Common Core agenda was designed to lead to the total destruction of the public schools so education could be turned over the corporations out to make a profit.
To achieve the ultimate goal, the children must fail so the teachers and public schools can be swept aside in addition to getting rid of teacher unions that have the most educated union members in the nation who are the hardest to manipulate. Take away their voice to protest and the few who profit the most from this robbery get whatever they want and what they want has nothing to do with educating children.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the last time something like this was allowed to happen, it took place after the Civil War in the southern states and the crooks were called carpetbaggers.
The evidence is overwhelming and only total fools or those who have sold their souls would be blind to this. Lincoln said it best, “you can fool some of the people all of the time.”
Of course they were created to prove failure.
The whole narrative about FAILING SCHOOLS was bogus and planned.
The public school education in America were the envy of the world, but it needed an infusion of money, like hospitals, to bring in new theca and to build schools and hire teachers so smaller classes could meet the needs of a diverse population. Teacher prep and workshops to help novice practitioners were needed, not kicking the experienced, veteran teachers, the mentors out the door.
They wrote the narrative, of which this is just the latest part. There were National Standards, as I write here all the time.
This was a coordinated, planned conspiracy to end democracy, but ensuring an ignorant citizenry which could not tell lies and propaganda from truth, and thus candidates like Romney, Cruz, Paul etc could sell a version of the Constitution THAT DOES NOT EXIST.
it ain’t about the schools, folks, it is about the end of our democracy.
The Sorting Test
A thousand thoughts or more ago,
When I was newly known,
There lived four wizards of renown,
Whose name are still well-known:
Bold Billy Gates from Microsoft,
Fair Rhee from her DC stint,
Sweet Duncan from Down Under,
Lord Coleman from Vermint.
They shared a wish, a hope, a scheme,
They hatched a daring plan,
To test all children in the land,
Thus Common Core began.
Now each of these four founders
Stack ranked to find the best
They value just one aptitude,
In the ones they had to test.
By level 1, the lowest were
There just to detest;
For Level 2, the closest
But failed to be the best;
For Level 3, hardworkers were
Barely worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Level 4s
Were those of great ambition.
While still alive they did divide
Their favorites from the throng,
Yet how to pick the worthy ones
When they were dead and gone?
‘Twas Coleman then who found the way,
He whipped me out of his head
The founders wrote the standards
So I could choose instead!
Now slip me snug around your brain,
I’ve never yet been wrong,
I’ll have a look inside your mind
And tell where you belong!”
You are extraordinary. NY Teacher… please… find me at my Oped author’s page, and message me with your email. I would like to know you.
http://www.opednews.com/author/author40790.html
Most standardized tests aren’t very helpful in designing instruction, especially administered in the last three months of the year. It ‘s only when you do an item analysis that you begin to get a profile that will help the student. At that point, the student is passed on to a new teacher in the fall. It’s clear the end of year test is designed test the teacher as much as the student. With VAM added to the mix, it is designed to point fingers and punish. The most useful assessments I found were those that were both, formal and informal, given throughout the year. A much better use of public money, as Steven Krashen, points out is to buy more books for the library. Children that read for enjoyment will do better than others.
Any chance Common Core was also designed to sort of glaze over the racial issues that our society refuses to deal with ? ? It’s too sensational and easy a fix to have ever appealed to me, but I know some older teachers (no longer in the classroom) who are so mad at NC’s General Assembly for letting it go. That’s one thing I agree with our General Assembly for doing—Common Core has never set well with me. But I notice these sort of Southern bells who fancy themselves liberals (they are democrats) but who have no black friends, but they talk like the Common Core would have delivered us all to a great society if only. . .it’s like it’s a way to elevate everyone without really dealing with people or racial issues that get relatively suppressed generation after generation.
yes? Am I onto anything there?
Joanna,
It sounds like political correctness regarding racism forced some racists to go underground and use properly-approved. politically-correct language when out in public.
I wonder if Bill Gates and the other fake education reformers have a hidden agenda on how to brainwash people to think proper politically correct thoughts too that they have approved.
Lloyd,
good piece in Teacher’s College Record this month about facilitating dialogue about racial realities. . .I don’t see how Common Core could ever fit into it, as it was designed to be implemented (maybe some modified version??? that is actually tested). anyway, good read if you have the time.
I agree that Common Core will never address the racial issues in this country in addition Core Core will never focus on the causes of poverty. In fact, I think Common Core is designed to ignore those issues with the primary goal being to destroy the public education system while creating a funnel for tax money to flow into the coffers of corporations and a few wealthy individuals who will mostly be white males.
Instead, the focus of the corporate carpetbaggers who are out to destroy public education is to blame racism on teacher due process job protections and find biased/racist/greedy judges to rule in their favor.
JTSTeach. Julie can write that because it’s the truth. I find your background in the realities of our classrooms lacking. First of all, you are a paid consultant for these tests. The same tests real classroom teachers and parents are protesting via “opt out” because the tests themselves are flawed. What makes you the expert instead of those if us who are on the front lines? Common Core and testing are synonymous and the end game is privatization. We have tried dialog, but for you not to know we have been met with resistance from King, Tisch and Cuomo is naive.
Schoolgal – Not sure where you got all of the details on my credentials…but let me clear up a few things:
” I find your background in the realities of our classrooms lacking. First of all, you are a paid consultant for these tests.” – nope, have never been a consultant for the PARCC or any of the other tests
My reference to getting paid over the summer was not about the PARCC exams, but rather a time when DC public schools was trying to create supports for their new standards (which were mainly taken from the Massachusetts standards)..That was what I was referring to.
” What makes you the expert instead of those if us who are on the front lines?”
I never said I was an expert, but I was a DC Public school teacher from 2004-2009, which included a couple of years of Michelle Rhee as Chancellor. I could share first hand experiences with Rhee which would confirm many of the things that have been said about her (the comment recently that she was stepping down from Student First because her attitude was not consensus-building, for example, is something I saw in person)…I was around during the first years of the DC-CAS, when we had four practice tests a year, etc. So I was on the front lines for numerous years. Am I THE expert – no. Was I in similar shoes to you and others teaching today – yes.
I am sure that you have spoken to Commissioner King, and others in NY about these tests. And you may feel that your comments fall on deaf ears…That said, I personally think making broad claims like the creators of the Common Core Standards only did so to make a profit and to blow up public education are not only based more on emotions than facts but cause more division in education than working together….The fact that Gates and others have stated that the CCSS may have been implemented too fast acknowledges some sense of understanding…Why not try and work with that instead of bashing them publicly?
A few years in the classroom and now what do you do??? I know you are in higher ed, but please be more specific.
You made references to receiving emails asking for your input, so again I ask you, what makes you the expert instead of those of us with 15+ years of experience. As for your emails, again I ask, why you?
Have you read the articles that have specially shown Gates as the mastermind behind Common Core and privatization? Do you see how much he, ALEC and others contribute to charters? I think you have not. I wish I had the links, but I know Diane has posted them. Gates is now backtracking because of the fallout thanks in part to many parents across the USA. I really think you need to do a lot more research into where our info is coming from before you question it.
There have been many letter campaigns and protests to both Duncan and Obama. Were you at the first SOS Save our Schools March in Washington where thousands of teachers and parents begged Duncan to stop the testing madness and stop evaluating teachers on one score??? What didn’t we try!!! Did you ever read Duncan’s statements regarding the outreach of both parents and teachers? Totally disrespectful!!
But you claim we made no effort for outreach? How can you be in higher ed and live under a dome?
Schoolgal – I now work at a university, helping train future teachers…
so, let me address some of your points:
“what makes you the expert instead of those of us with 15+ years of experience. As for your emails, again I ask, why you?”
I never said that I was an expert – I have won been recognized nationally for my work as a high school math teacher (where there was one winner chosen per state every two years, but even that doesn’t make me an expert!) Rather, often times I saw posts on list serves asking for input, so I chose to respond/..
On another note, to me experience does not equal strong teachers. I know plenty of teachers who have YEARS of experience of simply handing out worksheets over and over to students…so I don’t think that experience alone means that one is an expert..
I have read such pieces that you mention, and yes, there is some concern to me about Gates’ role in education. Funny how no one seems to say anything about his role in battling disease in Africa…(just saying that his money is ok there?)
To go back to a comment that Dr. Ravitch made earlier, despite these pieces trying to make connections, I really do not believe that Gates or others who funded CCSS were doing so because they wanted to take down public school education…really – you think that someone wanted to take down education for their own good. Someone who, BTW, is giving away billions of his own dollars for different supports.
I see you pointed out the protests…it seems most of them are around testing, but not necessarily the CCSS…where folks protesting before the testing began?
I have mentioned this idea before…While I agree that there is too much testing, how do we assess students on a large scale???
Finally, many of you have mentioned that we should just leave things to teachers (sort of a let teachers do their own thing)…my concern with that is while this may mean that some great teachers could do projects,
jlsteach,
You said, “Funny how no one seems to say anything about his (Bill Gates) role in battling disease in Africa.”
Have you ever gone on YouTube and searched for Bill Gates and what he’s doing in Africa. If you did, you would find many who are complaining about what he is doing.
For instance:
Or this one from Info Wars:
Then there is The Wharton Journal: Bill Gates is wrong on Africa
http://whartonjournal.com/2014/05/10/bill-gates-is-wrong-on-africa/
VacTruth.com says, “Bill Gates’ Polio Vaccine Program Eradicates Children, Not Polio.”
Next, Health Impact News Daily
131 African Children Vaccinated at Gunpoint – Do Bill Gates and Paul Offit Approve?
http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/131-african-children-vaccinated-at-gunpoint-do-bill-gates-and-paul-offit-approve/
NSNBC says, Bill Gates’ Polio Vaccine Program Caused 47,500 Cases of Paralysis Death
http://nsnbc.me/2013/05/08/bill-gates-polio-vaccine-program-caused-47500-cases-of-paralysis-death/
Or this from Forbes:
The logic was crisp and Bill Gates-friendly. Health = resources ÷ people. And since resources, as Gates noted, are relatively fixed, the answer lay in population control. Thus, vaccines made no sense to him: Why save kids only to consign them to life in overcrowded countries where they risked starving to death or being killed in civil war?
It wasn’t dissimilar from the formula that he was developing behind a multibillion-dollar push into education reform. In that case, he based his giving on this formula: Success = teachers ÷ students. Smaller class sizes would result in more attention per student and smarter kids.
The metric of success is lives saved, kids who aren’t crippled,” says Gates. “Which is slightly different than units sold, profits achieved. But it’s all very measurable, and you can set ambitious goals and see how you do.”
Notice the words: metric, measurable, goals. While Gates’ vaccine-based giving—closing in on $6 billion to fight measles, hepatitis B, rotavirus and AIDS, among others—is part of the largest, most human-driven philanthropy in the history of mankind, what’s missing in his language are the individual humans.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2011/11/02/the-second-coming-of-bill-gates/
Next from The Atlantic: The Bright History (and the Dark Side) of America’s Super-Rich Philanthropists
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/01/the-bright-history-and-the-dark-side-of-americas-super-rich-philanthropists/266894/
And last, this from the LA Times: Dark cloud over good works of Gates Foundation
The makeshift clinic at a church where Justice Eta (in Nigeria) was vaccinated and the flares spewing over Ebocha represent a head-on conflict for the Gates Foundation. In a contradiction between its grants and its endowment holdings, a Times investigation has found, the foundation reaps vast financial gains every year from investments that contravene its good works.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-gatesx07jan07-story.html#page=1
I think there is a tendency to confuse cut scores with facts on the ground. If the state changed its “unreasonable” standard of reading so that all would be found proficient, it would have absolutely no impact on how well any student can actually read.
Sorry I am just getting a chance to respond to Lloyd’s post:
“For instance, in Finland there is a suggested common curriculum that is offered to all the schools and then it is up to the teachers what to teach from that common curriculum and how to teach it. You see, in Finland, the authorities trust the teachers to do what’s best for the children and the nation. The teachers are also given the freedom to add things to what they teach that are not on that curriculum and they are not judged from student tests and then fired if they don’t measure up to some impossible goal.
In addition, in Finland more than 99 percent of the students go to public schools and the teachers have a strong labor union….”
STOP COMPARING US TO FINLAND! Look at the the population in Finland vs. the populations of students in the US (by demographics things are much more diverse in the US)….Yes, I would agree with Linda Darling Hammond somewhat about the reliance on standardized tests and trusting teachers more…IF we could do a better job of determining who would be a good teacher coming out of teacher prep programs – including alternative certification programs..
One of the greatest thing about our education system (but also one of the things that makes education in the US so unique and challenging) is the way that our doors are open…how many other counties mandate education from age 5 to 16? How many others would allow an immigrant to cross the borders illegally looking for opportunity and automatically be allowed to be enrolled into our public school system? Such opportunities make education int he US challenging…
I refuse to stop comparing the way America’s public schools are operated with how Finland operates their schools just because you are flippant and point out the differences between the two countries.
In addition, I’m going to throw in France as another example, where for decades, the French have had a national early childhood education program reaching 100 percent of 3 – 4 year olds.
The result:
“Poverty in France has fallen by 60% over thirty years. Although it affected 15% of the population in 1970, in 2001 only 6.1% (or 3.7 million people) were below the poverty line.
“In the mid-Sixties, Jules Klanfer estimated that about 20% of the French population lived in poverty. Lionel Stoleru, in “The fight against poverty in the rich countries,” estimated that 20% of the population lived in poverty in the early Seventies, while Rene Lenior in “The Outsiders” put the figure at 15.% An OECD study from the early Seventies estimated that 16% of the French population lived in poverty, compared with 13% in the United States, 11% in Canada, 7.5% in the United Kingdom, and 3% in Germany.”
—
A number of European countries, such as France, Italy, Sweden and Belgium, provide free or heavily subsidized preschool education to nearly all three and four-year olds. In these countries, children have a legal right to preschool regardless of income. Some other countries, such as England, have taken significant steps in recent years to increase provision of preschool, to improve its quality, and to coordinate governance and articulation with elementary school.
Teacher qualifications for early childhood education in France is a university degree plus additional training and these are public preschools. France makes public preschools, called ecoles maternelles, available to all children between the ages of three and five. Nearly all French three, four and five-year olds and one third of two-years olds attend these schools, which are formally part of the education system.
—-
“Teachers are recruited via two competitive examinations: the examination for school teachers and the examination for secondary and high school teachers.
“These examinations are open to candidates who have passed a diploma after three years of studies following high school graduation (A.levels). Candidates can prepare during a one-year training course for their career of choice: school teacher or secondary and high school teacher. Those who pass the examination successfully will then enter one year of professional training. Teacher training is organised by the university institutes for teacher training (IUFM). The IUFM are due to change status; in the future, teacher training will take place in the university proper (beginning with the 2007 academic year).
“Teachers are recruited via two competitive examinations: the examination for school teachers and the examination for secondary and high school teachers.
“These examinations are open to candidates who have passed a diploma after three years of studies following high school graduation (A.levels). Candidates can prepare during a one-year training course for their career of choice: school teacher or secondary and high school teacher. Those who pass the examination successfully will then enter one year of professional training. Teacher training is organised by the university institutes for teacher training (IUFM). The IUFM are due to change status; in the future, teacher training will take place in the university proper (beginning with the 2007 academic year).”
Lloyd – feel free to make the comparisons…But I will say this “show me the money!” What are the tax rates in these other countries? What are their economies like…AND, most importantly, do they have a national education system?
BTW, if you were to say that we should be spending less money on wars in the Middle East, I would agree with you…but should we be taking those funds and helping the refugees that are fleeing Central America, crossing the border “illegally”?
Our founding fathers set us up in 1787 when with our Constitution education was considered a state responsibility…so you state the “French have had a national early childhood education program reaching 100 percent of 3 – 4 year olds…Should we change the Constitution? Ironically, many on this site are against he CCSS because they view it as an attempt to create a national curriculum…does France have a common set of standards.
I will agree with you that our country need to improve the quality of teachers. It is interesting to me that you note that France has “teachers are recruited via two competitive examinations: the examination for school teachers and the examination for secondary and high school teachers.” Are those “standardized tests?
In addition, on this site, there has been various discussions about edTPA…That could be viewed as the type of exam you are talking about – I don’t know anything about the exams in France, but I wonder if they focus on teaching…
I also do agree with you that we need to adopt more of an apprentice model where teachers can prepare during their first year of teaching.
See, this is a perfect example of where we agree on some things and not on others…the chance for dialogue. You can feel free to not compare France or Sweeden…however I do wonder how much money France or Sweeden sent to Africa to battle AIDS (as G.W Bush set up) … would putting the focus on our own limit our ability to help others across the world?
jlstreach
You have attempted to change the topic several times in your latest comment to me while ignoring the evidence that supports the need for a national early childhood education program, more training and support for teachers and respect for teachers as a profession with the added responsibility of teachers being in charge of what’s taught in the public schools and how they teach.
First, a national early childhood education program in the public sector doesn’t have to be controlled from Washington D.C. Funds could be provided through the DOE to the states to implement such a program with supplemental support from the feds.
As long as you started this new topic on the cost of war in the Middle East and the cost of supporting the victims of these wars, let’s focus on what you neglected to mention.
For instance, Citizens for Tax Justice found that the U.S. Treasury lost $181 billion in corporate tax subsidies, which means the average American family could be out as much as $1,600 per year.
In addition, State and local governments have awarded at least $110 billion in taxpayer subsidies to business, with 3 of every 4 dollars going to fewer than 1,000 big corporations, the most thorough analysis to date of corporate welfare revealed today.
Then there’s this from Business Insider: 7,000 Millionaires Paid No Income Tax in 2011.
The chart below from the Tax Policy Center shows the distribution of federal income taxes paid by income level in 2011.
It contains a number of interesting factoids, including the following:
7,000 people made more than $1 million but paid no income tax.
22,000 people made between $500,000 and $1 million but paid no income tax.
81,000 people made between $200,000 and $500,000 but paid no income tax.
381,000 people made between $100,000 and $200,000 but paid no income tax.
So that’s 491,000 Americans who made more than $100,000 a year who paid no income tax.
http://www.businessinsider.com/7000-millionaires-paid-no-income-tax-2012-9
Fix the subsidies and those loopholes and then there’s plenty of funding to help improve public education starting as early as age two.
The tests are the standards, as well as the curriculum, and that was the intention all along.
Yep, tests and standards are the flip side of the same coin. And we know that money drives everything, eh!
However, that coin of the edudeform realm is so impure as to be worthless. There’s no gold or silver in it, not even nickel or copper.
Folks, to understand why read and comprehend Noel Wilson’s never refuted nor rebutted “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 description of a quality can only be partially quantified. Quantity is almost always a very small aspect of quality. It is illogical to judge/assess a whole category only by a part of the whole. The assessment is, by definition, lacking in the sense that “assessments are always of multidimensional qualities. To quantify them as unidimensional 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 the descriptive information about said interactions is inadequate, insufficient and inferior to the point of invalidity and unacceptability.
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. And 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 attempts to measure “’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
You knock me out, Duane…wonderful argument, so smart.
I am not an academic or knowledgeable about statistics and testing. I only know that it was different when I began to teach, and it worked, and there were NO standardized tests let alone tests that tried to tie student achievement to teachers evaluation… pure nonsense.
I only know that throughout my own education, and those of two sons ( both successful professionals, one a cardiologist ant the other a CEO of a security software company) the only tests we encountered were the Regents and the SAT’s, for which we studied the coursework.
And then, after decades of teaching, of creating my own curriculum and evaluating performance in acceptable manner so that parents and supervisors saw the results, I became the cohort for the National Standards for LEARNING, and lo an behold, there was one principle that dealt with tests. It was the a principle for teachers ( there were 4 for teachers and 4 for ADMINISTRATION.
This principle for learning, called: “Genuine Assessment and Authentic Evaluation” stated that the for learning to be enabled and facilitated (the goal of the standards, BTW) the TEACHER needed to accurately assess PERFORMANCE in order to plan for the diverse needs of so many LEARNERS. Tests were included in the range of tools, but the purpose was always and ONLY to inform the teacher’s lessons.
I seldom gave tests, which fascinated the researchers when I was the cohort. I would pop a quiz now and then, to be sure that everyone studied things that improved with repetition and review (R&R was a prominent sign in my room, in the alphabet soup that I posted to remind the kids what worked… like finding the EQ..the essential question that powered a piece of writing.) Quizzes were good motivation to ensure these 13 year olds remembered the titles and authors, or the spelling rules, or vocabulary.
But, in order to know if my teaching was ‘successful,’ I evaluated the student’s performance, in this case, how they wrote, by keeping g portfolio of their letters to me; these were my tool, the weekly letters that began in September, and which demonstrated mastery of written language, as well as understanding of the course materials that I chose.
I ‘saw’ which kids used grammar, or vocabulary that I introduced in class… in fact, if a word that came up in our discussions appeared in the reader’s letter, the student was rewarded (the 2nd principle of learning) with a coupon for some treat… like being allowed to use the painting corner during lunch, or skipping a homework assignment…other than reader’s letters.
Instead of test scores to show weakness or mastery, I sent a Skills Sheet home with each returned letter to be signed by a parent. My commentary on the letters always was conversational: : “I love this book, too, especially where….” or ” What a great connection you made to the author’s purpose…” The skills sheet said at the top, ” Here is what ….name… can do to improve as a writer,” and then I listed one or two skills in need of improvement… like knowing the difference between ‘their’, ‘they’re’ and ‘there’, or varying sentence structure so every sentence did not begin with a subject verb, or using a topic sentence, or proper punctuation and capitalization.
I know that this experience was utopian. I know that in the end, our wonderful little school, where every teacher knew every kid, and where all teachers were experts and collaboration on the entire curricula was the essence of our success, would disappear into the political morass that is NYC education… and it did…. can’t have teachers choosing books and materials (how do you reward crony publishers if teachers create materials?)
I also realize, Duane, that in the 15,880 districts in 50 states there are some very poorly trained (in methodology and human psychology) teachers who lack the education in their content subject as well. I know this from talking to frustrated teachers across America during the SIXTEEN years during which I have followed ALL the activists (not merely Diane) — who document the demise of American public education and the ASSAULT ON TEACHERS due process rights.
I realize that in this miss-mosh of state education systems, there is no coherent policy that ensures that a degree in education is as rigorous as one in law or medicine. I agree with Bill Keller (NY Times ex- editor) who said as much in ‘An Industry of Mediocrity’
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131021
But all this chatter about testing is beside the point.This is ‘THEIR’ conversation, and it was doomed to fail, which is why testing is being thrown out across the country.
Evaluating the learning of a student is not a mystery… PERFORMANCE shows mastery, and in small classes with teacher-practitioners who know each and every learner, it becomes easier to work with the ‘real’ teachers… the parents — whose attitude towards learning and to their child ARE THE CRUCIAL INGREDIENT FOR SUCCESS..
Gotta go water the garden. I respect you Duane. I am really delighted to find this teacher’s room where such engaged educators find their voice.
Susan, first of all thank you for your comments and thank you for your insights. I wanted to respond to a few of your thoughts.
First, I applaud you for recognizing that your time in the classroom “was utopian…” I would disagree with you about rewarding crony publishers…that to me may be part of the issue, but the fact is that there are some teachers that I have worked with that I would NOT want to be choosing the materials (for they may simply chose worksheets, or chose below level material for their classes).
Second you mention Bill Keller’s column…I went back and read it, and for the most part I agree with Keller…there has been a movement amongst groups for a some type of standard for teachers – see the edTPA that was created BY EDUCATORS at Stanford. And yet, there are numerous colleges and universities out there that protest having their teachers take such a common exam. Our way is just fine, they say. We don’t need someone else telling us what to do…
My concern is this – if everyone was doing things so fine…then would we still have the education situation that we have in this country? If every program had the high standards that they claim to have, would we be producing poor teachers?
I don’t think anyone really like standardized testing…except maybe for the companies that make money off of it…I know that when I taught HS I avoided giving multiple choice questions, and instead wanted to provide my students opportunities to think! I also believe that your means of having students write letters to you about what they were doing was a brilliant way to assess them without the typical tests and quizzes, etc.
All that aside…it is clear that not everyone currently teaching now is like you. So, what do we do about those teachers? How do we raise them up? Keller’s column describes a veteran teacher who clearly was open to criticism, who after so many years still wanted to improve and learn more…The fact is that many teachers I have worked with ARE not like that…they simply want to close their doors (some even put paper over windows that see into their rooms from the hallway)…so what do we do about those teachers?
jlsteach,
You say, “then would we still have the education situation that we have in this country?”
What situation are you talking about? Please explain what that education situation is and defend it with facts. If you are referring to the manufactured crises in public education, then I will understand better what side of this issue you stand on.
The public schools are not broken regardless of the cherry-picked facts that are used by the fake education reformers to claim the schools are broken and need reforming. In fact, the public schools have sent 90 million Americans to college where they graduated with degrees. There are so many college graduates in the United States, that there are almost 3 graduates for every job that requires a college education. A similar situation exists in South Korea, Russia and Japan.
Is it the fault of public school teachers that these individual citizens who went to college voluntarily may have selected a major that doesn’t automatically lead to a job that requires a college degree or they didn’t work hard enough in college to be competitive for the jobs that are available to college graduates (that job number is 33 million out of 143.9 million jobs in the U.S. civilian labor force)? After all, doesn’t the United States pride itself on freedom of choice and are we not allowed to make mistakes without blaming someone else for the decisions we make?
In addition, 26 percent of the jobs or 37.5 million (we could also call those careers) don’t require even a high school diploma but by age twenty-five, more than 90 percent of Americans have a high school degree or its equivalent when only 40 percent of jobs require a high school degree or its equivalent. It seems to me that the public school are succeeding way beyond the needs of the job market. If a student decides not to read outside of school, study or do the assigned homework, is that the fault of the teacher?
The critics who want to fool as many citizens as possible also claim that the public schools aren’t producing enough college ready students, but the facts prove that they are turning out more students ready for college than the number that actually makes the decision out of high school to go to college.
Again, is it the fault of public school teachers that students who decided out of high school that they wanted to go to college—and they weren’t ready for college work—didn’t work hard enough in school or read enough to be ready?
I know a PhD in economics who did what his father wanted and then when he finally had that PhD, he became an electrician—his father’s career. When the son was holding that PhD in his hands, he told his father, “I did what you wanted me to do. Now, I”m going to do what I want.”
If you decide to ask for sources to the numbers I used here, you may find links to them on the post I published on this topic on my Blog recently.
Lloyd, here is a fact – at a recent forum a representative from the OSSE (the state education agency for DC) noted that currently 60% of the students from DC graduate from high school, and of those 60%, only 10% will graduate from college in six years.
I actually agree with you in some sense – these numbers come from multiple variables – poverty being a major one..Students that I had as recently as 2010 have gone to college for only one year, only to not be able to afford a second, third or fourth year. They come back home and have minimum wage jobs. Some of them have their own children.
Is this all the fault of teachers? No, of course not. I would hate for someone to blame it on me that many of the students I taught didn’t complete college. Candidly I feel that is a HUGE weakness in our education system. High school teachers are only responsible for getting them to the college door, and many colleges are only concerned about collecting tuition (even if it means sending a collection agency after you when you dropped out)…
Another stat – 60% of students coming out of high school have to take remedial classes (http://www.highereducation.org/reports/college_readiness/gap.shtml)…Is this entirely the fault of the teacher – probably not…but some of it could be…
Lloyd, there is no easy solution…but when I see my former students as cashiers at Target or living from paycheck to paycheck, I do wonder…what could have been done to make things better for them??
Thank for the numbers but there are other studies that debunk the 60 percent claim and say it’s more like 20 percent.
What is the poverty rate in Washington DC? What is the literacy rate? How many of those children live in poverty? How many live in DC neighborhoods with street gangs, violence, and crime?
You may be interspersed in this list of the Gangs of D.C that The Washington Post published. It is a long list.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/06/AR2009110603618.html
61.5 percent of the population of Washington DC are minorities. I suggest you watch the YouTube video.
Being human, a teacher, any teacher, can do little to nothing to get kids to pay attention in class, ask questions, do the class work and then study and do the homework at home.
In addition, teachers can’t force kids to love to read or who read on their own outside of school.
For instance, the failed Whole Language approach to teaching reading/English got one thing right. For kids to be college ready, they would have to read—on their own outside of school—a minimum of thirty minutes a day everyday. The longer a child reads on their own for recreation, the more literate they become.
But teachers can’t be in 200 homes every night making sure kids are reading instead of, for instance, watching TV and playing video games.
Public education can provide quality schools and teachers but they can’t insure quality students who cooperate and do all they can to learn besides reading on their own outside of school.
Therefore, the fake education reformers stand on quicksand when they mandate that the public schools are failures if they can’t graduate 100 percent of 17/18 year olds to be college ready.
An old and wise proverb fits the reality of this situation: “You can led a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.”
Mandating by law that children must attend public schools until the age of 17/18 does not mean they will do all they can to learn what the teacher teaches. There are too many variables that teachers have no control over.
Lloyd – I know all about the gangs in DC and about the poverty…Since 2008, I have seen five of my students die…one of them killed himself in jail, another was part of a double homicide (where his victim was another alumni from the school that I taught)…
Do I think that 100 percent graduation rate should be the goal? No? Do I think NCLB’s goal of 100% proficiency by 2014 was a complete joke? Yes…
That said, I will disagree with you when you say, “an do little to nothing to get kids to pay attention in class, ask questions, do the class work and then study and do the homework at home”…
Teachers that create engaging lessons can get kids to pay attention in class. My mentor in education never really focused on classroom management. The other teachers would ask him, “What are you going to do about the kids who aren’t paying attention?” His response – when are you going to create engaging lessons…
Teachers can’t force kids to learn – you are right…but teachers can do all that they can…including creating engaging lessons. you may not get 100%, but you may move from getting 50% to 80% engaged…
Too bad I can’t agree with you.
What you describe actually worked “somewhat” in the intermediate school where I first taught under a full contract, because that principal, Ralph Pagan, believed in bottom up management. He organized the teachers into cooperative groups to deal with discipline, curriculum, grades, etc. and it was a great experience that, unfortunately, vanished when he left after his pressure induced stroke from a district office that wanted top-down management thanks to President Reagan’s 1983 report, A Nation At Risk, that in 1991 the Sandia report proved was flawed. But the Sandia report received almost no attention from the media. Therefore, everything from A Nation at Risk leading to No Child Left Behind, Obama’s Race to the Top and his Common Core crap is based on the flawed data of the Reagan era’s A Nation at Risk.
In addition, it is far too easy to claim that all a teacher has to do is “create engaging lessons” as if one size fits all, then for a teacher to actually create one of those “engaging lessons” one hundred percent of the time that will somehow magically engage more students who arrive in class from poverty, hungry, diabetic, abused, with below grade level reading skills, etc.
Sometimes a lesson will grab the attention of more students but then another lesson comes along and it doesn’t work as powerfully. And there are elements to a lesson besides the teacher dancing and singing in front of a class to capture the children’s attention. Those same children have to read and write—all part of a lesson designed to educated.
For instance, what engages one child turns off another—that’s why the film and music industry produces so many movies and songs in so many different genres because one size doesn’t fit all and that applies to the classroom.
This idea that all a teacher has to do is wave a magic wand of creativity to create a one size fits all “engaging lesson” that will motivate most or all children to leap up and join in to enthusiastically learn is the same fantasy that “Waiting for Superman” and “Won’t Back Down” promised would happen if parents only had the freedom to send their kids to corporate managed Charter schools where all the teachers would be great but turned out not to be so great in most cases.
Then there is how memory works. No matter how great the lesson, what a teacher teaches one day may not be in the long term memory of the child the next day regardless of how engaging the lesson was because a one hour class period in a 24-hour days means the teacher has no control over what happens to the child the other 23 hours before the child sleeps and transfer what was taught and hopefully learned from short term memory to long term memory—that according to Oliver Sacks can be edited without you even knowing you are editing and revising your long term memory later.
Next is the fact that every child doesn’t learn the same way. Some are tactile learners. Others are auditory and still others are visual learners or hands on learners. Planning a lesson to appeal to all learning modalities is challenging when the list of items on a state mandated curriculum list or state/federal standards doesn’t allow time for teachers to create all of these magical lessons that are supposed to transport children from the streets of poverty and street gangs to some educational paradise.
Last it teacher training. It is apparent from teacher retention rates that the more training and support a beginner teacher has, the higher the odds that the same teacher will stay and be an effective teacher.
For instance:
In “The Teacher Wars” by Dana Goldstein, she compares TFA, traditional teacher training programs and year long urban residency teacher training where a teacher spends one full year in a master teacher’s classroom. Goldstein’s book will be released by Dou7blday in early September.
The retention rate:
TFA with five weeks of training and little follow up support: about 30 percent
Traditional teacher training programs: about 50 percent
The year long urban residency: 86 percent in addition to the fact that it was these teachers who had the highest ratings—on average—from their principals when compared to teachers from programs that didn’t invest as much time and support into their teacher training programs.
I think that instead of focusing on the detail oriented standardized bubble tests linked to endless lists of facts that kids have to learn and remember, the schools MUST be focused on building a high level of literacy above all else and while doing that, history, English, science and math are taught in such ways that every lesson boosts literacy.
The most powerful skill for a life long learner out of high school is a high level of literacy and not the fact based curriculum and standards that are measured with bubble tests.
Lloyd, now you are the one taking my words and twisting them…First of all, I NEVER said that “singing and dancing”: in front of students was all that had to be done…I merely said that teacher engagement is part of the puzzle…you were the one who said “Being human, a teacher, any teacher, can do little to nothing to get kids to pay attention in class…” I was stating that a teacher can do things to get kids to pay attention in class.
And you are right, bubble tests are not the solution…you are also right about the focus on literacy…A strong teacher will differentiate the lesson (you assumed that I had a one size fit all lesson, which I didn’t have)…a good teacher will also know the literacy levels of all of his or her students and create lessons to meet or help them exceed those levels…
And I agree with you the teacher training…
But I am wondering, how did you take ALL of that from me simply saying that teachers CAN do things to get kids to pay attention in class by creating some creative lessons??
jlsteach,
You didn’t say singing and dancing. I said that, which is from a scene in the “Won’t Back Down” film that was used to showcase a so-called powerful, engaging lesson.
Do you know who funded the production of “Won’t Back Down”? The film was an ideological vehicle of conservative activist Philip Anschutz slanted to promote the parent trigger movement.
You asked: “How did you take ALL of that from me simply saying that teachers CAN do things to get kids to pay attention in class by creating some creative lessons??”
I watched “Waiting for Superman” and “Won’t Back Down”—those films added to the buttons that trip my anger over this issue manufactured by the corporate fake education reformers. Both of these films imply that teachers are incompetent because they can’t “create engaging lessons” that get kids dancing, singing and learning through fun.
Creating lessons that are engaging is hard work and even harder for the teacher when used in class with students. It can be exhausting and time consuming. My work weeks as a teacher often ran between 60 to 100 hours, but I only spent about 25 hours a week in class teaching. Even with all the extra hours correcting and planning, I only counted the hours in class with students as the real work because it meant burning high levels of energy and being on high alert almost all the time to head off disruptions that would sabotage a lesson.
For instance, one ninth grade high school student student who suddenly, without warning, one day, said, “I wonder what it would be like to have sex with an elephant” loud enough for every kid to hear, and this was during a lesson that was working great—a lesson that I had spent hours developing that would appeal to every learning modality—something that I did with every unit lesson if possible.
It took fifteen minutes to get the lesson back on track after I wrote up the referral and sent this kid who was thinking of having sex with an elephant to the BIC center. This kid never did any work. He usually was tossed out of every class every day with a referral to the BIC in-house suspension center that we had on campus. He was counseled, etc. because there was a step-by-step plan to deal with kids like this but nothing worked for him. This one kid was but one example of kids who took pride in disrupting lessons. You see, even if a teacher increased engagement for learning from 50 percent to 80 percent or even 99 percent, that 1 to 20 percent that isn’t engaged may at any time sabotage what’s working and destroy the efforts a teacher made to teach so students learn.
There are 8,760 hours in a year. A teacher spends about 180 hours (not counting fire drills and other distractions that take kids out of class) a year with one class of 25 to 35 students. My average class load for thirty years was 34 students.
An engaging lesson isn’t enough. It’s a start but it isn’t enough.
Another for instance: The district spent $25,000 to make one of the student bathrooms damage proof. It took one day after that refurbished bathroom with stainless steel everything reopened for one kid to destroy it again. All that one kid did was drag a trash can full of paper into the bathroom and set it on fire. Then the high school was down one student restroom for the rest of that school year.
The administrator/teacher in charge of BIC said the average number of annual referrals were 20,000 from a staff of 100 and 5 percent of the kids earned 95 percent of the referrals.
Lloyd – I personally think that you took your anger from these two movies and are directing them at me? or others…look, here’s the deal…in my mind there are plenty of types of teachers…there are teachers, seemingly like you, that work on creating amazing lessons…and there are teachers on the opposite end of the spectrum that don’t try to create amazing lessons (can you at least agree that such teachers exist?)…
Yes, movies like Won’t Back Down and Waiting for Superman focus on the latter end and seem to ignore the great work that many teachers are doing…And for that, I agree with you, it isn’t right.
But what do we do with those 5% of kids that cause trouble…simply toss them aside?
I had a good friend who teaches AP Chemistry…she wrote me often about two students who had the potential to do well in her class but were constantly battling drugs and other addictions. I asked her about them the other day – sadly, while both did go to rehab, their stories didn’t have happy endings (one kid, who is about to turn 20, could have gone back to school for six months to complete his work, but how embarrassing is that?)
While those movies may anger you (rightfully so) it does not mean that there are a few teachers who aren’t creating good lessons…it may be a minority, but they do exist…
And yes, there are lots of things like poverty, literacy, etc…that impact kids…but teachers have a space there as well – to say that teachers can’t do those things isn’t completely right…
Jlsteacher: why are you obsessed with the tiny proportion of “bad” teachers? Why aren’t you obsessed with the 23% of children who live in poverty?
Dr. Ravitch – I do worry about the percentage of children living in poverty…teaching in DC Public schools I had numerous children living in Wards 7 and 8. As I have posted in other places, I have students who went to high school, were not able to complete college (usually for financial reasons) and end up in minimum wage jobs…I worry that the cycle of poverty is simply continuing for them and their children.
There is a lot that has to be done…I also wonder about the 95% of teachers that are considered effective or highly effective…I have had colleagues who are marked effective on teacher evaluations only because they reach the minimums…
So, forgive me for saying again, but if it seems that I am “obsessed” with the tiny portion of “bad” teachers part of it is because I worry…
To be honest, I also feel that like all children, not all teachers can be lumped together…I agree that the majority of teachers in this country are in the profession for the right reasons…but I ask you, what about those that are not doing a good job…even if it’s a minority…what happens to the kids in their classrooms?
JLSteach, if you taught in DC public schools, you taught in a district with high teacher attrition, where almost every teacher was hired by Rhee or Henderson. Most districts have better teachers and more stability than DC. Who decides on tenure? Not the teachers!
I just posted on my motivation around “bad teachers” – such a teacher has found a way to do the minimum and still stay in the classroom…I would honestly love to hear your response about how to address such a teacher…
You ask all the right questions, Duane. It is a dilemma, and the very nature of our country, 50 states/15,880 districts doing their own thing, each with their own ‘solutions’ and all of them susceptible to the carefully planned onslaught. I hate to be a pessimist, but I a a realist, and I do not see a coherent policy or genuine solution to the issues you so cogently present… and yes… I was unique… out of the tens of thousands teachers studied by the Pew research teams, six were given the ‘star treatment at the seminars of the LRDC (Univ Of Pittsburgh) who were the tools folks who studied us and matched us to the ‘real’ standards for learning. I was one of those six. And, for that uniqueness and my success they threw me to the dogs. Doesn’t that tell you everything?
Dr. Ravitch, if I may let me share one anecdote that may help you understand my perspective. When I taught, there was a teacher in the math department who nearly everyone in the school knew was a poor teacher. The teacher would regularly let his students do whatever they wanted to do. This teacher was the union rep in our building and he made sure that he knew the union rulebook backwards and forwards. Years after I left, he is still at the school…I recently was talking to the math dept chair about him, and she said that last year he gave a final exam that was essentially a year below grade level…and was allowed to get away with it. She mentioned that this teacher, instead of focusing on the union rulebook, decided to study IMPACT (the DC Teacher Evaluation system) to find a way to get the minimum passing score…
So you asked about my obsession about “bad teachers…it is people like him that lead me to ask these questions…it’s not about the multiple teachers across this country that are doing amazing things…
So, Dr. Ravitch, in all sincerity, I ask you…what would you do with such a teacher??
jlsteach
I knew an English teacher like the math teacher you described, and parents requested him for their students because they knew he only gave out Bs and As and let the kids do whatever they wanted in addition to never giving homework or reading assignments outside of school. He never failed anyone and he was popular with the kids. They liked his jokes too. He retired after 32 years.
But let’s put this issue in perspective. First, there are always going to be workers in every profession who are not competent or are lazy. The theory used in the Vergara trial guessed that number at 1 to 2 percent for teachers, because there is no valid evidence for an exact number.
Next, how many teachers does a student have in thirteen years from K to 12—30, 40, 50?
Then how many hours does an average student spend in school from K to 12—13,000?
How many hours does that average student spend outside of school—-101,000
How much time does the average student spend watching TV? the answer is here: http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm
And you are worried about one math teacher who spends only 180 hours a year with the kids he teaches. How many math teachers does the average student have K -12?
Who is responsible to identify these 1 to 2 percent and removing them, because there is a process and it is used successfully across the country to get rid of teaches who are identified as such?
I meant that YOU asked all the right questions, jlsteach.
And you are not the only one who points out to me the bad apples that are teaching these days. I blog and correspond with most of the activists and all of them know see teachers whose work runs the gamut from poor to terrible. It is because the system is geared to remove the best and leave the rest, and to support no one.
Sigh.
And yes, Diane, poverty, and disastrous parenting, and union complicity are all part of the failure, but to fix the system will take the kind of effort that is nowhere to be found.
Susan,
You said, “And yes, Diane, poverty, and disastrous parenting, and union complicity are all part of the failure, but to fix the system will take the kind of effort that is nowhere to be found.”
I disagree with your use of the term “failure”. Are the public school failing? I don’t think so. There is more than a ton of evidence that the public schools are succeeding in spite of the fact that the “kind of effort that is needed is nowhere to be found”. I agree with that last quote.
And I translate those words in the second quote to mean an early childhood education program in every state in addition to programs that trains and supports teachers to be successful in the public schools instead of throwing them into the ocean with their feet in a bucket filled with hardened concrete.
Dana Goldstein reveals what teacher training works best her soon to be released book, “The Teacher Wars, A History of the Most Embattled Profession” when she compared three methods of teacher training and the retention rate after five years.
TFC with its five weeks of training and little or no follow up support has a 30 percent retention rate.
Traditional teacher training has about a 50 percent retention rate.
Urban residency internships where teachers work full time for one full school year in a master teachers classroom and after they start teaching on their own they have a year or more of follow up support from the program that trained them. That retention rate is 86 percent and principals, on average, rate these teacher the highest qualified when compered to the other methods of teacher training.
As for early childhood education programs, there are working models being used in Europe. France offers on example but that system is part of the public schools and the teachers must be university graduates who go through a full year of training that includes an internship with a master teacher. Evidence of France’s early childhood education program may be found in the reduction of poverty in France since the 1960s when it was higher than it is in the United States today but has been reduced in France to less than 7 percent today—about half of what it is in the United States.
I agree with everything you say, and in fact , should have put quotations marks around the word failing. They sold the narrative of failing public schools so they could reform it… and deform it. I wish one could boldface or italicize words here, or, like I do at Oped, go back and edit a post even after it is up.
I have thought the same exact thing about comments with the ability to boldface or italicize words. I have even wanted to ReBlog some of the comments so they appear as posts on one of my Blogs.
As you know, I write at Oped News, which offers a ‘diary’ tool, as well as articles/essays and quicklinks with intros and commentary. There is no interest in education as THE topic of the day where our future is concerned. The publisher, a brilliant man, is NOT interested in that ‘topic.’ He is blind to the conspiracy that is going to create an ignorant , easily manipulated citizenry, while enriching the already mega-rich. He doe3s trust my voice, and the daily newsletter always contains my links.
However, I write there because I have an author’s page
http://www.opednews.com/author/author40790.html
where ALL my essays an documentaries are available, and because I have a number of fans, including Dan Geery who ran for the Utah Senate, and who is a former teacher who experienced what we did, and also absolutely a Renaissance man! We have been corresponding privately for years,. That’s another thing. People can message me, so we can exchange addresses.
I plan to write a diary series SPEAKING AS A TEACHER, which will be different then it will be here, because the audience is a general one. BUT, when I get the time, after the summer, I will post my first pieces on my own blog at WordPress, where I already have set up a blog by that name. Maybe then, Diane might link to my voice.
I had a site, put up in 2004 when Apple made it was. I host it at register.com because Apple canceled me.com. I cannot add to it BUT,when I go there, I see the teacher that I was when they blind-sided me. There are several priciest essays there, including this one
http://www.speakingasateacher.com/SPEAKING_AS_A_TEACHER/No_Constitutional_Rights-_A_hidden_scandal_of_National_Proportion.html
but also a blog post called NO RULES AND REGULATIONS,
http://www.speakingasateacher.com/SPEAKING_AS_A_TEACHER/No_Rules_or_Regulations.html which was picked up on another site and this one, which Iput up in 2010
http://www.speakingasateacher.com/SPEAKING_AS_A_TEACHER/The_Insane_War_on_Teachers_and_Democracy.html
Only since I came here, is my teacher’s voice getting the attention it deserves. As I often say MY story is THE story of the assault on due process, because i was famous and was vetted by Harvard and the standards, and successful by every measure. THIS makes the LIE that the Duncan narrative spreads as gospel, and shows the insidious nature of the Vergara decision… but nobody that counts points to my story and says… HERE is the reality.
I had hoped that teachers would write at that site, so the general public could follow the kind of commentary we find here… but the long threads there are apt to be on the sexy news — military stuff, NSA , bad Obama, etc.
But most important, on Oped news, I get between 100 and 2000 views on things I post, and every now and then, someone follows my education posts and asks questions. I know that I have sent traffic to Diane’s site. Other sites where I have linked, noted the increased traffic whenever I linked to their sites.
Priciest was prescient. I hate auto correct!