This reader is grateful to the 88 education scholars who protested the misuse of test scores in Chopicago. They told Mayor Rahm Emanuel he was wrong. That takes guts. And it matters. It’s important for teachers to know they are not alone. And they are not wrong.
The reader writes:
Let’s not forget the CReATE group of 88 professors who sent a letter “to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard and the Board of Education signed by 88 faculty members from 15 local universities warning that using student test scores in teacher evaluation could do more harm than good. The universities included the University of Illinois Chicago, DePaul University and the University of Chicago.” (http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/notebook/2012/03/26/19951/professors-caution-cps-using-tests-evaluate-teachers )
I think it is no coincidence that Chicago is now the epicenter of the fight against corporate education reform. With teachers, Ed professors, community groups, and parents all united…it is a powerful force loud enough to actually change the conversation!
I hope other ed professors around the county unite and speak out like our activist profs here in Chi-town did! It makes a difference.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
These brave professors are correct: attaching student test results to teacher evaluations will do more harm than good. I spend 1/2 of my teaching day with AP advanced students. My heart, though, is with my alternative school students, the other 1/2 of my schedule. This is the schedule that I have chosen; I have 18 years experience. I recently earned a Master’s degree in Alternative Education so that I could better impact these needy kids. Because four of them are sophomores, though, this year (under the Indiana RISE model) 10% of my evaluation can be based on the test results of these four alt ed students. I teach more than 100 students each day, but four students control my evaluation. Do these evaluations provide the incentive to have the most experienced teachers reach the neediest kids?
I like that phrase “corporate education reform.” You have it right! It’s nonpartisan and it’s full of greed and it isn’t about the children.
Have you wondered why the 2 teachers’ unions got on board during RttT’s beginnings with the Common Core Initiative, which had the standardized teacher evaluations as one of its 4 or so main ingred8ents? I think I know why NEA did it—John Wilson. I haven’t connected any dots with AFT though. It just doesn’t make sense that they would not do a better job of representing the interests of their members.
All dots in the AFT lead from and to Randi Weingarten, who prefers getting petted by Bill Gates, flying in Michael Bloomberg’s private jet and accompanying the fraudulent Arne Duncan on his bus tour to defending her members and the public schools.
In NYC, all of the underpinnings of the attacks against teachers and schools – mayoral control, loss of seniority transfers, school closings, test-based evaluations, etc. – have been enabled or endorsed by her and the political machine (Unity Caucus) she still controls.
The woman has been an utter catastrophe for the people she claims to represent, and should be exposed at every opportunity. Thank God the CTU was able to keep her from helicoptering in and selling them out.
We could use support from the other faculties as well.
Education professors have a “self-interest” (e.g. they care) – they too and their schools of Ed are going to be rated (soon, if not already) by how their graduates’ students do on test scores Who’s next?
Dear Diane, I love your blog! It is both informative and inspirational and has helped me stay positive during our CTU strike. Our strike has led me to research the groups behind the commercials playing locally here on radio and TV that bash Chicago teachers for not marching in lockstep behind the mayors political agenda to privatize schools (along with every other city service.)
I don’t see DFER listed as one of your blog topics and I don’t know if anyone has commented about this group, since I have only been following your blog for the last week or so. My husband found the DFER Watch website which gathers information about those behind the ads and also asks for information about DFER (tax filings, donors, lobbying, etc.) It is very important that everyone have information about this group that operates in Illinois and Indiana.
Here is the site: http://dferwatch.wordpress.com
Below is an explanation of DFER and a post naming those behind the anti-teacher ads
Democrats for Education Reform is a political action committee supported largely by hedge fund managers favoring charter schools, merit-pay tied to test scores, high-stakes testing, school choice (including vouchers and tuition tax credits in some cases), mayoral control, and alternative teacher preparation programs.
From a DFER WATCH website comment section
I have written about DFER at my former blog “Bridging Differences.”
It is the Wall Street hedge fund managers group. They contribute to political campaigns. They have a non- profit front group called Education Reform Now. They love charters and privatization and TFA. They love test scores. They don’t care for public education. They use their money to push privatization.
Fellow educators, we are speaking up against these reforms! We started last fall with a Call for Action and are continuing by speakiing against the initiatives being proposed in NY and across the Nation.
Please look here: https://sites.google.com/site/educatorsconcerned/
Consider signing and sending emails to officials.
Comments (here: https://sites.google.com/site/educatorsconcerned/sign-the-petition/comments) are especially compelling.