Paul Thomas of Furman University (one of the four institutions that the National Council on Teacher Quality awarded four of its dubious stars) here gives Secretary of Education Arne Duncan a lesson in evidence. Duncan ridiculed the critics of Common Core in a speech yesterday to the American Society of News Editors.
Thomas now gives him a tongue-lashing for his indifference to evidence about test-based accountability. He includes a brief list of sources (read them) on the failure of testing and accountability as drivers of better education.
Another point that Duncan failed to mention: The Common Core has never been subjected to a field trial in any state. No one knows how it works. There is no evidence for its efficacy. No one knows if it will push struggling children further down, whether it will widen the achievement gap and harm children.
That would be nice to know, wouldn’t it?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Isn’t this typical Gates, Broad and Walton procedure? Shoot from the hip and not know what you are shooting at. This is their specialty.
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George Buzzetti: I agree with what you wrote. I might phrase it “Shoot from the lips and not know what you are talking about.” You know, a riff on the old WWII slogan, “loose lips sink ships.” **In this case the “ships” would be public schools.**
🙂
Although to be fair, don’t fault the Sec of Ed for speeches [originally written on his personal computer] uncoupled from reality. Arne Duncan has been a victim—or beneficiary—of a very new and specialized Microsoft Word feature, suggested by the now-outdated twentieth century “spellcheck” feature found in various text programs. Now called “Ideacheck” [in the beta version “RheealityCheck”], it deftly turns any phrase in the English language that means “I am responsible for massive screw-ups and misunderstandings” into “whoever you are talking to is responsible for said screw-ups and misunderstanding.” An EduExcellent example is his recent talk to the AERA participants where he sternly scolded them for his, er, their obsessive pushing of high-stakes standardized testing and its attendant evils.
Rumor has it that this very narrowly produced version of Microsoft Word is available only for educrats and their accountabully underlings who can prove they have risen to at least 2 standard deviations above the median level of incompetence [on the now classic Beltway Curve]. Apparently, all edubullies qualify.
Go figure. [Hint: a numbers/stat joke.]
🙂
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Thanks again for keeping us posted.
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This is my summer vacation and I could be on the couch catching up on television shows I have been dying to watch: Wendy Williams, The Chew, HGTV and Ellen. But the reality of what is currently happening with our educational system is more entertaining and informative than cable TV. I wonder if Arne Duncan has time to watch reality TV?
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Diane, I would like to send a 60 second video to you to place on your blog. It sorta reflects on the problem with standardized testing. Should I use a different email address? Thanks
Zee Sent from my iPad
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Zee, send it to the blog.
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In the future teachers will say, put on the Duncan cap and go sit in the corner.
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Best line I’ve read in months TC!
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Can I use “Duncan cap” as an entry in my Devil’s Dictionary of Education?
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And the cap reads: Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Love TC and his or her comments. 🙂
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funny!
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Chuckle!
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Well, if my son’s experience with CC math this year is any indication, then this thing is a failure. The special education director in my district told me that there have been skyrocketing referrals this year in both math and reading because of CC. Suddenly, kids who were doing okay are grade levels “behind.” I don’t think it’s a good idea to have “standards” that are so ambiguous that now more kids are labelled as failing simply from the change to new standards.
And in Utah, teachers are just being told to teach EVERYONE on the same level. If a kid is behind a struggling? The only answer teachers are being given from the state level: “just give them a calculator.” The implementation is ridiculous.
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“The Common Core has never been subjected to a field trial in any state. No one knows how it works. There is no evidence for its efficacy. No one knows if it will push struggling children further down, whether it will widen the achievement gap and harm children.”
How do you field test standards for which everyone is to write their own curricula and implement in their own way? The only possible way you might meet with “success” is to buy Pearson products aligned to the test they designed. Certainly would prove a lot, wouldn’t it?
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So here is the question….Would anyone let a doctor perform an untested procedure on their child with only a word from the doctor that said it was for his/her own good? No questions asked, just go ahead and slice away. That is exactly what is happening in the schools everywhere in this country. Further, it would be the doctor telling the nurse to follow through and perform the test. That is what administrators are ordering their teachers and staff to inflict on their students of all ages and all abilities.
It is wrong!! It is a form of torture! It is a disgrace!!! And it should be stopped by the standard of Due No Harm by the schools and the parents! All organizations who represent both should be screaming at the top of their voices and without end!!! Cease and desist and don’t be a party to “Just Following Orders!” In concert and in a well constructed resistance it should reflect the words NO MORE!!!! Ask the kid with his head in his hands and his self-esteem crushed with no way to advocate for himself or herself!
They would make more sense then what the adults around them are allowing to have happen to them. Due No Harm are not just words but a standard of morality and ethics that should demand action!!!!
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Indeed, Ronee!
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It is always good to hear those from the institutions who train teachers fighting the fight. I hope to hear about more tongue lashings towards those hurting public education.
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Arne Duncan is a true non-intellectual. And someone get him some articulation therapy. His diction is awful.
He is SUCH a moron. We’re talking HEE-HAW, dumb, dumber, dumbest.
I remember at a press conference how he once referred to children living below the poverty line as “the poverty kids”. He used this phrase three times in his explanation of how RTTT was helping to motivate such children to get out of poverty along with the help of an excellent teacher in every classroom.
It was one thing to hear his dullard-like rhetoric; it was another to hear him use the wrong word when referring to children from low income families.
If the secretary cannot have his brain surgically removed and replaced with something better, like a bowl of jello, a used carburetor, or a sack of rusty nails, the least he can do brush up on his syntax.
Poor dear Arne fell out of the stupidity tree and hit every branch on the way down. No wonder he can’t think or articulate . . . .
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America should NOT run on Duncan . . . . .
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Dream big and let hope spring eternally . . . .
This just in: Secretary of Education Arner Duncan receives the country’s first brain transplant.
See:
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Chuckle.
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Arne Duncan should spend a week in front of the classroom today; maybe then he’d realize what an idiot he really is.
If President Obama had any sense, or wanted to salvage the respect so many educators like me (who helped put him in the position he’s in) are quickly losing, he’d immediately axe Arne & replace him with Diane Ravitch. Maybe then things could be fixed & the next generation wouldn’t be totally ruined.
In the meantime, both men would benefit from watching this unbelievably powerful video that epitomizes what good teaching actually looks like, & put some faith in today’s teachers, most of whom just really want to TEACH. Like Mrs. Jane Elliot did once upon a time, in a very different day…
watch it here:
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Ah, to replace this fool with Diane Ravitch! A beatific vision if ever there was one!
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You broke it. You own it.
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You’re broken. You own yourself.
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