Archives for the month of: June, 2013
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How Corporate Reformers Defeated Democracy in Idaho

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
8

This reader explains how the Legislature had taken steps to circumvent the will of the electorate. Last November, voters decisively repealed the three laws that were promoted by State Superintendent Tom Luna.

The reader writes:

“I live in Idaho. The legislature has had public hearings since 2011s introduction of Students Come First. Tom Luna is our Superintendent of Public Instruction. He was an advisor to U.S Secretary of Education Rod Paige from 2003-2005, the “magic bullet” from Houston that pushed high stakes testing, and worked on legislation to pass No Child Left Behind. Tom Luna has no education in instruction, but has an online degree in “weights and measures.” Idaho repealed the Students Come First laws this last November, after a long battle between the people, and a supposed “grassroots” organization called Education Voters of Idaho. The donors for the Students Come First campaign were revealed.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/oct/31/ny-mayor-among-secret-donors-idaho-school-campaign/

Unfortunately, the Idaho legislature reinstated parts of the Students Come First laws, against the people, often stacking the hearings with people who were for these laws, which include:

“Limit the life of salary and benefit portions of master agreements to one year. Require negotiations between teachers’ unions and school boards be held in public. Require teachers unions to prove – if asked by a board – that they represent a majority of educators. Provide money for grants for schools seeking to expand technology, such as laptops or mobile devices, in the classroom. Set aside merit pay funding for educators, based on district standards.” http://www.idahoednews.org/news/lawmakers-revive-elements-of-defeated-props

The reinstatement of some of the Students Come First laws have deflated teachers’ and parents’ hope for change. Governor Otter, formed an Education Task Force, stacked with his previous committee he formed back in 2007, called the Education Alliance of Idaho. This includes business stakeholders and JA & Kathryn Albertson’s Foundation, who also formed a committee called the Idaho Leads Project, and the new ad running “Don’t Fail Idaho.” Joe Scott, the grandson of Joe Albertson, of the Albertsons grocery chain, has been found to make millions off of the online schooling company K12 inc.

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2011/feb/19/albertsons-heir-made-millions-k12-inc-promotes-it-idaho-schools/

We have known ALEC members on ALECs education task force Senator Bob Nonini, and Representative Pete Nielsen, who are also on the Education Committee in Idaho.

My 7th grade twins that attend “traditional” public schools, hear me discuss Idaho’s education problems, and our nations. They had some interesting insight. They said it sounds very similar to the Roman Empire, and the corruption of the Senate. They said that the coliseum was built to distract the people from how horrible things truly were for the people. They said it did work for a while, and then the people began to revolt again. In Idaho’s situation, I feel these public hearings are the legislatures form of the coliseum. My only hope is to educate those that are unaware of the depths of our education deception, and eventually the people will win!!

Jen Leuck

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Idaho

Teacher: We Should Return the Race to the Top Money

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
19

Just in from a teacher:

 

I teach in Albany, New York, and the State Education Department is crazy.

I just completed 1 month of testing. and no real teaching.

We are giving more tests than I ever dreamed possible.

Not only the state exams, but now local measures to help teachers with low testing students.

These new evaluations have spurred the worst frenzy I have ever seen.

It has been brought on by the Race to The Top money.

What a terrible idea no distict should have accepted the money.

There should have been mass protests about the strings attached, and it should be given back.

Categories Accountability, Race to the Top, Testing

News Flash: National Exam Leaked Online in the Netherlands

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
2

A 22-year-old man was arrested in The Netherlands in connection with the posting online of a national examination in French.

With the trend towards online national assessments, the temptation for hackers to obtain them, rewrite them, release them, sell them, etc. becomes irresistible.

Categories Technology, Computers, Testing

Question of the Day: When Does 40% = 100%?

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
30

Public school activist Leonie Haimson notes in her post about New York’s new educator evaluation plan that the plan includes this proviso:

“Teachers rated ineffective on student performance based on objective assessments must be rated ineffective overall.”

Haimson writes: “This means despite the claim that there are multiple measures, one year’s worth of unreliable and inherently volatile test scores will trump all.”

The state scores are supposed to be 20% of a teacher’s evaluation, plus another 20% of local measures. But a teacher who is rated ineffective on the 40% “must be rated ineffective overall.”

Ergo, 40% = 100%.

*the original post said 20% = 100%, but teacher/blogger Arthur Goldstein pointed out to me that the test portion was 40%, not 20%.

Categories Accountability, New York, New York City, Teacher Evaluations

Do Students Perform Better When the Course Is “Harder”?

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
24

The Hillsborough district in Florida pays superintendents a bonus if more students register for AP courses. It doesn’t matter if they pass the exams or get credit, just register.

Here is the result: only 22% passed the Algebra 1 end of course exam. No matter. The superintendent gets a bonus.

This idea that low-performing students will succeed if the bar is raised and raised again is like a coach saying to the runners: all those who could not jump over a 4 foot bar will now be required to jump over a six foot bar.

Categories Accountability, Florida, Testing

Pelto: Charter Chain Lies About College-going Rate

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
8

One of the disturbing behaviors of charter chains is their boasting. All too often, when someone looks past the press release, they find data games, fudging of the numbers, or falsehoods.

Jonathan Pelto, a former legislator who follows Connecticut politics and concentrates on education, says that the boasts of a major charter chain in that state are hollow.

Achievement First, a much-touted charter chain, boasts of that 100% of its graduates are accepted into college.

But Pelto cites a new report showing that the number who graduate and enroll in college is far lower because of attrition.

Stefan Pryor, the state education commissioner, was a co-founder of Achievement First.

Categories Charter Schools, Connecticut

Anthony Cody: Is the Tea Party Right About Common Core?

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
40

There is a surprising overlap between the views of the Tea Party and those of some in the left towards the Common Core. In Indiana, Democrats and Tea Party activists combined to defeat far-right State Superintendent Tony Bennett and elect educator Glenda Ritz. Democrats opposed his support for privatization and his haughty treatment of teachers: Tea Party activists opposed him for his zealous support for the Common Core.

Anthony Cody here describes the issues that unite political opposites:

1. “Sharing of student and teacher data with third party developers of all sorts, with no guarantees of privacy. As noted in this post, there are plans in place in some states such as Illinois and New York, and others as well, to collect massive amounts of data, which will be housed in a cloud based databank maintained by inBloom, a non-profit created by the Gates Foundation for this purpose.” Parents of all persuasions are equally concerned about invasions of their children’s privacy.

2. Both sides are upset by the secretive proceeds in which the Common Core was developed and foisted on the schools across the nation.

3. The federal government is legally barred from interfering in curriculum yet the Department of Education has been deeply involved in promoting the Common Core.

But the two groups part company on other issues, such as allegations that Bill Ayers wrote the Common Core (he did not) or that Linda Darling-Hammond is part of some conspiracy (she is not).

Categories Common Core, Duncan, Arne, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education

Testing Insanity in NY: New Tests for Gym, Music, Art, K-2

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
24

Testing is moving from onerous to ridiculous.

In response to the new teacher evaluation agreement, where every teacher must be evaluated in part by student test scores, the city education department is moving rapidly to develop new tests for every teacher, including teachers of physical education, music, arts, and even kindergarten through second grade.

At this point, one must ask whether city education officials have lost all sense of education values or whether they are trying to make public school so dreadful that parents flee to charters and private schools.

Naturally the agreement was praised by a spokesperson for the rightwing National Council for Teacher Quality, which has a faith-based devotion to standardized testing.

Someday this testing madness will collapse of its own weight, as one foolishness is piled onto another and then another and then another.

And those who created this regime will go down in history as opportunistic, anti-intellectual, or worse.

 

 

Categories New York, New York City, Teacher Evaluations, Testing

Hope for Public School Kids in L.A.?

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
9

A letter from a reader in Los Angeles:

Hi Diane. I thought your readers would be interested to hear that the light might be shining in Los Angeles.

Could it be that there is some good news on the horizon for Los Angeles public schools? This Tuesday the school board will vote on a resolution to reduce class size. Parents throughout LA are thrilled that such a sound resolution is being proposed. Board member Bennett Kayser is sponsoring the measure with Richard Vladovic and Steve Zimmer co-sponsoring.
The resolution includes a commitment to “creating the most enriching academic environment for all students, which includes a reduction in class-size.

Class size reduction yields:

– Reduction in the achievement gap

– Early identification of learning disabilities

– Improved high school graduation rates

– Increased college entrance rates

– Improved student behavior”

They’re even proposing to bring back librarians. We hope parents, educators and advocates for public schools will contact their school board member and urge the school board to take this first step out of the dark ages of public education. Coming to the board meeting is even better. Tuesday, June 4, 9:00am at LAUSD headquarters.

Categories Arts Education, Curriculum, Los Angeles

What Is edTPA and Why Do Critics Dislike It?

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2013 //
155

Teacher educators continue to speak out against edPTA. this is an assessment of teacher performance that will be administered by Pearson.

Here is a critique by Julie Gorlewski, a teacher educator at SUNY, New Paltz, New York.

The edTPA is a standardized assessment of teaching that is being required in many states, including New York State as of May 2014, for teacher certification. The edTPA is being marketed as a way to “professionalize” the field of education, a contention that is deeply insulting to those of us who have dedicated our lives to the art and craft of teaching. The edTPA will be administered during student teaching. It is a high-stakes assessment because certification depends on its successful completion. This assessment has raised concerns of teachers and teacher educators for several reasons:
Although its initial versions were developed at Stanford, the instrument is being sold and administered by Pearson, Inc. It is expected to cost candidates around $300.
Assessments will not be scored by teacher educators; they will be scored by temporary workers paid about $75 per exam. These scorers are not allowed to know the teacher candidates, nor are they to be affiliated with the community in which student teaching occurs. These conditions negate the importance of relationships in the development of teaching, preferring the pretense of objectivity over trust, authenticity, and cultural responsiveness.
The assessment requires that candidates submit videos of themselves in K-12 teaching situations. This means that Pearson will own videos of young people who have student teachers in their classrooms. This is being implemented without widespread knowledge or consent of parents in states where edTPA is being mandated.

Will the edTPA affect the experience of learning to teach? You bet it will. A recent conversation I had with a student in our teacher education program highlights the potential effects of this assessment. Joel, who is enrolled in my undergraduate Introduction to Curriculum and Assessment course approached me after class and asked if I had time to talk. He was excited and concerned. He was excited because the teacher he had been assigned to for Fieldwork I, where students spend 35 hours observing and participating in secondary settings, had invited him to student teach with her. Because he had tremendous respect and admiration for this teacher, Joel was thrilled by the opportunity. But he was also worried, so worried that he hesitated to accept the offer.
Joel was apprehensive about completing the edTPA in this school. It is an urban environment in a community noted for poverty and gang activity. He had forged relationships with the young people in the school, as well as several faculty members there, but the judgment of an objective scorer who might not understand if the classroom was not filled with compliant, well-behaved learners had made my student hesitate. My heart sank.

I encouraged Joel to follow his heart and reassured him that the edTPA scorers would appreciate the diverse experiences of teacher candidates in a range of settings. I reassured Joel because I have faith in him, in his mentor teacher, and in the relationships they will form with their students. I have no such faith in Pearson, and I fear the consequences of its corporate incursions into education. But I will not allow fear to triumph over optimism, nor will I allow anonymity to erase relationships. The possibilities of education are intensely human and cannot be reduced to a number.

Julie A. Gorlewski, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Secondary Education
Incoming Co-Editor of English Journal
SUNY New Paltz
800 Hawk Drive
Old Main 321B
New Paltz, NY 12561
845-257-2856
845-257-2854 Fax

Categories Accountability, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching, Technology, Computers
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