Archives for the month of: August, 2013
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Big Money Ready to Attack Tennesee Public Schools

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
8

Rightwing groups have targeted Tennessee as ripe for privatization on next year’s election.

Last election, Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst pumped more than $200,000 into Tennessee races, mostly to Republicans but also to a pro-voucher Democratic legislator.

The pro-privatization groups Democrats for Education Reform and Stand on Children are also likely to add funding to candidates who oppose public education.

These groups want to solidify the control of far-right Governor Haslam and a legislature that is hostile to public schools and professional teachers.

Big corporate and rightwing money can be defeated by an informed public.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats for Education Reform, Rhee, Michelle, Stand for Children, StudentsFirst, Tennessee

Who Got Pink Slips in Chicago?

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
15

In Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s budget cuts, the ax fell most heavily on teachers of the arts, physical education, bilingual education, foreign languages, special education, and librarians.

The next time the Chicago mayor goes on a national television talk show to boast of his dedication to children and education reform, remember his priorities and if you have the chance, ask if he would want this kind of bare-bones education for his own children.

Categories Budget Cuts, Chicago, Emanuel, Rahm

A State Without Ethics

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
10

Which state has the lowest ethics in the nation? Without question, it is Louisiana. This is the state where the “ethics board” ruled that members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education could vote on contracts for campaign contributors, because they did not work for them as employees.

This is the same “ethics board” that saw no conflict when Kira Orange Jones, the director of Teach for America in Néw Orleans, was elected to the state board, which proceeded to award a $1 million contract to her employer.

Now Orange Jones has statewide responsibility for TFA. No doubt the “ethics board” will find no conflict between her employment and her role on the state board.

The state could save money by abolishing this useless agency.

A blogger in Louisiana described the situation as follows:

“One of the defenses for Kira Orange Jones’ elected position on BESE not being a conflict of interest was that her position with Teach for America was only as executive director “of the New Orleans area” – she didn’t hold statewide responsibilities. BESE members vote on and oversee contracts with TFA state wide, over $1 million dollars’ worth.

“Her own attorney convinced the state Ethics Board that her position was not a conflict of interest, because it “wasn’t statewide.” They over-ruled their own staff attorneys’ advice.
Now, Jones is “taking on new responsibilities “coordinating statewide operations” with TFA.

“According to Jones, now it’s not a conflict since she doesn’t sit on the “national” TFA board or is part of TFA’s “national” leadership team.

“When will this ridiculous word play end, and actual ethics rulings –based on their own staff attorneys — be enforced?

“Recently her attorney resigned as vice chairman of the Ethics Board because he himself had a conflict of interest in not revealing that he is aligned with Tulane, which is aligned with TFA. Apparently Orange-Jones’ very questionable position will continue to be protected and likely unchallenged.”

Categories Louisiana, Teach for America TFA

Protests in Chicago Against ALEC: Link ADDED

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
4

A coalition of civil rights groups, clergy, unions, and supporters of public education began protests against ALEC at the Palmer House, where ALEC plans to hold its 40th annual conference on Wednesday.

The coalition is called the Chicago Moral Monday Coalition.

ALEC sponsors model laws that are anti-immigrant, anti-union, anti-public education, and supportive of corporate interests. Go to this website to learn about ALEC laws to promote charters and vouchers and online schools, as well as to remove any requirements for teacher professionalism.

Categories ALEC, Chicago

The Dissidents of TFA

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
15

A few weeks ago, critics of Teach for America met in Chicago to look critically at what TFA is doing, to air their complaints, and to shape a different path for the future.

See, TFA recruits very smart, idealistic young people, and they can figure out what is happening and recognize when they are used as pawns.

This post is one of the fruits of that meeting. It is a description of TFA’s leading dissidents. These are TFA graduates who went through the program and began to wonder if they were being used as cannon fodder by an organization that is now part of the corporate-funded privatization agend.

Categories Teach for America TFA

Dallas: Teachers Flee, Superintendent Mike Miles Under Investigation, His Family Moves Back to Colorado

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
53

Since the arrival of Superintendent Mike Miles a year ago, the Dallas Independent School District has been in constant turmoil.

Of course, Miles wanted it that way, as he is a Broad-trained superintendent and he apparently believes that disruption is good.

He started off with ambitious goals, some of which seemed wildly unrealistic, including a goal that by 2015, 75% of the staff and 70% of the community would agree with his vision for the district.

In his year on the job, seven of his top staff resigned, and nearly 1,000 teachers quit. Just this month, another 300 resigned.

The district sent letters out to 150 other school districts urging them not to hire the teachers who left DISD, trying to get them permanently blackballed from teaching in Texas.

Miles is under investigation for interfering with bidding for contracts and with internal audits.

To add to his problems, some of the city’s business leaders have expressed no confidence in his “disruptive” leadership style.

And now he has announced that his wife and son are moving back to Colorado to get away from the negative press about him.

A reader of the blog sent this private email to me:

“Not only is Miles under investigation for corruption, cronyism, and contract bid rigging, now, after leading DISD as a little dictator with a management style characterized by morale crushing fear, intimidation, and bullying, he is demanding that other Texas school districts not hire the DISD teachers he has run off. DISD plans to report those teachers to the Texas Education Agency for them to be sanctioned which effects their certification.Miles has worked tirelessly to make the lives of DISD teachers so miserable that no one in their right mind would want to stay at DISD, Anyone with a better option would be a fool not to take it after experiencing Broad Foundation management. These efforts are designed to replace veteran teachers with low salary TFAs. Miles is reviled and hated by ALL teachers. None of his ‘reforms’ help kids. Miles’ reforms were designed specifically to dump additional work on teachers while doing nothing for kids in order to intimidate and exhaust teachers with the goal of running them off. More teachers were run off than expected leaving DISD with an extreme teacher exodus making fall classes untenable. Miles is toxic, his reforms are cancerous. He drove away so many teachers that now DISD is in a precarious situation with school starting in less than a month and no teachers to staff the classrooms. The sooner this guy goes along with his reforms the sooner DISD can get back to the work of educating kids.”

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Broad Foundation, Texas

An Open Letter to Tom Torlakson

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
8

A teacher in California sent this letter to State Superintendent Tom Torlakson. California recently announced that it was prepared to spend $1 billion implementing Common Core, although the state’s public schools have not recovered from the billions of dollars cut during the Schwarzenegger era.

Here is the letter:

August 1, 2013

Dear Superintendent Torlakson,

Thank you for your commitment to increasing funding for California’s six million public school students, working tirelessly to improve education in the Golden State, and for being an uncompromising advocate for teachers.

Your efforts have not gone unnoticed: last year, esteemed education historian Diane Ravitch wrote in her blog, “California has another great asset in its State Superintendent Tom Torlakson… He is one of the most enlightened–if not THE most enlightened state education chiefs in the nation. He understands that rebuilding the public system is a high priority.”

I am a high school English teacher at Edgewood High School in West Covina where I teach in our school’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and serve as our IB Diploma Programme Coordinator. My involvement with the IB curriculum reinforces the core pedagogical beliefs I acquired while earning my MA at Claremont Graduate School twenty one years ago: children learn best when they are given the latitude and guidance to discuss and discover ideas and experiment via engaging learning activities. Deep learning is achieved via authentic, teacher-designed assessments.

While I admire the performance-based nature of the Common Core State Standards, and while the SBAC assessments do indeed require students to engage in performance-based tasks, I am gravely concerned by the exponential increase in high stakes testing that will no doubt accompany the SBAC assessments. I am alarmed by the developmental inappropriateness of the CCSS, particularly at the elementary level.

I suggest that you and your staff personally take the SBAC practice tests that can be accessed online. I believe that the length of the tests and their developmentally inappropriate demands will more than give you pause– you will become as fearful for our students’ wellbeing as I am.

Additionally, I am highly concerned about the significant cost of preparing for and administering the SBAC tests. Doug McRae, a retired executive in the testing field, projects the final cost of Smarter Balanced tests at close to $40 per student– triple what California is currently paying. It is no secret that many districts lack the bandwidth and hardware required to administer the SBAC assessments. As a result, cash strapped districts will be forced to divert funding that would otherwise be spent on students into upgrading their infrastructure to prepare for this next incarnation of high stakes testing.

Lastly, and most importantly, nearly one in four children in California live in poverty. It is well documented that the real crisis in education is the pernicious effects of poverty—socioeconomic status and school and test performance are inextricably entwined. The money spent on this brave new world of SBAC high stakes testing will make it impossible to provide the wraparound services that we know will improve the lives of poor children and therefore improve their educational experiences and outcomes: food security, health services, counselors, quality before and after school daycare, well-stocked and staffed libraries. The list goes on and on.

Last May, I proudly accompanied a group of my colleagues to the ceremony where you celebrated our recognition as a California Distinguished School. In your address, you fondly reminisced about your experiences as a science teacher, taking your students on field trips. At another point, you received enthusiastic cheers when you asked, “Who would like to see the arts back in California classrooms?” Unshackling our schools from the overwhelming financial burden of SBAC assessments will once again allow field trips, music and the arts to become a reality in California public schools.

In closing, I ask you to secure your legacy as a principled State Superintendent who unwaveringly advocates for that which is best for children. Please follow the lead of other State Superintendents who have chosen to withdraw from SBAC and PARCC assessments, and let’s allow the money our taxpayers opted to allocate to public schools go to those who are most deserving: our children.

Thank you for your consideration—

Warm regards,

Jeanne Berrong

Categories Arts Education, Budget Cuts, California, Common Core

Warning: NY Aligns Scores to NAEP

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
82

New York City’s chief academic officer–a testing zealot–here announces that scores will plummet on the new Common Core tests administered last spring for the first time. They will plummet because the state decided to align its standards to NAEP, which are far more demanding than those of any state.

Over the years, many researchers have maintained that the NAEP achievement levels are “fundamentally flawed” and “unreasonably high.” If you google the terms NAEP and “fundamentally flawed,” you will find many articles criticizing the NAEP benchmarks. Here is a good summary.

What you need to know about NAEP achievement levels is that they are not benchmarked to international standards. They are based on the judgment calls of panels made up of people from different walks of life who decide what students in fourth grade and eighth grade should know and be able to do. It is called “the modified Angoff method” and is very controversial among scholars and psychometricians.

Setting the bar so high is one thing when assessing samples at a state and national level, but quite another when it becomes the basis for judging individual students. It is scientism run amok. It is unethical. It sets the bar where only 30-35% can clear it. Why would we do this to the nation’s children?

Nonetheless, these “unreasonably high” standards are now the guidelines for judging the students of Néw York.

Consequently, teachers and parents can expect to be stunned when the scores are released.

The good news is that teachers and schools will not be punished this year. The punishments start next year.

Here is the letter that went to all public schools with grades 3-8 in Néw York City:

From: Suransky Shael
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 1:54 PM
Subject: 2013 State Common Core Test Results

Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing to let you know that your school’s performance data on the 2013 State Common Core tests is now available for you to view. It is important to note that this data is embargoed by the State Education Department (SED)—you are not to share this information until Wednesday, after citywide data is released and the embargo is lifted.

As you review this information and prepare to share it with your school community, please keep in mind the context in which students took these new tests.

At its heart, our ongoing transition to the Common Core standards is about equal opportunity. It is about giving all students a fair chance to develop the skills they will need to pursue higher education and a quality job and have options that will lead to successful and happy lives.

As you know best, this shift is not easy, and so we are also making sure it is not punitive. These results will not be used to evaluate teachers this year, and students and schools will not be punished. The new tests are about developing a realistic understanding of where students are on the path to college and career readiness and adjusting support to improve students’ performance. Educators across the City are investing remarkable energy in this work; from this new baseline, we expect performance to increase.

SED has said the results will be similar to the City’s scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which also measures being on track for college and career readiness—for the City, similar scores would mean proficiency rates around 25-30 percent. Scores for individual student populations could be lower. These numbers might be familiar—in addition to our NAEP scores, the City’s College Readiness Index is also in this range—but seeing these results may still be jarring at first for you, your school community, and the public.

To access your school’s embargoed results now, you may view the State’s verification reports in L2RPT. After the public release, your school’s results will also be made available through the DOE public website, ATS, ARIS, and ARIS Parent Link; see below for a general timeline of when test results are expected in each system. If you need support accessing your school’s results, contact your network data support liaison.

Data System
Expected Timeline
L2RPT
August 5
DOE public website
August 7 (school-level results only)
ATS
Mid-August, within 1 week of State release
ARIS; ARIS Parent Link
Late August, within 3 weeks of State release
Item Skills Analysis reports (available in ARIS private communities)
September
Note: reports will be available according to tested year and current year enrollment; a version based on early October enrollment will be available in October.

The coming days and weeks will be challenging as we work together to explain these results to students, teachers, families, and the public. We will be providing materials and additional information in Principals’ Weekly to make sure you understand and feel comfortable discussing these results and the work ahead. And we will reiterate, time and time again, that students will not be penalized by these new tests and that they can—with hard work and support from their teachers, principal, and family—reach this new, higher expectation.

Ultimately, no one will be pleased by a measure that is expected to show fewer than 30 percent of students are on track for success after high school. But I deeply believe that this change—and the more accurate understanding that will result—is part of a transition that will benefit thousands of students for years to come, and I thank you for your leadership in supporting your school community through this time.

Best,

Shael

To: Principals of schools with grades 3-8
Cc: All cluster leaders; all network leaders; all superintendents

Categories Common Core, NAEP, New York, New York City, Testing

What Will This Charter School Teach This Public School?

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
24

New York State has this really big idea. It will spend $4.5 million so that top charter schools can teach ordinary public schools how to succeed.

What secrets will the charter schools share with the less fortunate, less successful neighborhood public schools?

Consider the example in the article linked here by Ben Chapman in The Daily News.

The Bronx Charter School for Excellence will help nearby Public School 85. “More than 86% of students… passed state reading exams in 2012, compared with just over 20% of students who met literacy standards at PS 85.” On the other hand, PS 85 has a devoted parent body, and it can help the charter school develop the same community support.

But there is more to the story, which did not get into the article.

I asked my favorite statistical miracle-buster, Gary Rubinstein, to check the demographics on the two schools and here is his report:

“I collected some data here http://miracleschools.wikispaces.com/Bronx+Charter+School+For+Excellence

“Most relevant stats for students taking ELA test:

Excellence

263 students taking ELA exam
36 with disabilities (14%)
3 LEP (1%)
207 economically disadvantaged (79%)

“Compared to PS 85 (from district 10, not 8)

531 students
142 with disabilities (27%)
165 LEP (31%)
511 economically disadvantaged (96%)”

The NYC progress reports say this about the two schools:

“Excellence:

10% disabilities, 87% black or hispanic, 5% ELL
86% passing ELA, 95% passing math
progress report grades: C in ‘progress’, ‘A’ overall

PS 85:

24% disabilities, 98% black or hispanic, 26% ELL
20% passing ELA, 31% passing math
progress report grades: B in ‘progress’, ‘B’ overall”

So the public school has about twice as many students with disabilities as the charter school (and we can’t tell how severe the disabilities are, whether they are mild or extreme from this data; some of the most successful charters accept students with only the mildest disabilities).

And of the students who took the reading test, 31% at the public school were English language learners, compared to only 1% at the charter school.

The lessons for PS 85 are obvious: Do not accept students who can’t read English and limit the enrollment of students with disabilities.

But if PS 85 learns that lesson, where will those children go to school?

Categories Charter Schools

Robert Putnam on the Crumbling American Dream

By dianeravitch
August 6, 2013 //
33

This is one of the most powerful articles I have read in a long time.

Robert Putnam describes life in his home town of Port Clinton, Ohio, population 6,059, as he was growing up in the 50s.

Port Clinton was “ a passable embodiment of the American dream, a place that offered decent opportunity for the children of bankers and factory workers alike.”

But today, “wealthy kids park BMW convertibles in the Port Clinton High School lot next to decrepit “junkers” in which homeless classmates live. The American dream has morphed into a split-screen American nightmare. And the story of this small town, and the divergent destinies of its children, turns out to be sadly representative of America.

“Growing up, almost all my classmates lived with two parents in homes their parents owned and in neighborhoods where everyone knew everyone else’s first name. Some dads worked in the local auto-part factories or gypsum mines, while others, like my dad, were small businessmen. In that era of strong unions and full employment, few families experienced joblessness or serious economic insecurity. Very few P.C.H.S. students came from wealthy backgrounds, and those few made every effort to hide that fact.”

Putnam and his generation grew up in a healthy society, where opportunity was widely available and many did well in life. Nearly three-quarters got more education than their parents and succeeded economically as well.

But then manufacturing collapsed; jobs were outsourced. The social fabric of the community wore thin.

“The social impact of those economic hammer blows was initially cushioned by the family and community bonds that had been so strong in my youth. But as successive graduating P.C.H.S. classes entered an ever worsening local economy, the social fabric of the 1950s and 1960s was gradually shredded. Juvenile-delinquency rates began to skyrocket in the 1980s and were triple the national average by 2010. Not surprisingly, given falling wages and loosening norms, single-parent households in Ottawa County doubled from 10 percent in 1970 to 20 percent in 2010, while the divorce rate more than quadrupled. In Port Clinton itself, the epicenter of the local economic collapse in the 1980s, the rate of births out of wedlock quadrupled between 1978 and 1990, topping out at about 40 percent, nearly twice the race-adjusted national average (itself rising rapidly).

“Unlike working-class kids in the class of 1959, many of their counterparts in Port Clinton today are, despite toil and talent, locked into troubled, even hopeless lives.”

What is happening to our country?

Why are the bankers and the major corporations blaming teachers and public schools for problems they not only created but benefit from?

Why do they think that adoption of the Common Core standards or the privatization of public schools will heal the deep economic and social problems caused by the outsourcing of our manufacturing base and deep income inequality?

How many shell games will Americans fall for?

Categories Economy, Education Industry
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